Meet people where they are

The Landscape Observatory of Catalonia recently published El paisatge i el color. Percepció, significats i intervenció (Landscape and Colour: Perception, Meanings and Intervention). The publication is the ninth volume in the ‘Reflexions’ series of the ‘Plecs de Paisatge’ collection and comes from the seminar of the same name held in Olot in April 2024 and organised by the Landscape Observatory with the support of Bòlit, Centre for Contemporary Art. The publication explores in depth the role played by colour in perceiving, managing and intervening in the landscape, bringing fresh perspectives and points for discussion on the issue.

Bagà City Council was approved a by-law to restrict and regulate the installation of signs, banners and large advertising hoardings in the municipality, especially outdoors and alongside the C-16 road. The regulation, inspired by the European Landscape Convention and the Catalan Landscape Law, seeks to prevent the visual impact of certain advertising hoardings and to protect the aesthetics of the town’s urban and rural landscape. The by-law responds to situations where advertising elements were previously installed without prior authorisation.

The event will take place on 17 October at the Bosc de Tosca social centre in La Garrotxa and is included in the programme of Olot Arquitectura 2026, coinciding with the fifteenth anniversary of Wikipedra. In the first part, Jordi Grau, who works at the Landscape Observatory, will explain Wikipedra and Emili Bassols, an employee of the Parc Natural de la Zona Volcànica de la Garrotxa, will discuss the natural and cultural heritage of Bosc de Tosca. There will then be an outing to discover the dry stone hidden in the Bosc de Tosca woodland led by Joan Montserrat, who also works at the Parc Natural. During the first part of the event, there will be a mobile library service with specific documentation on dry stone. Attendees will also be able to visit the exhibition ‘Tot un món de pedra seca’ (A Whole World of Dry Stone), put on by Adrinoc. You may register for free here.

Collectif Paysages de l’après-pétrole has published the document ‘Une nouvelle alliance avec le feu, penser le paysage pour composer avec le risque incendie’ (A New Alliance with Fire: Thinking About Landscape to Deal with Fire Risk), which notes how climate change has intensified fires to the point of exceeding current management capacities in landscapes that are increasingly vulnerable due to agricultural abandonment and scattered urban development. The authors call for bringing back agricultural, forestry and pastoral practices and understanding landscape as a planning tool that reduces fuel, strengthens solidarity between sectors and builds resilience. They advocate a new culture of ‘living with risk’ that integrates fire as an ecological and social agent.

Led by CAUE de Paris, in cooperation with Paris City Council, this project is open to everyone to observe, document and understand urban transformations through photography. Conceived as a tool for the Paris Landscape Atlas, it invites residents, photography enthusiasts and curious minds to contribute to a collective record of Parisian landscapes. Curated by the Bibliothèque historique de la Ville de Paris (BHVP), the collection provides an ideal starting point for observing urban change over more than half a century. The first photographic campaign ends on 30 November 2026 and consists of revisiting Parisian viewpoints that had previously been identified during the launch of the Landscape Atlas project in 2022.

Funded by the European Commission, the HARVEST project aims to strengthen the social value of European agricultural landscapes, especially among new and future generations. Through research, innovation and dialogue with public policy, the project seeks to contribute to more viable, socially valued and future-oriented agricultural systems. Driven by various institutions and organisations, including Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), the Open University of Catalonia (UOC), The Nature of Cities and the Countryside & Community Research Institute, the project welcomes the Landscape Observatory to join its scientific council in recognition of its track record in analysing rural landscape transformations and in bringing such issues to public policy agendas.

‘Camí de cabres’ (Goat Road) is a podcast about farming. It is also an immersive sound experience into a living rural world, with particular attention paid to the symbiosis between people and nature and to the little details of the landscapes featured in each episode. The latest episode is dedicated to the management of agricultural and forest landscapes and was recorded at the offices of the Landscape Observatory.

Held from 30 June to 2 July at Espai Barrina in the Serra de Castelltallat, the ‘Paisatge i Cultura’ (Landscape and Culture) residency explored the relationships between landscape, culture and territorial management. Undertaken with the collaboration of the Landscape Observatory, the residency framed landscape as a living space where agroforestry practices, local knowledge and artistic creation converge. The event brought together students, researchers, professionals and people from the area to provide new perspectives that boost resilience and the reinterpretation of heritage.

