Mediterranean landscapes: a view from the south of Italy

Daniela Colafranceschi
Architect, doctor of architectural projects and professor of landscape architecture in the faculty of architecture of the Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria, Italy

I have been teaching in the University of Calabria for almost twenty years that and, of course, I often move between the two strips of land bordering the strait which links –but also separates– this region from Sicily. With an approach inclined to the observation of phenomena, I have learned to read this landscape through its most basic morphology and the cultural references which have been imposed on it throughout the centuries.

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The UNISCAPE European network of universities for landscape is created

Last 26 May in Florence the UNISCAPE university network was formed, with the objective of stimulating scientific cooperation in matters of training and research among European universities interested in the European Landscape Convention. The network, created on the initiative of the IUAV university in Venice and the Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria, now includes more than 30 universities from various European countries, such as Italy, Germany, France, Portugal, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Spain. The Spanish universities which form part of it are the following: Girona University, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Seville University and the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

The Landscape Observatory of Catalonia organises the International Seminar on Landscape Indicators. Challenges and Perspectives

The new landscape policies introduced in Catalonia and in many European countries need indicators to permit a regular follow-up of the evolution and state of the landscapes, people's degree of satisfaction with their landscape and the effectiveness of public and private initiatives for landscape improvement. The debate over what these landscape indicators should be is now well ventilated around Europe, but is still not resolved. There are diverse factors which make it really complex: the transversal understanding of the concept of landscape, which includes natural and cultural dimensions, and an individual and social dimension of perception; the relative newness of landscape as a subject of town and country planning; or the wish to work with a list of indicators which are applicable, are of established value and can be understood by society as a whole. It is for this reason that the Landscape Observatory of Catalonia is organising the International Seminar on Landscape Indicators. Challenges and Perspectives, which will be held in the headquarters of the Catalan Cartographical Institute (ICC), in Barcelona, on 29 and 30 November 2007. The Seminar will be sponsored by the Ministry of Town and Country Planning and Public Works of the Government of Catalonia and will have the collaboration of the Catalan Cartographical Institute, the Fundació Territori i Paisatge of Caixa Catalunya and the European Network of Local and Regional Authorities for the Implementation of the European Landscape Convention (RECEP). The objective of the Seminar is, then, to discuss the subject of landscape indicators from different disciplinary perspectives and to share some of the more interesting experiences in relation to this subject existing in the European ambit. You can consult the programme here.

The Council of Europe organises the 6th Meeting of the Workshops for the Implementation of the European Landscape Convention to debate on landscape and the rural heritage

The Council of Europe is organising the 6th Meeting of the Workshops for the Implementation of the European Landscape Convention, which will be held at Sibiu, Romania, from 20 to 22 September 2007, under the title "Landscape and rural heritage". The previous meeting was held in Girona in September 2006, with more than 300 institutional representatives attending from all around Europe. This type of meeting, promoted by the Council of Europe regularly since 2002, discusses in depth the implementation of certain aspects of the European Landscape Convention, approved in October 2000. Conceived as a true forum for the interchange of practices and ideas, these meetings are a real shop window for the new concepts, instruments and landscape policies emerging throughout Europe in the framework of the Convention. The meeting, in which the Landscape Observatory will be taking part, will examine experiences in the application of state, regional and local policies for the rural heritage in the context of the European Landscape Convention. You can consult the programme here.

Incorporation of the documentation centre of the Landscape Observatory of Catalonia into the CCUC

Last April the Landscape Observatory of Catalonia signed a convention with the University Libraries of Catalonia Consortium to integrate the Landscape Observatory's documentation centre into the University Union Catalogue of Catalonia (CCUC). This catalogue can locate, through a single consultation, all the documents iin the libraries which form part of the Consortium of University Libraries of Catalonia and other non-university institutions, such as the Observatory documentation centre. Cataloguing of the documents in the documentation centre (books, magazines, cd-roms, dvd, etc.) started in April and there are now more than 800 documents catalogued, a number which is steadily increasing. From now on, then, all the bibliographical funds of the Landscape Observatory's documentation centre can be consulted through the web.

2nd European Green Cities Conference

The association for the integration of green into urban centres, Per Més Verd, is organising, on 23 and 24 October, at the College of Architects of Catalonia, the second event of the European Green Cities Conference. In its second event the European Green Cities Conference becomes a multidisciplinary meeting point between public managers, financial agents and professionals who take part in the planning, design and creation of urban green spaces, with the aim of overcoming the idea that green generates more cost than benefit. The objective is closely related with improvements in our health, the sustainability of our environment, shady places and convenience in leisure areas, the strengthening of tourism, housing respectful with the landscape, green education and culture. This year the theme of the conference sets the value of green as a central line for the working days. The programme sets out, as usual, one day of more theoretical work devoted to concepts and another of practical work with case studies. You can obtain more information here.

CQC: Countryside Quality Counts

Document in the context of the project Countryside Quality Counts, prepared by Natural England, DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and English Heritage. Using a series of indicators the study analyses the ways in which the character of the landscape in the United Kingdom is changing and the implications that this could have in the achievement of sustainable development.

Results of the 2nd Landscape Mediterranean Award (Project PAYS.DOC)

Project "Good practice for Landscape", an EU-funded programme INTERREG IIIB MEDOCC.

Natural England

The body bringing together English Nature, the Countryside Agency and the Rural Development Service and intended to conserve and valorise the nature of the United Kingdom on account of its intrinsic value, and for the wellbeing of people, the quality of life and the economic prosperity it may bring.

Escoitar

A project of social promotion, open and free, the principal objective of which is the dissemination and promotion of sound phenomena and their exploration for social and documentary purposes.
It starts from the premise that an approximation to the sound of a place is an approximation to its heritage. From the web there is access to various sounds from around Galicia.

» Events of September and October