Northern Landscapes : ʻʻImplementation of the European Landscape Convention In the North Calotte Area Municipalitiesʼʼ - Conference in Inari, Finland 7-9.9.2011

The conference promoting the objectives of the international European Landscape Convention (ELC) was held on 7-9 September 2011 in Inari. The primary aim of the conference was to increase awareness of the ELC and the prospects and requirements it brings to practical planning work, especially at the municipal level. The conference speakers included top experts from Sweden, Norway, Finland, France, Holland and Catalonia. This report is a collection of articles written by the experts in the ELC conference. The report is available in five languages: Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Northern Sámi and English. The common characteristics of the North Calotte area, such as the magnificent riverside scenery and the beautiful fell landscapes formed by the Sámi culture and reindeer management are broadly reflected in the environment. Alongside the traditional forms of land use, many other livelihoods and forms of land use now need to be accommodated in the area. Tourism, energy production, mining industry and new infrastructure create new and manifold challenges to the authorities in charge of land use in these areas. Municipalities need information and support for versatile planning in the future, so that the unique and valuable characteristics of the North can be preserved. Landscape protection and management in the landscape areas is executed through areal and land use planning, mainly through town planning and the creation of landscape management plans. The municipalities in the North Calotte region have their own partly divergent methods and practices, based on the various land use processes are executed. The municipalities and inhabitants have a great interest in preserving and protecting their living environment and maintaining and increasing the appeal of the area. Landscape is viewed as one of the most significant appealing factors that cannot be lost. The increasing land use in municipalities, for example due to energy production, mining industry and increasing tourism, create a need for more multidimensional planning. The reconciliation of the wishes of different interest groups, and traditional and new livelihoods will not be easy. Conflict is inevitable. This will lead to a greater need to engage local bodies to the planning processes right from the start of the projects. Close cooperation between different administrative branches, operators, local bodies and landscape research promote the objectives of the convention. To ensure that the work continues, a landscape co-operation group is planned to be established in the North Calotte area. It´s main task is to promote and develop landscape policy in the area.

Living Landscape: The European Landscape Convention in Research Perspective

This special issue reports some of the highlights of the conference Living Landscape – The European Landscape Convention in Research Perspective, organised jointly by UNISCAPE and Landscape Europe (UNISCAPE, 2010). Starting questions for this conference were: what has science contributed to the implementation of the European Landscape Convention (CoE, 2000) and what are the topics for the future of European landscape? The 10th anniversary of the Florence Convention in October 2010 was an opportunity to discuss the merits of landscape science in integrated research of a rapidly changing environment. Many interdisciplinary contributions presented referred to the Landscape Convention. The conference focused on cutting-edge research results at the crossroads of sciences and humanities, design and empiricism. Not by chance, the conference was also the occasion to launch a new ESF-COST Science-Policy Briefing on Landscape Research (Bloemers, Daniels, Fairclough, Pedroli, & Stiles, 2010 Bloemers, T., Daniels, S., Fairclough, G., Pedroli, B., & Stiles, R. (Eds.) (2010) Landscape in a changing world. Bridging Divides, integrating disciplines, serving society. Science Policy Briefing nr 41. Strasbourg and Brussels: ESF-COST. ): ‘Landscape in a Changing World – Bridging Divides, Integrating Disciplines, Serving Society’. It emphasises the importance of four interdisciplinary themes: Universal commons: securing landscape as a common good. Roots and routes: coming to terms with mobility and evolving lifestyles. Reactions and resilience: long-term landscape transformations. Road maps: landscape as baseline and context for future change. The papers in this special issue largely reflect these themes.

Girona, capital europea del paisatge

Resum de la V Trobada dels tallers per a l’aplicació del Conveni europeu del paisatge, què va tenir lloc a Girona al setembre de 2006

Girona, capital europea del paisatge

Resum de la V Trobada dels tallers per a l’aplicació del Conveni europeu del paisatge, què va tenir lloc a Girona al setembre de 2006

Landscape and planning: strengthening discussions in the decision-making process

Since the emergence of the European Landscape Convention (ELC) in 2000, the important link between landscape and planning has greatly intensified. Now, more than ever, the fundamental role of the planning system in delivering the ELC’s requirements is recognised. This has been further substantiated within Ireland’s recently published National Landscape Strategy. However it has continually been suggested that decision-making processes need to adapt better to the holistic, valueladen and multidimensional approaches underpinning the ELC. In light of these milestones for the preservation, management and planning of landscape, this research sets out to establish synergies and disparities in the existing relationship between landscape and planning. It investigates detailed evidence of the presence and manifestations of landscape in key processes of day-to-day planning practice in Ireland, from individual planning appeals and ‘special’ cases, to the major strategic instruments that inform the making of landscape policies within development plans. This is set within wider theoretical and policy contexts where the compatibility of landscape and planning is subjected to critical scrutiny and then explored through these practical case studies. Driving this research is the intention to make a case for the planning domain to be an ideal ‘home’ for landscape – in all its deep, multidimensional meaning – and for enhancing landscape arguments and objectives in the face of conflict, competing values and power-plays in the real world. Emerging out of this research is a set of recommendations for how, at a national level, new approaches for decision making for and about landscape can be more effective and meaningful.

