Landscape: Identity and Memory

Josep M. Corominas i Barnadas
Mayor of Olot

As the Mayor of Olot I am highly pleased to have been invited to be the ‘observer' in this issue – and for two main reasons: firstly because this edition coincides with the tenth anniversary of the founding of the Landscape Observatory of Catalonia and secondly because, since its creation, this observatory has maintained its headquarters in our city, and has been run by the geographer Joan Nogué, who himself is from the region of La Garrotxa.
 

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The Celebration of the Tenth Anniversary of the Landscape Observatory

The party celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Landscape Observatory was held on the 9th of July in the courtyard of the Hospice of Olot. The event included the presentation of the video " El paisatge és de tots"  and a concert by the group Hardwoods, in addition to acting as a meeting point with colleagues and people who have been associated with the observatory over the last ten years. The party formed part of the 10+10 Activities Programme, which commemorates the ten years of the observatory, ten years of the Law on the Protection, Management and Planning of the Catalan landscape and marks fifteen years since the approval of the European Landscape Convention.

The Observatory and the Department of Territory and Sustainability analyse the Future Direction of Landscape Policies

An event at the Palau Robert in Barcelona on the 9th of June commemorated a triple anniversary: the tenth of the Law on the Protection, Management and Planning of the landscape, the tenth of the observatory and the fifteenth of the European Landscape Convention. Furthermore, the observatory and the Department of Territory and Sustainability sought to analyse the future possible directions of policies regarding this field in Catalonia.

The Programme of the European Council Workshop in Andorra is now available

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.

Cervera has presented and implemented a Landscape Plan

This new instrument, which has been promoted with the consultation of the observatory, has transferred the methodology of landscape catalogues to a local level and the result has been an intense participatory process involving local bodies. Cervera is the first Catalan municipality to possess a landscape plan. The document was presented on Thursday the 4th of June, in the capital of the La Segarra region, and involved transferring the methodology of landscape catalogues to a local level. The initiative was promoted by Cervera Town Council, with consultation services provided by the Landscape Observatory and the organisation of the geographer Sergi Saladié.

Short-films at the Landscape Documentation Centre

On the 7th of October, from 19.00 short films will be shown at the Landscape Observatory of Catalonia's Documentation Centre in the Hospice of Olot. This selection of short films has been organised by Alan Salvadó, a lecturer at the Department of Communication at Pompeu Fabra University (Barcelona) and a member of the CINEMA investigation group, which will be giving a talk during the event. The films are one of the ten activities in the 10+10 programme, which is commemorating the tenth anniversary of the observatory, ten years of the Law on the Protection, Management and Planning of the Catalan landscape and marks fifteen years since the approval of the European Landscape Convention.

The 6th National Meeting of the Argentina Landscape Network

On the 8th and 9th of May 2015, the 6th National Meeting of the Argentina Landscape Network was held in the University of Palerm in Buenos Aires, and was attended by over 200 people from around the country. The subject of the meeting was ‘The Landscape as a Social Construction'. The talks can be seen here.

The European Inventory of Landscape Observatories is now operational: Landscape Observatory Documentation (LOD)

Landscape observatories are instruments recommended for the implementation of the European Landscape Convention. Today observatories exist in different areas, which have been established by institutional bodies or by society. The LOD project, of Turin University, promotes scientific cooperation between these observatories in order to reduce the break up of local initiatives and to coordinate their strengths. This directory is the first result of the Charter of Turin, a charter-manifesto that backs the promotion of these types of bodies on the European continent, promoted by UNISCAPE, CIVILSCAPE and RECEP-ENELC.

Series of Debates: Visions 5.1 at Montblanc on the 3rd of July

On Friday the third of July the second debate in the Visions 5.1 series was held at the Museum-Archive of Montblanc. The event was organised by the La Conca 5.1 Association and the Friends of the Castle of Barberà de la Conca. The debate took place under the title "The Environmental Model of La Conca. The Time of the Landscape Charter", and was attended by Joan Nogué, the Director of the Landscape Observatory of Catalonia; Roser Vernet, the Coordinator of the Priorat Association of El Priorat; Pilar Saura, a member of the group The Friends of the Area of Poble and Xavi Buqueras, a technician from the Natural Area of Poble. The audio version of the debate is available here.

The Landscape Observatory joins the Coordinator of Organisations for Drystone Constructions

The Landscape Observatory has recently joined the Coordinadora d'Entitats per la Pedra Seca (the Coordinator of Organisations for Drystone Constructions). This group of bodies from areas with a traditional Catalan culture aims to promote and coordinate the initiatives undertaken by those bodies and organisations that defend and preserve drystone constructions that are important in terms of heritage. Every two years the body also promotes a research meeting that brings together organisations and researchers dedicated to a feature that is present in the majority of landscapes in traditional Catalan regions. The observatory took part in the last event, which was held on the 15th,16th and 17th of May in Calaceit (El Matarranya), where the new project of creating an online glossary on the wealth of vocabulary related to drystone constructions was presented. See the full press release here.

Special Edition about landscape of the Catalan newspaper Ara

Special edition of the Ara newspaper, on Sunday 15 March, entirely dedicated to landscape.

Territori i Urbanisme. Estat i alternatives. Document d'alternatives

Document arising from the "Forum 2012 Catalonia 21 Land and urban planning. Situation and alternatives", organized by the Catalan Society of Land Planning (SCOT).

Plataforma paisaje

An initiative created in Uruguay with influence throughout Latin America and which publishes news on landscape-related issues.

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