Landscape Architects have been active in Nunavut for many years – both the Landscape Architects practicing in Nunavut, and those from out of territory who have participated in the profession before Nunavut was established as a territory in 1999. Landscape Architects have been involved in municipal planning and development, park planning and management, cultural and historic site protection, wildlife management and conservation, and tourism and economic development.
With the establishment of Nunavut through the Nunavut Land Claim Agreement, it was clear that the professional practice of Landscape Architecture needed to reflect the principles of the land claim and the relationship that Inuit have with their land and its resources. NUALA, the Nunavut Association of Landscape Architects, has a mandate to promote landscape architecture in Nunavut that recognizes and reflects its unique cultural and natural environments, strong cultural landscape connections, and seeks to find balance between structured landscape intervention and the presentation of the Nunavut landscape in its unblemished, natural form. The Nunavut landscape portfolio reflects works from our communities and wilderness environments.
The projects presented are cultural landscapes that are significant places for Inuit and their ancestors with both tangible and intangible attributes.