What Does It Mean If A Landscape Designer Has The Initials MLI After His Name?

        It means that he's a full-member of the Landscape Institute (LI), the professional body that licenses and certifies qualifications in Landscape Design in Britain.

        MLI is a protected designation; a Landscape Architect (or Designer) can only use these initials if they have completed a specific regime set out by the LI, called the Pathway to Chartership.

        Basically, when someone completes a certified (university level) course in Landscape Architecture in Britain, they can legally call themselves a Landscape Architect.  But after the university course they are strongly encouraged to undertake further training to achieve Chartered status; this typically takes about 2 years of work experience and involves feedback and assessment by a mentor (more senior member of the LI).  The process culminates in an oral examination.

        Even if a Landscape Architect achieves MLI status, they are still expected to do at least 20 hours of further professional development each year.  Moreover, they may want to aim for future Fellowship status with the LI.  This is open to people with at least seven years of work experience and who have been nominated and accepted to be a Fellow because of exceptional output.