Il paesaggio è partecipazione, ma…

The paper focuses on the considerable distance that can be found around the theme of participation between the approach of the European Landscape Convention of 2000 and that of Italian Landscape Protection Law (Legislative Decree No. 42 of 2004).

The Landscape Observatory of Catalonia Managing and Planning the Landscape with the Communities

In December 2000 the Parliament of Catalonia (Spain) signed the European Landscape Convention (ELC). Five years later, in 2005, Parliament passed the Landscape Protection, Management and Planning Act 8/2005, and the Landscape Observatory of Catalonia was set up as the Generalitat of Catalonia’s assessment body and as a way to create public awareness on landscape. Managing and planning the landscape with the communities is one of the main challenges of the ELC. This paper will explain a short selection of initiatives promoted by the Landscape Observatory or in which the Landscape Observatory is involved, which clearly show that different dimensions of the landscape are generating increasing local interest, as local communities perceive the landscape as a catalyst for development and a way to increase self-esteem, identity and quality of life.

Landscape as a Potential Key Concept in Urban Environmental Planning: The Case of Poland

Rapid urban development increases the consumption of materials, energy, and water, resulting in an overproduction of waste and emissions. These cause many environmental threats, such as ozone layer depletion and rain acidification, leading to climate change. Therefore, the question arises on how to improve the effectiveness of tools that strengthen environmental protection. This discursive article presents an approach stressing the role of landscape in environmental protection in Poland. It indicates that landscape protection is an ecological, not just an aesthetic activity, as it is often considered in Poland. The landscape reflects all changes occurring in individual elements of the environment resulting from urban development. Through landscape transformations, one can track the growth and accumulation of adverse effects in the chain of environmental changes. Knowledge regarding the dynamics and scope of these transformations can improve ecological design and technologies. Therefore, the landscape condition should be treated as an indicator of sustainable development. If so, one could hypothesise that effective landscape protection contributes to minimising environmental and climate changes. The relationships between the landscape and environmental/climate threats discussed in this article prompt combining some tools related to these threats, which may ensure both effective landscape protection and sustainable development, leading to reduced climate change. The possibilities and benefits of integrating these tools are presented here as well. General considerations are supplemented with references to the situation in Poland to support the need for implementing a more policy-oriented and interdisciplinary approach to landscape protection.

Mind the Gap: Why the Landscape Planning System in Sardinia Does Not Work

In Italy, after the introduction of the Code of Cultural Heritage and Landscape in 2004, the Regional Landscape Plan (RLP) has acquired a coordination role in the urban planning system, for the implementation of policies for landscape protection and valorisation. The case study of the RLP of Sardinia is a paradigmatic application to the coastal area of the island, which is considered most vulnerable and subject to settlement pressure. The objectives of preservation and valorisation of the territorial resources should be transferred into local planning instruments by adopting strategies aimed at the preservation of the consolidated urban fabric, at the requalification and completion of the existing built-up areas according to the principles of land take limitation and increase in urban quality. The paper investigates the state of implementation and the level of integration of landscape contents in the local plans that have been adapted to the RLP, using a qualitative comparative method. In addition, the results of the plan coherence checks, elaborated by the regional monitoring bodies after the adaptation process, have been analysed to identify the common criticalities and weaknesses. The results highlight the lack of effectiveness of the RLP, after more than a decade since its approval, considering the limited number of adequate local plans and the poor quality of their analytical and regulative contents in terms of landscape protection and valorisation. Conclusions suggest some possible ways to revise the RLP, focusing on the participation of local communities and the development of a new landscape culture.