Valuing landscape identity of local inhabitants through a tourism discourse

Landscape, people and identity Landscape is about the interaction of a place or an area with people, which is reflected in the material interaction of people creating or shaping the landscape as well as in their mental perception, valuation and symbolic meaning of that landscape (Cosgrove 1998). This mutual and dynamic interaction forms the fundamental principle of the concept of landscape identity. Landscape identity has been described in scientific literature as a concept to bridge the physical, social and cultural aspects of landscapes. Also policy documents related with landscape and heritage (for example the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, the European Landscape Convention, the Faro Convention) are mentioning identity and landscape as key concepts. In those examples, landscape identity can refer to either the landscape itself - its features that makes the landscape unique (thus the landscape character), or to the social and personal construction. However, there is an interdependency between those two perspectives that needs to be conceptualised. Landscape identity is therefore defined as the multiple ways and dynamic relation between landscape and people (Loupa Ramos et al 2016).

La evolución reciente de las políticas de paisaje en España y el convenio europeo del paisaje

En este artículo se analiza el desarrollo de las políticas paisajísticas en España, especialmente en su etapa actual, cuando el paisaje se ha convertido en un instrumento importante para la diagnosis y el desarrollo del territorio. En primer lugar, se estudian las diferentes etapas en la evolución de las políticas del paisaje en España, desde el periodo donde el paisaje sólo tenía un significado artístico y cultural (principios del siglo XX) hasta la firma y ratificación por España del Convenio Europeo del Paisaje (CEP) que establece un marco común para las políticas paisajísticas europeas. Se realiza un análisis crítico de los planteamientos del CEP y de los problemas de su implementación en España. Se hace hincapié en la problemática de la democracia y participación pública en la toma de decisiones políticas en materia de ordenación del territorio y paisaje que recomienda el CEP y las dificultades para llevar a cabo las medidas que allí se proponen. Como conclusión, se realiza una reflexión sobre la integración del paisaje en las políticas de ordenación del territorio europeas como una manifestación de la emergencia de las formas más democráticas de gestión del territorio y sobre los nuevos retos de las investigaciones paisajísticas.

El convenio europeo del paisaje. Una propuesta metodológica para su implementación en el ámbito urbano

En la actualidad, existe la necesidad de vincular la práctica urbana y arquitectónica al pensamiento ecológico. Eso sucede porque el paisaje es el ámbito disciplinario que registra una mayor identidad contemporánea del lugar y el medio a través del cual asociar las estructuras urbanas a los procesos ecológicos. La amplitud conceptual del término paisaje, le otorga la capacidad para teorizar y proyectar sitios, territorios, ecosistemas, redes organizacionales complejas, infraestructuras, amplias superficies urbanas, y ser visto a la vez como una herramienta de negociación entre conflictos territoriales, diferentes escalas, cruces de fronteras administrativas y enfoques sectoriales. En esta tesis se presenta una propuesta metodológica para la implementación del Convenio Europeo del Paisaje (Consejo de Europa, 2000) en contextos urbanos y periurbanos. Para ello, la tesis aborda, desde una perspectiva aplicada a la planificación territorial, las relaciones espaciales de los diferentes elementos del sistema territorial que componen el mosaico paisajístico de una ciudad de rango medio, Segovia, y su entorno inmediato. El enfoque aplicado de la tesis se materializa a partir de una serie de propuestas de diseño, planificación, ordenación, gestión y protección del paisaje enfocadas a resolver problemas concretos detectados en la zona de estudio seleccionada. Para definir dichas propuestas,, la tesis adopta las bases teóricas o conceptuales de la Arquitectura del Paisaje, una disciplina de diseño aplicada, basada en significados sociales, ecológicos, económicos, culturales e históricos y en los valores visuales y estéticos. El resultado es la propuesta de una herramienta, el Plan de Paisaje de Segovia, cuyo objetivo es el de ofrecer una estrategia para el desarrollo a escala local basado en los procesos ecológicos y las estructuras del paisaje. La identificación y caracterización del paisaje, la definición de objetivos de calidad paisajística de protección, conservación, restauración y creación de nuevos paisajes, así como la propuesta de una estrategia de infraestructura verde para el municipio que promueva la conexión ecológica a escala regional, pretenden enriquecer y mejorar el proceso de planificación urbana y logran una ordenación territorial más integrada, más armónica y equilibrada. Los beneficios de incorporar un enfoque basado en el carácter del paisaje para asesorar en la toma de decisiones sobre el crecimiento urbano y los futuros desarrollos están cada vez mas demostrados y reconocidos. En el contexto europeo, los Planes de Paisaje están siendo incorporados como una nueva herramienta para hacer más efectivo el cumplimiento de los objetivos de desarrollo sostenible. ABSTRACT Nowadays, there is a need to link urban and architectural practice to ecological thinking, being landscape the disciplinary field which has the highest contemporary identity of the place, as well as the capacity to associate urban structures with ecological processes. The conceptual scope of the term landscape offers the ability to theorize and project sites, territories, ecosystems, complex organizational networks, infrastructures, large urban areas, and be seen as a tool to negotiate between territorial conflicts, different scales, administrative boundaries and sectoral approaches. A methodology for the implementation of the European Landscape Convention (Council of Europe, 2000) in urban and peri-urban contexts is presented in this thesis. To do this, the thesis examines, from an applied perspective to spatial planning, the spatial relationships of the different elements of the territorial system that make up the landscape mosaic of Segovia, a middle size city, and its immediate surroundings. The applied approach results in a series of proposals for design, planning, development, management and protection of the landscape focused on solving specific problems identified in the study area selected. To define these proposals, the thesis adopts the theoretical and conceptual foundations of Landscape Architecture, an applied design discipline, based on social, ecological, economic, cultural and historical meanings and visual and aesthetic values. The result is the proposal of a tool, the Landscape Plan of Segovia, whose aim is to provide a strategy for development at the local level, based on ecological processes and landscape structures. The identification and characterization of the landscape, the definition of landscape quality objectives for protection, conservation, restoration and creation of new landscapes as well as a proposed green infrastructure strategy for the town to promote ecological connectivity regionally, intend to enrich and improve the urban planning process and ensure a more integrated, harmonious and balanced territorial development. The benefits of incorporating an approach based on the character of the landscape to assist in the decision making processes on urban growth and future developments are increasingly recognized and proven. In the European context, Landscape Plans are being incorporated as a new tool for a more effective compliance with the objectives of sustainable development.

