Mission Statement

NELA unites institutions and individuals to foster exchange, joint research, education and the dissemination of information about landscape architecture archives and the profession’s history.

The Network of European Landscape Architecture Archives (NELA) seeks to enhance the quality, visibility, and use of landscape architecture archival institutions and to raise awareness of the importance of collecting landscape archival material. Its goal is to help support the practice and profession of landscape architecture, to promote historical research, and to instil in future professionals and scholars an awareness of the historical continuum.

disclose, connect, preserve inform, research, educate

NELA offers an exchange of experience and knowledge relating to acquisition, the custody and use of landscape architectural archives, and the provision of public access. The topics covered range from collecting, inventorying, preservation, restoration, digitization, creating repositories, using archival documents, and information in practice to research and teaching.

Guidelines

NELA members adhere to the Universal Declaration on Archives adopted by the International Council on Archives in 2010, and by UNESCO on 10 November 2011.
NELA members adhere to the Code of Ethics.
NELA member archives’ focus, in terms of geography and content, is coherent with the relevant cultural, historical, and political context.
NELA member archives are of a non‐commercial character.
Archival material should be made publicly accessible in digital and/or analogue form.
The network provides a point of contact for people who wish to donate, deposit, or use archives.
NELA member Archives offer advice and counselling to private/public institutions and private persons holding landscape architecture archives; they accept donations and deposits.
NELA member Archives support professionals in garden and landscape heritage, work involving restoration or redesign, and any other landscape design task by providing information (e.g. original plans, etc.).

Aims of the network

Members agree to support the activities of NELA:

to increase the significance of landscape architecture archives, to highlight the importance of collecting landscape archival material, and to give NELA member Archives international visibility
to share experience and collaborate in teaching
to develop collaboration in research and the dissemination of ideas (publications, exhibitions, etc.)
to develop joint projects and apply for funding (project types include joint research/teaching projects, exhibitions, acquisition, publications, and visits to other member archive centres)
to address professional and academic associations (ECLAS, IFLA‐Europe, ICOMOS and ICOMOSIFLA, national professional associations, etc.)