In Austria the only organisation where you can study Landscape Design and Planning is the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences in Vienna (Universitat für Bodenkultur, Institut für Landschaftsplanung und Ingenieurbiologie www.boku.ac.at/lap/). The curriculum includes no compulsory internship. However, practical experience is recommended practice during the programme and many students try to obtain work in offices and government institutions. Contacts and jobs can be found on several homepages, unfortunately most of them not in English. Students should expect to have a working knowledge of German.
Contacts
Names and addresses of landscape offices are on the homepages of the two professional societies in Austria: ForumL – Forum für Landschaftsplanung und Landschaftsökologie (www.foruml.at also in English) and ÖGLA – Österreichische Gesellschaft für Landschaftsplanung und Landschaftsarchitektur (www.oegla.at š click on “Mitglieder” to find a list of landscape planners of which some have posted their office address). On the homepage of the Bundesektion Ingenieurkonsulenten (you can also find addresses of offices in Austria (http://www.bsing.at/bsing/en/sektion/profil_html š click on “members” and choose “Landschafsplanung und Landschaftspflege” from the list).
Jobs
Adverts and job vacancies are placed on the homepages of the professional associations (www.foruml.at and www.oegla.at); on the jobcentre of the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences in Vienna (http://zbp.boku.ac.at š click on “Stellenangebote”); and on the homepage of PSA-Publishers a platform of contemporary architects (www.psa-publishers.com). On http://life-science.at you can also find jobs for students (click on “Stellenagebote” and scroll in the right box to “Landschaftsarchitektur, -planung”).
Often landscape offices do not advertise internships for students. However, students have a realistic chance to get a job, when they are proactive and send a letter of application with a short Curriculum Vita and some examples of work. Currently salary levels might be from €700-€1000 per month depending on the job and the student’s own experiences. The duration of the internship depends on the workload and projects of the individual office and on the student’s own interests and requirements.
Britta Fuchs July / August 2003