5th WORKSHOPS MEETING FOR THE APPLICATION OF THE EUROPEAN LANDSCAPE CONVENTION. Landscape quality objectives: from theory to practice.

Maguelonne DÉJEANT-PONS
Head of Spatial Planning and Landscape Division. Council of Europe - DG IV

The Council of Europe (Territorial and landscape planning division) organised the 5th Workshops Meeting for the application of the European Landscape Convention in Girona on 28 and 29 September 2006, in collaboration with the General Secretariat for Territory and Biodiversity of the Ministry of the Environment of Spain, the Ministry of Town and Country Planning and Public Works of the Government of Catalonia, the Landscape Observatory of Catalonia and Girona City Hall.

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The first two landscape catalogues of Catalonia are finished

The Landscape Observatory delivered to the Ministry of Town and Country Planning and Public Works of the Government of Catalonia last October the first two landscape catalogues of Catalonia, those corresponding to the Camp de Tarragona and the Plana de Lleida. Their contents will be available on the Landscape Observatory web in the next few weeks. The Landscape Observatory also started work this summer on the landscape catalogues of the Alt Pirineu and Aran, the districts of Girona and the Terres de l'Ebre, which will be finished at the end of summer 2007. The remaining two (Central districts and Metropolitan Barcelona) will be started in 2007.

Catalonia, founder member of RECEP

Catalonia is a founder member of the new European Network of Local and Regional Authorities for the Implementation of the European Landscape Convention (RECEP). The Landscape Observatory signed in the name of Catalonia, by delegation from the Catalan Government. The signing took place on 30 May 2006 in the seat of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, together with nineteen other local and regional European bodies. RECEP is a non-governmental organisation formed of European local and regional public bodies, which was set up with the objective of encouraging the awareness and implementation of the European Landscape Convention at this level of decision. It encourages the exchange of experiences and knowledge among its members regarding landscape matters, in such a way that they can cooperate under the umbrella of an international structure, while establishing contacts with non-governmental bodies, universities and research centres. Further, the network takes part in the Council of Europe expert committees entrusted with controlling the implementation of the Convention. The Network is presided over by Ms. Gabriella Cundari, Minister of Town and Country Planning of the region of Campania, and is directed by Riccardo Priore, official of the Council of Europe. The next meeting of the General Assembly of RECEP will take place in Strasbourg at the end of 2006 or the start of 2007.

Five projects in Catalonia are selected for the European 'Good landscape practices' catalogue

The selection committee for the 2nd Mediterranean Landscape Prize, made up of representatives of the fourteen European Mediterranean regions which form the PAYS.DOC project, met in Barcelona last October to select the works which are to be included in the 'Good landscape practices catalogue'. This publication is intended to contribute to the dissemination of experiences able to transmit creativity in projects, quality in landscape interventions and effectiveness in the communication of landscape values. The five Catalan projects which form part of this catalogue are: European Landscape Biennial, Landscape restoration of the Vall d'en Joan landfill site, Special Outline Plan for Territorial Collegats-Terradets Park, A window opening on Landscape (Landscape Observatory web), Special Plan for Les Hortes de Santa Eugènia, Girona. The first three of these have also been chosen by a jury of international experts to form part of the short list of twenty candidates for the 2nd Mediterranean Landscape Prize which will be presented in Seville in 2007, coinciding with the closing seminar of the PAYS.DOC project.

‘Country of Landscapes' Exhibition

Catalonia is a country with extraordinary diversity and richness in landscapes. This idea was the inspiration for ‘Country of landscapes', an exhibition by the Ministry of Town and Country Planning and Public Works and the Presidential Department of the Government of Catalonia and the Landscape Observatory, opened on 22 September in the History Museum of the City of Girona, on the occasion of the 5th Workshop Meeting for the implementation of the European Landscape Convention. It can be visited at Palau Robert in Barcelona from 20 October to 7 January 2007. The exhibition shows the development of the various landscapes of Catalonia and is structured in three broad ambits: ‘Art and the memory', ‘Living the landscape' and ‘Landscape, an asset for the future'. The exhibition enables us to appreciate how painters and writers have reproduced and recreated Catalan landscapes at various moments of history. Also we can experience different ways of living a landscape and even take photographs. The last part of the exhibition shows how the civic organisations and authorities are acting on landscape today, managing it and promoting awareness of it.

1st Landscape and Infrastructures Congress

The Government of Andalusia organised the congress Landscape and Infrastructures, held in Seville from 4 to 7 October, with 290 people registered. The objectives of the meeting were essentially two: to reduce the impact of infrastructures on landscape and make the infrastructures contribute to enjoyment of the landscape. From the papers and communications presented there emerged the following notable conclusions. The first is that methods of landscape analysis are converging and producing useful results for the planning, execution and management of infrastructures; the second is that the Andalusian Government has undertaken to carry out the following actions: development of standards and manuals of good practices and catalogues of landscape roads; the third, that the companies attending understood that the matter had investment opportunities, and the fourth, that the Ministry of Public Works and Transport wishes to hold further congresses on this theme with the support of the Landscape and Territory Study Centre.

A successful conclusion to the 2nd i+ Territorial Custody Week, a space for the dissemination of the initiatives agreed for the landscape and the territory

From 29 September to 8 October there was the 2nd i+ Territorial Custody Week, a campaign of dissemination to the public of initiatives for territorial and landscape custody, in the form of agreements between owners, users of the territory and the custodian entities. Nearly a thousand people took part in more than 50 activities held in Catalonia, Andorra, the Balearic Isles and the Region of Valencia, organised by 45 entities and institutions, and coordinated by the Territorial Custody Network, with the support of various institutions. The programme was varied, with discussions, visits on foot and by bicycle, volunteer days, readings of stories and others. The opening of the week in Girona coincided with the end of the 5th Workshops Meeting for the implementation of the European Landscape Convention, with a concert and a workshop debate on landscape policies in Catalonia and custodian entities with interesting conclusions.

The Newspaper library: a new service in the Observatory web

The Observatory web has a new service in the form of a digital newspaper library, where news items on landscape appearing in the various written communication media from around the world can be consulted. At present the newspaper library has over 500 items, an amount which increases every day. From the newspaper library you can search for news items by date, by free text, by subject, by geographical ambit or by format (interview, story, report...).
In the newspaper library there are all the news items that the Landscape Observatory has been issuing weekly since June 2005 through the Dietari de paisatge (if you are interested you can register a subscription from our web).

'Report on the protection of the European cultural, natural and architectural heritage, in the rural ambit and in the island regions'

Culture and Education Commission of the European Parliament.

Manifesto for a new territorial culture

A manifesto which calls for a new territorial planning culture in the Spanish State, signed initially by more than a hundred experts in town and country planning and development and now in the process of submission to the consideration of all kinds of academic institutions, professional associations and parties interested in the matter as individuals. It was presented on 8 May 2006 at the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid.
Only available in Spanish.

European Council for the Village and Small Town (ECOVAST)

An entity of European ambit which, since 1984, has been working to improve the quality of life in the rural areas of Europe and preserve their rural and landscape heritage. It has more than 500 members from 20 different countries and is a consultant to the Council of Europe and the European Commission.

The Royal Parks

Information on eight London gardens managed by the Royal Parks, an agency of the Ministry of Culture, Environment and Sport of the central government. The page offers many resources and there is an important section on publications, a description of each of the parks and a schedule of activities.

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