The Polytechnic University of Valencia will organize, together with ECLAS and the Le:Notre Foundation, the Landscape Forum 2027 and the International University Landscape Competition 2026–2027, linked to the European project LOLA and to the work carried out in Valencia through the HORTALAB Landscape Laboratory. The international competition “After the Storm” focuses on exploring resilience strategies in Mediterranean landscapes under climate pressure, based on the case study of the Poyo ravine basin, a system historically shaped by water and currently vulnerable to drought, extreme rainfall and urbanization. The working period runs from 15 September 2026 to 31 January 2027. See more details here.

Held in November, Paisajes en Red (Networked Landscapes) is an international event organised by the Red Argentina del Paisaje and the Iniciativa Latinoamericana del Paisaje (LALI). ‘Paisajes de vida’ (Landscapes of Life) is the conceptual theme of the event, which will bring together professionals from various fields committed to building a landscape culture based on cooperation, shared learning and care for local territories. The Landscape Observatory will participate by explaining the role of its Documentation Centre, its Image Archive and its publishing policy, not as simple tools for compiling and disseminating information, but as instruments for producing knowledge and contributing to landscape management.

Landezine is an international platform dedicated to contemporary landscape architecture that functions as a global showcase of projects, practices and trends in landscape design.

Pere Joan. Neocaos. Sineu: Autsaider Cómics, 2023. ISBN: 978-84-96199-82-8.

This graphic novel reflects on the limits of architecture, imagination and the role of urban planning. The author explores these themes from a playful standpoint, offering imaginative or outlandish solutions to tragic social changes stemming from the loss of income or housing.

Roberto Uribe-Castro. Horizonte. Gijón: PACA-Proyectos Artísticos Casa Antonino, 2025. ISBN: 978-84-09-79712-7.

This artist’s book was developed through research centred on the idea of the post-industrial landscape. The project brings together diverse interests: the history of landscape, from Flemish painting to the present day, our place in the natural world and the geopolitical dimensions implicit in contemporary landscapes.

Casado Ruiz, Yolanda (coord.). Carta de Cantarranas para los jardines históricos. [Madrid]: Ministerio de Cultura. Subdirección General de Atención a la Ciudadanía, Documentación y Publicaciones, 2026. ISBN: 978-84-8181-927-4. Disponible aquí.

This charter was created to establish the principles, criteria and recommendations that should guide any intervention in historical gardens. It addresses historical gardens not only as botanical areas, but also as complex heritage assets with recognised historical, cultural, compositional, aesthetic, symbolic and ecological value.

Carlos Labarta, Ascensión Hernández i Alegría Colón (eds.). Memoria, proyecto y construcción del paisaje [número monogràfic]. ZARCH: Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Architecture and Urbanism, núm. 26 (2026). ISSN: 2341-0531. Disponible aquí.

This special issue of the journal ZARCH brings together research and professional practices from a wide range of fields and at different scales to explore the role of memory and its cartographies in the construction of cultural landscapes awaiting redefinition. One particularly notable article is an interview with Joan Nogué, former Director of the Landscape Observatory, entitled ‘La construcción del paisaje’ (The Construction of Landscape).

Patrizia Boschiero, Luigi Latini, Monique Mosser. Topofilia. Luoghi, scritture, incontri del Premio Carlo Scarpa per il Giardino. Treviso: Fondazione Benetton Studi Richerchej, 2026. ISBN: 978-88-8435-620-8.

This publication provides a concise overview of the more than thirty-year history of the International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens. The award has the particular feature of being dedicated to a specific ‘site’ and is based on research work and exhaustive study, travel and on-the-ground exploration, which sometimes leads to quite unexpected encounters.

Fina Miralles. De la llum al reflex. Sabadell: Fundació Ars; Ajuntament de Cadaqués, 2026. ISBN: 978-84-89991-45-3.

This book arises from the bond between the artist, Fina Miralles, and the territory of Cadaqués. It is not merely a collection of works, but an intimate reading of a trajectory that finds a point of inflection and continuity in the local area. The publication is an act of homage paid and recognition bestowed by the town of Cadaqués to the artist.