Call for Papers: National Parks and Protected Landscapes: Perspectives, Practices, and Lessons for Landscape Management

31-08-2026

Dear colleagues

National Parks and Protected Landscapes: Perspectives, Practices, and Lessons for Landscape Management

National parks and protected areas are not just places set aside for nature conservation. They are living landscapes where ecological processes, cultural values, recreation, tourism, communities, and different forms of land management intersect. Across the world, protected-area systems are being established, expanded, reconfigured, and reimagined in response to climate change, changing patterns of tourism and recreation, biodiversity loss, community expectations, and broader landscape and regional development.

This Issue of Landscape Review invites contributions that explore the diverse ways in which national parks and protected areas are understood, planned, managed, experienced, and imagined. We are particularly interested in contributions that connect scholarly activities, designs, ideas, and practice that may span across different geographical, cultural, institutional, and disciplinary contexts.

This Issue welcomes a broad range of contributions, including:

  • Research-informed articles (<3000 words)

Articles will generally report on the relevance and significance for practice of recent research. They use a concise format that helps readers apply research findings to particular practice topics and situations.

  • Original research articles (<7000 words)

Original research articles will generally report on empirical or interpretive landscape architecture research. They use a conventional format that helps readers follow relevant existing knowledge, research methods, results and discussion of findings in relation to existing knowledge in the field.

  • Critiques (<3000 words)

Critiques may take a more discursive examination of contemporary issues or projects. They may be flexible in format to suit the subject matter but easy to follow for readers who are looking to promote transformational change in society.

  • Reports (<2000 words)

Reports are intended for shorter commentaries, reviews, case studies, and reports on work in progress, appealing to readers interested in newly released publications, recent conferences, upcoming policy releases, right-of-reply responses, or alternative or contradictory evidence-based analysis on the same topic.

 

Contributions from different regions are welcome, while we especially encourage the contributions to draw connections with Oceania where possible, whether by drawing on experiences from Oceania to inform thinking elsewhere, or by bringing ideas, experiences, and perspectives from other parts of the world into conversation with protected-area practice in Oceania. Such connections might take many forms, including comparative studies, shared challenges, transferable approaches, critical reflections, or collaborations across regions. We do not seek to prescribe a particular geographical focus but hope to encourage dialogue that better connects Oceania with wider international experiences.

Contributions may address, but are not limited to, the following aspects of national parks and protected areas:

  • Governance and management
  • Landscape planning
  • Biodiversity conservation
  • Ecological connectivity and conservation networks
  • Climate change, resilience, and adaptation
  • Communities, livelihoods, and local participation
  • Indigenous and local knowledge
  • Relationships between natural and cultural landscapes
  • Tourism, recreation, and visitor experience
  • Interpretation, education, and public engagement
  • Landscape character, identity, and sense of place
  • Infrastructure and facilities, including huts, trails, and visitor landscapes, etc.
  • Design and management of protected landscapes
  • Relationships between protected areas and surrounding rural and urban landscapes
  • Ecosystem services and nature-based solutions
  • Monitoring, evaluation, and learning from landscape management
  • Emerging approaches to national park and protected-area systems
  • Comparative experiences and lessons across countries and regions
  • The future of protected areas in a rapidly changing world

We particularly welcome contributions that bring together academic knowledge and professional/practical experience, as well as contributions that reflect on what different protected-area systems can learn from one another. This Issue seeks to create a space for dialogue between researchers, landscape architects, planners, conservation practitioners, park managers, policymakers, community organisations, and others working with protected landscapes. Rather than presenting national parks as fixed or finished models, we invite contributions that ask what we can learn from their histories, current practices, successes, challenges, and emerging futures.

Submissions

Deadline: 01 November 2026

Contributions should be submitted online at https://journals.lincoln.ac.nz/index.php/lr/about/submissions by registering and logging in to the web site. Once you are registered, go through the five step process to complete uploading your contribution. All submissions are checked by an editor before being peer reviewed through a double blind process.

Please visit the submissions web site before submitting your work. There is a preparation checklist to follow for submissions. Written contributions should be formatted according to the author’s guidelines template. There is no charge for article processing.