Greenness is landscape

Biel Mesquida
Writer and journalist, awarded with the Cross of Sant Jordi 2005 of the Government of Catalonia

My whole body had been assailed by curiosity for some days, but I had been smothered by the pressure of work, without a second for myself. What's more, domestic life, which I have always enjoyed, was stifling me. I had for days been wanting to touch the books, all those things that Aunt Diana had left me, which sat there silently, expectantly, in her library, that quadrangular room with Pompeian paintings of faded tree leaves on the walls, which opened up onto a terrace in the garden of my grandparents' family house.

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Ets part del paisatge. Participa: consultation through the web on the landscape catalogue of the Regió Metropolitana de Barcelona

The Landscape Observatory of Catalonia has opened the web Ets part del paisatge. Participa (You are part of the landscape. Participate) for public consultation over the landscape catalogue of the Regió Metropolitana de Barcelona, one of the five which are now being prepared. Consultation is one of the tools used by the Landscape Observatory of Catalonia to involve society in the management and planning of the landscape. The consultation will remain open until 31 October this year. As a gift, the people who complete the questions can download a screensaver for the computer with pictures of the landscapes in these territories.

The Landscape Observatory creates a new digital dossier on outstanding heritage trees

The Landscape Observatory of Catalonia has created a new digital dossier entitled Outstanding heritage trees, which can be consulted in Catalan, Spanish, English and French. The purpose of the new dossier is to disseminate the existence and the ecological, historical and symbolic importance of unique and monumental trees existing in landscapes around the world. The dossier also seeks to collect, classify, arrange and make available to the public, in a simple way, initiatives, centres, institutions, news and books on unique and monumental trees in Catalonia and on a international level. The dossier is designed to be useful both to specialists and to the public in general, and will be increased and updated regularly. This is the second digital dossier created by the Observatory. The first was devoted to dry stone landscapes and even now others are being prepared on various topics.

Presentation of the book SIT Manresa, Territorial Interpretation Service

On 5 June last, the building La Pedrera (Barcelona), was the setting for presentation of the book SIT Manresa, Territorial Interpretation Service, published by Sitesize, and available in Catalan and English. The texts included bring together a group of collaborations and synergies of people from the ambits in which cultural and artistic work on the territory finds its best complement: geography, landscape, public participation, the management of knowledge, teaching, cultural management, etc. Sitesize is a platform for collaborative projects around the contemporary metropolis which, since 2002, has been undertaking specific works of cultural creation and mediation in the metropolitan region of Barcelona, in order to evaluate the present and future transformation of the area.

Information sessions and participative workshops for the landscape catalogues of the Comarques Centrals and Terres de l'Ebre

During June, the Landscape Observatory of Catalonia organised various informative sessions relating to the preparation of the landscape catalogues of Catalonia, specifically those of the Comarques Centrals and Terres de l'Ebre. In relation to the Landscape Catalogue of the Comarques Centrals, there were five sessions for information and debate, organised jointly with the General Directorate of Citizen Participation of the Government of Catalonia. These sessions were arranged with the objective of making the public aware of the preliminary works for the Landscape Catalogue of the Comarques Centrals and to encourage people to identify and characterise the landscapes of their territory. With regard to the Landscape Catalogue of Terres de l'Ebre, six territorial workshops for debate were held, organised by the Institute for Development of the Ebro District (IDECE), the Landscape Observatory of Catalonia, the Consortium of Agro-environmental Services of Baix-Ebre-Montsià (CODE), and the Pre-departmental Geography Unit of the Rovira i Virgili University. These workshops were intended to be a space for communication of the results drawn from the first phase of the participation process and the first conclusions obtained by the technical drafting team of the Terres de l'Ebre Landscape Catalogue. Those attending also debated on what the future strategies should be for the landscapes of Terres de l'Ebre.

Conclusions of the Seminar Rurbanisation: New Urban Dynamics in the Rural Environment

On Wednesday 5 March, a seminar took place in Barcelona under the title Rurbanisation: New Urban Dynamics in the Rural Environnement with the idea of opening an interdisciplinary debate on the changes happening in rural landscapes. Experts from different disciplines, such as geography, the environment, political sciences, sociology and social anthropology, members of associations for the defence of the territory and other social movements, and representatives of different levels of the Public Authorities, all debated on the future of the territory and these landscapes. The seminar was organised jointly by the Observatory of Urbanization of the Geography Department of the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the Geography Department of the University of Santiago de Compostela, with the collaboration of the Fundació Canadà, the Canadian Studies Centre of Barcelona University and the General Directorate of Tourism of the Government of Galicia. You can consult the conclusions here.

Land-use scenarios for Europe: Qualitative and quantitative analysis on a European scale (PRELUDE)

Report by the European Environment Agency summarising the results of the PRELUDE project, analysing five different possible scenarios of the use of land in Europe over the next 30 years.

Attendance of the Director of the Landscape Observatory in the Parliament of Catalonia (30th April 2008)

Video feature with the director of the Landscape Observatory of Catalonia attending the general session of the Catalan Land Policy Committee, held on the 30th of April 2008. The session focused mainly on the bill to amend the Road Act 7/1993, passed on the 30th of September 1993.

Paysages Enchantier

Web created as a result of the Paysages Enchantier research program undertaken by Les Badauds Associés (LBA) in 2003. They perform different landscape related projects with the most outstanding being the landscape observatory of the city of Malakoff (Paris) and a series of three-dimensional landscapes which include sound.

Fundación Paisaje

A non-profit-making entity which has worked since 2002 to promote the use of landscape as a criterion in town and country planning.

» Events of July and August