Gardens, landscapes and responsibility

Carmen Añón
Landscape architect

It's always been said that a garden reflects the society that creates and enjoys it. Landscapes are also the result of a people's successive history. However, mankind's persistent need for gardens has been transforming, from a nearly untenable goal at the dawn of humanity to its successive transformation, developing in consonance with society's constant and permanent change. That notwithstanding, it prevailed as a dreamed of, mythical and idealised image through literature, painting, music, etc. Slowly and subtly yet logically, gardens began changing in scale in synch with the times, but its frenetic growth has quickly accelerated in the last thirty years.

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The challenge of representing landscapes on maps, the focus of a new book by the Observatory

Representing landscapes on maps is a true challenge. For this reason, the Landscape Observatory decided to dedicate a specific seminar to the topic and later published a book entitled, Reptes en la cartografia del paisatge. Dinàmiques territorials i valors intangibles ("Challenges in Mapping Landscapes. Territorial Dynamics and Intangible Values"). It can be purchased from the Landscape Observatory of Catalonia along with the other collection publications. It was presented last November 21st at the Institute of Catalan Studies. Carme Montaner, Head of the Cartographic Institute of Catalonia's Cartography Archive was in charge of presenting the book.

New Landscape and Emotion seminar. The reappearance of Emotional Geographies

On Thursday 6 and Friday 7 of March 2014, the second international Theory and Landscape seminar titled "Landscape and Emotion. The Reappearance of Emotional Geographies" will be held at Pompeu Fabra University. The speeches at the seminar will be compiled in a digital publication thanks to the collaboration between the Pompeu Fabra University and the Landscape Observatory of Catalonia initiated in 2011 with the co-publication of Teoría y paisaje: reflexiones desde miradas interdisciplinarias. You can check the programme here.

The Department of Territory and Sustainability and the Provincial Council of Tarragona collaborate on the publication of the Landscape Catalogue dedicated to Terres de l'Ebre

This past November, the Director of Territory and Sustainability, Santi Vila, and the President of the Tarragona Provincial Council, Josep Poblet, signed a collaboration agreement to publish the Terres de l'Ebre Landscape Catalogue.  This catalogue was approved in 2010 and is technical in nature. It is part of a series of catalogues identifying the type of landscapes in each territory, its values and state of preservation, the quality objectives to be achieved and proposals to achieve them. The document is thus conceived of as a tool to help in territorial planning tasks.

The Landscape Observatory dives into fantasy landscapes at the next edition of the MOT Festival

The Landscape Observatory of Catalonia participates in the 2014 edition of the Girona-Olot MOT Festival dedicated to fantasy literature. In collaboration with photography students from the Olot Art School, the Observatory will relate fantasy literature, landscapes and photography in "Literally fantastic landscapes", a street exhibition consisting of ten large format panels displayed in different areas of Olot during the month of April.

The work group, 'Ponència de sòl no urbanitzable', makes its work available on a website

The work group, "Ponència de sòl urbanitzable" (Land not Suited for Development) belongs to the Department of Territory and Sustainability within the Government of Catalonia and serves to advise, consult and put forward propositions for all questions affecting this area. It has recently created a section on its website to include all its work. Amongst others, worth noting are its analysis of lands not suited for development but which include buildings, the criteria to install biomass energy plants or recreational gardens, and an analysis of the effects of infrastructures.

Landscape policies at the SCOT Forum on the reflection of territorial organisation and urbanism

The Catalan Society for Territorial Organisation, subsidiary of the Institute of Catalan Studies (IEC), has driven since late 2012 the Catalonia Forum 21 Territory and Urbanism. Status and alternatives. This platform is based on thought, dialogue and debate and responds to urbanism and territorial organisation in line with the constituent spirit of SCOT. The Forum has opened thirteen Dialogues, one of which is dedicated to landscape policies: "Landscape, urbanism and territorial development in times of recession: challenges and opportunities". The Dialogue, chaired by Jaume Busquets and relying on the participation of guest speakers, reflects upon the applicability and validity of concepts, instruments and strategies that have founded landscape policies and the opportunities they offer to overcome the challenges of current territorial development, within the context of a profound economic recession and social uncertainty. You can follow the content of this Dialogue on this page.

