Ratification of the European Landscape Convention: an opportunity

Margarita Ortega
Head of Division, Technical Office of the Secretariat General for Territory and Biodiversity of the Ministry of the Environment of Spain

The Council of Ministers has approved sending to Parliament the Council of Europe's European Landscape Convention, to proceed with its ratification. This step begins the procedures for the definitive adhesion of Spain to a convention with the category of an international treaty and referring exclusively to the landscape. The commitments it entails are a real opportunity for the application of active landscape policies, of singular importance in our country due to the wealth and diversity of its landscape, but also due to the innovative concept and the role of landscape when facing development in accordance to the potential and the identity of our territory.

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Opina. El paisatge t'escolta: a web questionnaire on the landscape catalogues of Catalonia

Titled Opina: el paisatge t'escolta (Express your opinion. The landscape is listening), the Landscape Observatory of Catalonia has created a new citizens' questionnaire through its website about the three landscape catalogues currently being made: The l'Alt Pirineu i Aran, Comarques Gironines and Terres de l'Ebre. The questionnaire, the first of its kind made in Catalonia (with the sole precedent of the two first landscape catalogues made in 2006: Camp de Tarragona and Terres de Lleida), is one of the tools created by the Landscape Observatory to involve society in landscape management and planning. The questionnaire will be open until next September 15th 2007. Respondents to the questionnaire will be able to download a computer screensaver with spectacular photographs of landscapes in Alt Pirineu i Aran, Comarques Gironines and Terres de l'Ebre made by the photographers Rafael López-Monné and Ernest Costa as a free gift. During the creation of the landscape catalogues, other tools are used for citizens' participation, such as direct interviews with the principal social agents involved in landscape management, debate sessions and informative sessions, with the collaboration of the Direcció General de Participació Ciutadana de la Generalitat de Catalunya (Directorate-General of Citizens' Participation of the Government of Catalonia).

Conclusions of the Low Cost Landscapes Workshop

From March 12th to 21st 2007 the International Seminar Low Cost Landscapes was held in Girona organised by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, the Universitat de Girona and Politecnico di Milano. The aim of this international seminar was to bring together specialists and professionals from different countries, to reflect on the transformation of the landscape caused by the current importance and growth of second-tier airports, where the so-called "low cost" companies operate. One of the seminar's activities was to develop work sessions where around thirty experts put forward proposals for landscape improvement and then held in Fundació Caixa Girona (the Caixa Girona Foundation) sessions to publicly present some of the reflections arising from the workshops and discussion sessions about the general programme of the seminar. You can find the conclusions of the Seminar here.

Custody of territory and landscape policies, closer day by day

Custody of territory contemplates a set of tools that can contribute to preserving the values of our landscape. The entities in charge of custody are a collection of public and private organisations, which through agreements with land owners, monitor the maintenance of the natural and cultural values of the territory. In this context, landscape policies being promoted in Catalonia offer a favourable framework for the custody of territory. To begin addressing synergies between landscape policies and custody of territory, last September a workshop organised by the Xarxa de Custòdia del Territori (Land Stewardship Network) was held in Girona, coinciding with the 5th Meeting of Workshops for the implementation of the European Landscape Convention. A series of proposals were to arise from the meeting aimed at enabling the participation of custodian entities in the development of different instruments contemplated in the Act for protection, management and planning of the landscape in Catalonia. You can find the document here.

Communications in the Seminar Processes for the participation of citizens in landscape planning

More than 150 people attended the seminar Processes for the participation of citizens in landscape planning last June 1st in the Mercè Cultural Centre in Girona, organised by the Landscape Observatory of Catalonia and the Direcció General de Participació Ciutadana de la Generalitat de Catalunya (Directorate-General of Citizens' Participation of the Government of Catalonia), with the collaboration of the Ajuntament de Girona (Town Council of Girona) and the Departament de Política Territorial i Obres Públiques de la Generalitat de Catalunya (Department of Territorial Policy and Public Works of the Government of Catalonia). The seminar, a pioneering event in its class in Spain, demanded the participation of citizens in landscape planning policies and there were intense debates on different methodologies and approximations to involve citizens in the making of decisions on landscape. You can consult the documentation regarding the interventions here.

Sacred Hymalan Landscape (SHL) Strategic Planning

Strategic plan for preservation of the sacred landscape of the Himalaya, set up by the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation of the Government of Nepal in 2006. The document gives an approximation to the Himalayan landscapes and establishes the strategies to be followed with a view to making development of the area compatible with the integrity of its sacred landscapes, taking into account the preservation of biodiversity, cultural values and the improvement of subsistence.

Landscape Alliance Ireland

Association formed of individuals, NGOs and representatives of public bodies to preserve and improve the quality of urban, suburban and rural Irish landscapes. The web is full of quotations from authors on various aspects of the Irish landscape.

Archnet

Digital Islamic architecture bookshop. Has numerous publications on architecture which can be downloaded from the web and a full dictionary on Islamic architecture.

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