A Landscape Persistence Assessment of Częstochowa Upland: A Case Study of Ogrodzieniec, Poland

Landscape permanence is understood as the temporal extent of the dominance of a given type of landscape, expressed by the temporal continuity of its use. This issue, already being the subject of much research, is important in proper landscape protection and management. In this paper, spatial landscape persistence and persistence of particular landscape types are presented for the Ogrodzieniec municipality, Częstochowa Upland, Poland. In addition, a background of landscape types and their changes in the Częstochowa Upland has been presented. Based on current and historical topographic maps, landscape types (forest, agriculture, settlement, fortified and industrial) were identified for the following studied periods: 1831, 1944, 1965, 2007, 2014 and 2020. After overlapping the maps, the persistence index was calculated, and isochrones of landscape persistence were determined. The term ‘landscape isochrones’ introduced in this paper is defined as theoretical lines of equal landscape time duration (iso-persistence line). The results show that the landscape of Ogrodzieniec can be considered to be persistent. The largest area of the municipality is occupied by the most permanent landscapes dating from before 1831. The most persistent is the fortified landscape. The method applied is important for planning sustainable development of the region, which is currently under intense tourist and economic pressure.

Exploring the Rapid Assessment Method for Nature Reserve Landscape Protection Effectiveness—A Case Study of Liancheng National Nature Reserve, Gansu, China

The rapid assessment of the effectiveness of landscape protection in nature reserves is of great significance for the scientific formulation of protection and management countermeasures. There is also an urgent problem to be solved for the construction and management of nature reserves in China. Using high-resolution remote sensing image data, this study analyzes the landscape dynamics in the Liancheng National Nature Reserve (LNNR) and their driving factors since the reserve’s promotion to the national level in 2005, and proposes a comprehensive evaluation method for the effectiveness of landscape protection in protected areas based on the Landscape Transfer Index (LTI), Protected Landscape Integrity Index (PLII), and Interfered Landscape Sprawl Index (ILSI). Between 2006 and 2019, the area of protected landscape—namely woodland, grassland, and water—in the LNNR decreased, while the area of interfered landscape such as residential land, industrial and mining land, and water conservancy facility land increased. The LTI was −0.14, and among the driving factors, the development of industry and mining, land use by indigenous inhabitants, and the development of the transport industry made the highest contributions to the landscape transfer tendency, respectively 34.79%, 28.98%, and 17.30%. The results indicate that the overall quality of the landscape declined slightly during this period, mainly as a result of industrial and mining development, indigenous use of the land, and road construction. The PLII decreased from 82.7 to 68.7; this result indicates that the spatial pattern of the protected landscape became more fragmented, and the degree of human interference in the landscape increased. The ILSI increased from 26.61 to 26.68 which indicates that the scope of influence of human interference did not change significantly. The effectiveness of landscape protection in the LNNR is low. Despite the insignificant nature of these changes, they still require attention and timely remedial measures. The methodology proposed in this study may be applicable to the rapid assessment of the effectiveness of landscape conservation in various types of nature conservation sites around the world.

The Typology of the Biocultural Landscape in Slovakia

Context. The European Landscape Convention is international strategy that aims to promote landscape protection, management and planning. This must be done on the basis of identification and knowledge of basic landscape types, which were created by the interaction of man and nature during historical development. Objectives. This paper presents a methodological approach for creation and evaluation of representative biocultural landscape classification types in order to elaborate an effective strategy of landscape protection, and proposes a management strategy of sustainable use of representative biocultural landscape types of Slovakia that will ensure the regular maintenance of the landscape in view current global trends and factors affecting the landscape.Method. Our interdisciplinary approach is based on previous classifications of cultural landscape and interaction of natural elements and valuation of the biotic and biocultural value of the landscape. The classification of the biocultural landscape is a result of multi-criteria analysis in GIS and synthesis of maps of potential vegetation, real ecosystem and current land use, abiotic conditions of representative geoecosystems of Slovakia, and other specific statistical data. We assessed the perception and significance of individual landscape types by way of questionnaire survey. Results. In Slovakia, 7 basic types of landscape were singled out, from natural to semi-natural to anthropogenic, within which other subtypes were specified. The individual types were assessed from the point of view of protection of threats to and degradation of the landscape. Conclusions. The most valuable types of biocultural landscape are given insufficient protection at present and new tools and methods of support and protection have to be implemented.