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Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

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Useful workshops, training days and events are listed in our calendar

What is Continuing Professional Development?

Any professional's career is built on a foundation of learning - CPD is the ongoing process of improving those skills to stay up to date with design standards. It is a personal, individual development process that allows you to manage your own development in your chosen field and always be gaining new knowledge and experience.

We run a variety of CPD events which are open to anyone looking to further their design skills, be that learning how to create a planting plan, selecting the right plants for a sustainable garden or how to photograph your finished designs.

Registered and Pre-registered Society members are expected to undertake 25 hours of CPD during each membership year.

 

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Why do Members of the SGLD need CPD?

For many professions, it is a mandatory requirement to show evidence of CPD each year in order to renew professional-body membership or chartership. For us, it is a sign that every member takes their ongoing training seriously and has refreshed their knowledge to keep pace in our ever-evolving industry.

No matter where you are in your career, there are always new things to discover and new standards to maintain.

What counts as CPD?

Garden and landscape designers come from any number of diverse backgrounds, so no two pathways to learning will ever be the same. As such, almost anything you do that contributes to your development as a designer counts as CPD, which can include broader subjects such as art or use of technical software or even just a hunt for inspiration.
The below are just a sample of what could count towards your CPD hours.

  • Taking part in a structured learning course, such as the workshops hosted by us - anything you book via the SGLD website is automatically logged for you
  • Attending your local cluster group meetings
  • Garden visits
  • Research such as reading books or journals
  • Visiting an industry show
  • Touring a nursery or other supplier showroom

Members can enter their CPD log here