Developing Living Landscapes

Laurens Bockemühl
Landscape Planner, Froelich & Sporbeck GmbH+CO KG. Co-ordinator of the European Academy for the Culture of Landscape PETRARCA

While growing up in the border area between Switzerland, Germany and France I was fascinated by the limits of the landscape as I passed through these countries. The immediate change in the landscape while stepping over the border between two states is a really astonishing experience. Something different appears there; a new, specific impression, although there are only a few metres separating both sides of the border. This character of the landscape can be experienced as a whole, however it is very difficult to keep hold of this wholeness in a conscious way or to describe it afterwards in words.

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Public Event: Ten Years of Landscape Policies in Catalonia and 15 Years of the European Landscape Convention

In 2015 three anniversaries coincided: fifteen years of the European Landscape Convention, ten years of the Catalan Law on Landscape and the tenth anniversary of the Landscape Observatory of Catalonia. To celebrate the above a public event is being held on 9 June, entitled "Where do Landscape Policies lead to?" in the Cotxeres Hall of Barcelona's Palau Robert. The event forms part of the ‘10+10' activities programme and seeks to take a balanced look at those landscape policies undertaken in Catalonia during the last decade and studies how they should be applied in the future.

Joint Cooperation between Civilscape and the Landscape Documentation Centre

Civilscape is the main European network of civil bodies dedicated to the tasks of protecting, managing and organising the landscape in line with the principles of the European Landscape Convention, will be working together with the Landscape Documentation Centre of Catalonia, which is located in Olot (in the county of La Garrotxa), in order to ensure that the body becomes a centre of reference, where Civilscape partners and organisations will be able to send landscape-related documents. The aim of the agreement, which has been signed by the European network and the Landscape Observatory, where the documentation centre is located, is twofold; firstly it publicises the documents in the possession of Civilscape members and partners, and secondly it helps to promote and extend the scope of the Catalan centre, which has been fully operational for several years now.For this to be possible, Civilscape will be making an annual appeal to members and partners to send their publications, in both digital and printed formats. These documents will then be published on the websites and newsletters of both institutions.

The Ara Newspaper has published a Special Landscape Edition

On 15 March, the newspaper Ara published an edition entirely dedicated to landscape themes. This special edition, which was produced with the cooperation of the Landscape Observatory, included an initial piece with reports, articles and graphics, entitled ‘The Country we have'. Landscapes occupied the entire content of the newspaper edition, as all its sections, from Politics to Sports, were illustrated with a selection of photographs that illustrated the landscape diversity of Catalonia. Specific contents were also created for the digital version in a video format, in addition to a gallery of images.

The Presentation of the Book version of the Catalogue of the Landscape of the Counties of Girona

On 6 February, the Banyoles Swimming Club was the venue for the presentation of the Catalogue of the Landscape of the Counties of Girona book edition. Santi Vila, the Minister for Territory and Sustainability in Catalonia, presided the event, during which he pointed out that the technical document is already being applied in a practical manner in the area, especially at a local level. This publication, which is the fourth catalogue published in book format, has been made possible thanks to an agreement between the Catalan Ministry for Territory and Sustainability and the Regional Government of Girona.

'Landscape, Word and City', an Observatory Exhibition at the MOT Festival

The Landscape Observatory, is taking part in the Olot-Girona MOT Literature Festival for the second year in a row. This year it has organised the exhibition "Landscape, Word and City" which is open from 9 to 19 April in the front area of the Marià Vayreda Library in the city of Olot. The exhibition seeks to show the relationship between urban landscapes and literature. Using a selection of numerous urban landscapes, as described by writers, who this year will be attending the MOT Festival, photography students at the Olot Art School have taken photographs to illustrate the exhibited texts. Their work is being displayed on seven large-scale canvases that are on show in the entrance area of the city's library.

Landscape Borders are the Main Topics at a European Council Workshop in Andorra

On 1 and 2 October 2015, the city of Andorra la Vella will be the venue for a workshop organised by the European Council and the Andorran Government, in cooperation with the Landscape Observatory of Catalonia, as part of the implementation of the European Landscape Convention. This event will deal with cooperation among actors in the management of cross-border landscape management.

The Lluçanès Landscape Charter is now open to Individual and Group Participation after the Signing of its Basic Principles

The first phase of the Landscape Charter of the El Lluçanès Region ended on 21 March with the signing of its founding principles. A public event held at the El Lluçanès Consortium presented the results of the participatory process and publicised the Charter's structural agreements. These principles represent the roadmap that will allow progress for an initiative that depends on the support of the Observatory and which is open to individual and group participation.

Unanimous Approval for the Landscape Law in Cantabria

On 15 December 2014, the plenary session of the Parliament of Cantabria unanimously approved Law 4/2014 on the Landscape. The text seeks to ‘duly' manage, organise, plan and protect this resource, which it qualifies as "one of the main features" of this region's identity and an important heritage for the future. The law comprises 17 articles and establishes guidelines and landscape studies as planning instruments – while as instruments of application it proposes projects on landscape action, restoration projects for neglected landscapes and tools for the analysis of landscape impact and integration.

The Observatory invited at the 8th European Landscape Convention Conference

The Observatory was invited at the 8th European Council Conference on the European Landscape Convention. The event, which was held from 18 to 20 March in Strasbourg, France, among other matters, evaluated the implementation level of a convention that this year has its fifteenth anniversary. The Landscape Observatory of Catalonia, which has a say, but no voting rights in the plenary sessions, presented the special edition of the newspaper ‘Ara', which was dedicated entirely to the landscape, to representatives from throughout Europe.

The Civilscape Website, in Catalan

Civilscape is the main European network of civil bodies dedicated to the tasks of protecting, managing and organising the landscape in line with the principles of the European Landscape Convention. The main contents of the organisation's website is now available in Catalan, and the same is true for some twenty other European languages. This translation has coincided with the designation of the Observatory as an honorary member of the European network.

The Observatory's Website now includes a Gallery of Photographs by Oriol Clavera

In February, the Landscape Observatory website included a gallery of photographs taken by Oriol Clavera. His work shows the landscapes of popular tourist areas during the low season, as well as new urban developments. The images are from the Catalan and Valencian coast, where Oriol Clavera, a Barcelonan who now lives in Osona, has carried out some of his work.

 

The Latin American Landscape Initiative has launched its Website

The new LALI website aims to show "an era of great challenges and strength" by the main network of organisations dedicated to the Latin American landscape. The website provides information on the main working areas and the projects of this Latin American network.

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