Les polítiques de paisatge a Europa en el marc del Conveni Europeu del Paisatge. Els casos d'Espanya, Alemanya i Eslovàquia

En aquesta tesi doctoral es pretén estudiar les diferents polítiques de paisatge a Europa, centrant-se en l’estudi a fons del Conveni Europeu del Paisatge, únic instrument dedicat exclusivament al paisatge. Mitjançant l’anàlisi de tres casos d’estudi, Espanya, Alemanya i Eslovàquia, més l’estudi de respectives regions dels mateixos, s’explicaran les eines i instruments existents avui per protegir, gestionar i ordenar el paisatge, afegint, però, l’element social, indiscutiblement lligat a la manera de veure, pensar i viure el paisatge. Es respon així a la hipòtesis de si ens trobem davant un canvi de paradigma, davant una nova sensibilitat respecte del paisatge. Indirectament es responen a dues preguntes més: demostrar si després de 10 anys de funcionament del Conveni Europeu del Paisatge aquest es perfila com a instrument per excel•lència per protegir, gestionar i ordenar el paisatge a Europa i si és possible l’existència de polítiques de paisatge efectives al marge del Conveni Europeu del Paisatge.

El paisaje, su patrimonialización y el beneficio económico

Desde hace dos décadas se viene asistiendo a un renovado interés por el paisaje en distintas disciplinas e instituciones políticas y administrativas. Algunos autores lo interpretan desde una perspectiva neorromántica, como reacción a los efectos destructores de la modernidad. El Convenio Europeo del Paisaje (CEP) estableció en Florencia en el año 2000 una definición de paisaje ampliamente aceptada y unas pautas de intervención sobre el mismo que pretenden ser el marco para las leyes nacionales y regionales de los países firmantes. El presente trabajo se propone explicar la recuperación del interés por el paisaje desde la perspectiva de la valorización económica del territorio, como externalidad que permite generar rentas. En mi opinión esa es la verdadera orientación de la CEP.

Urban-rural connections and development perspectives in Portugal

Portugal is characterized by a significant asymmetry in the population distribution/density and economic activity as well as in social and cultural dynamics. This means very diverse landscapes, differences in regional development, sustainability and quality of life, mainly between urban and rural areas. A consequence coherent with the contemporary dynamics: urbanization of many rural areas that loose their productive-agricultural identity and, simultaneously, the reintegration in urban areas of spaces and activities with more rural characteristics. In this process of increasing complexity of organization of the landscape is essential to restore the continuum naturale (between urban and rural areas) allowing closer links to both ways of life. A strategy supported in the landscape, which plays important functions for public interest, in the cultural, social, ecological and environmental fields. At the same time, constitutes an important resource for economic activity, as underlined in the European Landscape Convention. Based on this assumption, and using a multi-method approach, the study aims to analyse a) the links between urban and rural areas in Portugal and b) the reasons why these territories are chosen by individuals as places of work and mobility, residence or evasion, culture and leisure, tranquillity or excitement – meaning overall well-being. Primary information was obtained by a questionnaire survey applied to a convenience sample of the Portuguese population. Secondary data and information will be collected on the official Portuguese Statistics (INE and PORDATA). Understanding the urban-rural links is essential to support policy measures, take advantage from the global changes and challenge many of the existing myths.