The landscape and its indicators

Jean-François Seguin
Head of Landscape Department, Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development (France)

A report by the European Environmental Agency (2005) on the integration of environment into the EU agricultural policy considers that "the European Landscape Convention does not define objectives nor does it contain well defined instruments to impose respect for them". I do not share this assertion, far from it, but it has the merit of reminding us that today, every public policy must define its objectives and the indicators of its effectiveness.

[ READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE ]

Contents and public information about the landscape Catalogue of Terres de Lleida

The Director General of Architecture and Landscape of the Government of Catalonia, Joan Ganyet, in accordance with the provisions of Decree 343/2006, of September 19th, by which Act 8/2005, of June 8th, regarding the protection, management and planning of landscape is developed, and the studies and reports on impact and landscape integration is regulated, last Novembre 16th presented the initial approval of the Landscape catalogue of Terres de Lleida and submitted the information to public opinion for a period of one month (DOGC). The Landscape catalogue of Terres de Lleida, made by the Landscape Observatory of Catalonia, was handed over to the Department of Territorial Policy and Public Works of the Government of Catalonia on October 31st 2006. The contents of the landscape Catalogue of Terres de Lleida can be seen in their entirety on the Landscape Observatory's website.

The Landscape Observatory prepares a pioneering questionnaire on the degree of landscape satisfaction in the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona

Since mid-2007 the Landscape Observatory has been preparing the Landscape Catalogue of the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona, a task which will be finished towards the end of 2008. With the objective of trying to assess the degree of landscape satisfaction among the five million inhabitants of the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona, the Landscape Observatory, through the Institute of Regional and Metropolitan Studies of Barcelona, is carrying out a questionnaire to 1050 people in this territory, the first time these characteristics have been used in Catalonia. Using pictures, maps and an interview lasting around 30 minutes, the intention is to sound out the perception that the inhabitants have of their day-to-day landscape, what they consider best about it and what they see as most degraded. The questionnaire is sponsored by the General Directorate of Citizen Participation of the Government of Catalonia and the results will be known in the first half of 2008.

Birth of the Landscape events newsletter

In October 2007 the Landscape Observatory of Catalonia created the Landscape events newsletter, a new communication tool for the Landscape Observatory, offering the user a selection of congresses, seminars, courses, presentations, conferences and exhibitions, among other activities around the world, with a special emphasis on events in Catalonia. This new medium, published monthly by e-mail, is a supplement to the Diary section of the Observatory web, the Landscap-e newsletter and the Dietari de Paisatge and is intended to become a new point of reference in dissemination, very useful to the agents more directly involved in the study and management of landscape and, in general, for anyone interested in landscape. If you wish to subscribe click here.

The Observatory adds 25 more terms to the glossary

The Glossary section of the Observatory web has just added 25 new terms and now has a list of 48 words. Trivialisation of landscape, perception of the landscape and landscape integration mesure are among the new terms which can now be consulted and are added to those already existing, such as landscape fragility, landscape creation and landscape character, among others. The Observatory web glossary is a vivid and dynamic section which is regularly enlarged with new terms, with the objective of promoting knowledge on landscape themes.

The exhibition ‘Country of landscapes' continues its travels

The exhibition 'Country of landscapes', organised by the Ministry of Town and Country Planning and Public Works, the Presidential Department of the Government of Catalonia and the Landscape Observatory of Catalonia, continues its travels all around Catalonia where more and more places are asking it to visit them. After its opening in Girona on 22 September 2006, it could be seen at the Palau Robert in Barcelona, in Reus and Lleida until 30 November. It is also planned to be in Olot from 22 February to 15 April 2008. The exhibition seeks to show the extraordinary diversity and richness of the landscapes in Catalonia, appreciating how painters and writers have reproduced and recreated Catalan landscapes at various moments in history, to experience the different ways of living a landscape and, finally, to show how civil organisations and authorities act today on landscape, managing it and promoting knowledge of it.

6th Meeting of the Workshops for the Implementation of the European Landscape Convention

The Sixth Meeting of the Workshops for the Implementation of the European Landscape Convention was organised by the Council of Europe from 20 to 22 September 2007 in Sibiu, Romania. On this occasion the theme was "Landscape and rural heritage". The meeting took the form of parallel sessions dealing with themes such as the rural landscape in town and country planning (particularly, as is logical, the case of Romania and the old countries of Eastern Europe), the roles of CEMAT and the other institutions and European policies in relation with the rural world, the value of the rural heritage, the necessary consideration merited by rural landscapes subject to intense transformation and, finally and as is normal in these types of meetings, various European experiences in relation with the theme under study. As a co-organiser body for the 5th Meeting, held just one year earlier in Girona, the Landscape Observatory of Catalonia was present at Sibiu and co-presided and acted as co-chairman and moderator of the final round table, in which the conclusions of the Meeting were set out.

Guide pour la réalisation d'une étude d'intégration et d'harmonisation paysagères: projet d'implantation de parcs éoliens sur territoire public

A guide prepared by the Government of Quebec for the integration of windmills into the landscape on public lands. It offers guidelines on reducing the impact of wind farms on the landscape and proposes measures for their harmonisation.

Centro de Estudios Paisaje y Territorio

Centre set up in 2005 and attached to the Andalusian Plan of Research, Development and Innovation with the objective of extending cooperation between the Ministry of Public Works and Transport and the public universities of Andalusia and to promote interaction between the respective lines of activity and research in landscape matters and town and country planning.

Arbres et routes

Independent association created in 1996 in Gers, France, with the objective of making people aware, protecting and valuing the trees lining the verges of many French roads as a true plant heritage of aesthetic and historic interest, among others. It is now active in many countries of the European Union and participates in international seminars.

» Events of November and December