Torrelles de Llobregat deciding on the future of its landscape

During 2003, the town of Torrelles de Llobregat in Baix Llobregat organized a participatory process to define the future of its landscape. The majority of the 350 participants in the initiative called Torrelles, territori i futur ("Torrelles, territory and future") was in favour of fomenting the landscape's agrarian and natural character and maintaining Torrelles' rural essence while taking advantage of the current halt in urban growth. The process served to define six large landscape objectives for the town: strengthen its rural essence, increase the urban centre's attractiveness for shops, improve forest and natural space management, rehabilitate and preserve historical elements, improve the appearance of urban spaces and, the transversal objective, foment civic mindedness and concern for the environment.

CAN celebrates its 1st Joint Art and Nature Meeting in Alt Pirineu

The Farrera Centre for Art and Nature (Centre d'Art i Natura de Farrera) in Pallars Sobirà organized its 1st Joint Art and Nature Meeting this past October 12th in Alt Pirineu. The event brought together approximately sixty people and consisted of three outdoor activities. Two were organized by artists, Vicens Casassas (La Seu d'Urgell) and Pau Garriga (Menorca), while the third was dedicated to dance and nature and organized by Anna Rubio (Farrera). The work created by Casassas (Elogi del Saüc) and Garriga (Torrent de branques i pedres) can be visited in the area around Farrera and Burg.

Participation in landscape policies to be debated in Brussels

The Free University of Brussels has organized an International Conference entitled "Combining Scientific Expertise with Participation: The Challenges of the European Landscape Convention." The conference will be held on April 28th and 29th, 2014, and aims to debate on the results of different methodologies developed during the first decade of the Landscape Convention's implementation. The symposium will also study how landscape characterization tools are created and the role all the different agents play in participatory processes.

CIVILSCAPE organizes regional forums on landscape

CIVILSCAPE is an international association of civil society organisations dedicated to landscape protection, management and planning in Europe. Its work serves as a reference in the continent in terms of fomenting the European Landscape Convention amongst civil society. In this respect, it has organized regional forums throughout Europe over the last few months, with participants including the diverse players involved in each region. The Landscape Observatory took part, describing the Catalan experience in this area, especially aspects such as the knowledge of local actors and participation. The Observatory participated in the Balkan forum held in Tivat (Montenegro) and in Scandinavia held in Mariestad (Sweden). CIVILSCAPE also organized forums for the Benelux countries, the Alps and the Baltic regions. In 2014, it will dedicate a forum to the Iberian Peninsula, amongst others.

13th Council of Europe Workshop on the European Landscape Convention held in Montenegro

The presentations given at the 13th Council of Europe Meeting of the Workshops for the Implementation of the European Landscape Convention held in Cetinje (Montenegro) and dedicated to "Territories of the future: landscape identification and assessment, an exercise in democracy" can now be consulted online. The Landscape Observatory participated in this workshop, presenting its Landscape Catalogues as part of a speech on identifying and evaluating landscape characteristics at the regional level. The Observatory also took advantage of its presence in Montenegro to participate in the Balkan Landscape Forum organized by CIVILSCAPE in the city of Tiva.

New bonds between the Observatory and entities in Latin America

The Landscape Observatory took advantage of its presence in Chile to establish new bonds with various research organisations. Concretely, the Observatory participated in the Landscape and  Territory Symposium organised this past November 6th by the Universidad de Bío Bío's Department of Urban Planning and Design. The Observatory held various meetings in the Bío Bío region and will also advise the Latin American Landscape Initiative (LALI) in the design and definition of functions for the future Latin American Landscape Observatory. This collaboration is part of an agreement between both institutions signed last October during the second LALI forum and the International Federation of Landscapes' (IFLA) regional conference held in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

The Argentine town of Exaltación de la Cruz launches its Landscape Observatory

This past November, the Argentine town of Exaltación de la Cruz launched its own Landscape Observatory. The event was preceded by the National Landscape Week with which the Landscape Observatory of Catalonia collaborated. This initiative served to introduce the local Landscape Observatory, the result of work carried out jointly by the town and the Argentine Landscape Network (Red Argentina del Paisaje). In addition, participants reflected on questions such as: "What do we mean by ‘landscape'?"; "What is natural and cultural heritage?"; "What forces are transforming the area's landscape?"; and "Does landscape have an impact on citizens' quality of life?".

Améliorons et valorisons nos entrées de bourgs

Best practice guide to improve and valorise city entrances written by the Pyrenees National Park (France).

Osservatori regionale per il paesaggio del Veneto

Body for the monitoring and assessment of landscapes, created by the Direction of Urbanism and Landscape of the Veneto region.

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