 Language |
|
| Start |
|
| Calendar |
|
| News |
|
| Learn more |
|
© Council of Europe
" Unfortunately, developments in agriculture, forestry, industrial and mineral production techniques
and in regional planning, town planning, transport,
infrastructure, tourism and recreation and, at a more general
level, changes in the world economy, have often damaged
the landscapes or obliterated their distinctiveness."
"Cited" : The citizen - not just a bystander
|
"Landscape
ecologists have always been committed to applying their scientific results to
practical issues and have made many important contributions to strategic
planning, as well as at more local levels. In addition to Landscape Ecology, a wide range of scientific
topics is now included in the discussions at conferences and in papers in a
variety of journals. Important
topics include connectivity between landscape elements, pattern analysis,
biodiversity at the landscape level and monitoring of landscape change.
However, new topics such as the study of urban areas and the impacts of climate
change on landscapes are always emerging.
The study of landscape ecology is supported and encouraged through the International Association for
Landscape Ecology (IALE) which currently has over 1,800 members
worldwide."
Bob Bunce, doctor, partner of the ALTERRA Green World Research Wageningen UR, Netherlands, 2009
© ECOPÀS, a Spanish NGO for the landscape, 2009
"Cette crise doit être pour nous l'opportunité de rattraper nos retards
d'investissement et de prendre de l'avance. Il est beaucoup de domaines
très importants pour notre avenir comme l'aménagement du teritoire,
l'éducation, la formation professionelle, la recherche, l'innovation...
qui nous demanderont des moyens considérables."
Nicolas Sarkozy, Président de la République française, 2009
[Hotspot]
" Furthermore, under-utilisation of student and professional exchanges
leads to lack of exploitation of opportunities, due to lack of contact
and awareness. The so called 'Fifth Freedom' is important. There is
also opportunity to develop further the perceived quality of life in
the Baltic Sea Region, the education system and the tourism potential
of its heritiage and landscapes."
The European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, Action Plan, 2009
|
|
- A bottom-up perspective on territoriality |
Link archive of L&C The ELC Other Landscape Initiatives Permanently "Cited"
After the Conference:
“Landscape and
driving forces
in Malmö/Alnarp
8-9.10.09 " -
how about the status of the Rural Heritage Guide by CEMAT- Council of Europe, in Scania/SWEDEN?"
Please, feel welcome to a meeting in order to listen, have a cup of
coffee and discuss the environment issues and the cooperation around
the Baltic Sea..."
Those were the words, and off we went to Kristianstad, Scania, on a November night, last year....
The organisation Landscape & Citizens had just been informed that financially - finally - we were supported by the Swedish Region of Scania (Skåne) in order to present a project of the beautiful CEMAT Rural Heritage Guide of the Council of Europe. Please, find here a contribution in order to anchor even more the landscape and the rural heritage as one of the " driving forces"for the implementation of the ELC. From the perspective of the "enlightened citizen". In Scania. And, hopefully, in Sweden.
Some other links that are mentionned in the text: 
Landscape & Citizens have had its logo since 2006, Knowing more - creating better,
meaning that the Convention would have an important role in Scania
as a partly independant Region,
and in transition. This role is important for all the citizens
of Scania - and for Sweden as a whole. It is a a territory that
unites Sweden with Europe - only by looking at the map... In the
new Baltic Sea Region ( BSR) - one of the successes during the
period of the Swedish EU-Presidency - since it now exists also
formally, we mean that it would be a very good idea to use the
CEMAT Rural Heritage Guide from the Council of Europe, as an efficient tool for regional promotion - and of course Swedish.
Obviously, the national debate among politicians and citzens concerning Regions of Europe
(a text in Swedish by plitical scientist Johan Tällberg) has long been
especially fervent in Scania, and in the Gothenburg and Stockholm
Regions.
Scania may thus influence positively all of Sweden. A good deed,
indeed, in that case, since the Swedish people - a bit
unhappily - has also long had a tendency to make him- or herself known
as, sort of The Reluctant European - title of an interesting book ( in Swedish) by former EU-negotiator, etc, for Sweden before entering the EU, Ulf Dinkenspiel.With the recent proposal by the Swedish government to the parliament late last year to ratify the European Landscape Convention, we hope to have more to say in this field within very short...In the meantime, we just as much as other individuals/groups of the Swedish civil society, try to connect "europeanly". Landscape & Citizens, during summer and autumn 2009, were also lucky to get to know a Spanish NGO in the field of landscape and ecology: ECOPÀS. Reading their site make us green with jealosy! Three
of their textes in a meeting taking place in Madrid simultaneously as
the Swedish meeting during the Presidency at Malmö/Alnarp, are in
English. Otherwise, it is hoped that your Spanish is OK... In
particular, don't miss the contribution in the final part
by Dr Teresa
Villarino
Valdivieso: "Landscape is also mine",
page 173: so funny, so free - and so in search for quality! And
the Swedish part of IALE, is starting up, too, say we, having
looked particularly for the contributions of Scania. And found ("Kristianstadkonferensen, 2008"), see. Plus
Europe - here we come?!
"The EU influences Scania - Scania influences the EU"
|
“Landscape and
driving forces”
in Malmö/Alnarp
8-9.10.09
- Which forces, in Sweden, during autumn 2009?  
Of
all the many possible answers we chose to focus on the European
Landscape Convention itself - since this is too rarely done, especially
with "Copenhagen" close ahead...
Indeed, the 8e
WS of the ELC in Malmö
seems to be met with a considerable interest from all over Europe, and
the world. This positive interest for the Convention was also
shown in the opinions from different Swedish Authorities in regard
to the proposal of implementation of the Swedish National Heritage Board ; the Proposal is available in English on the site of the Board.
On
the other hand all these opinions also seemed to reflect a certain
Swedish dualism, between traditionally strong interests of
nature and nature protection and physical sciences in Sweden, on the
one hand, and the much weaker arts and culture interests in
Sweden, on the other.
There is a certain lack of
interest/understanding for the importance of culture-for-society, in
general. This might be due to the fact that there is practically no
"market" for any other big foreign language in Sweden than the one
you are reading. It has been argued that this circumstance alone
is a threat to democracy everywhere. Indeed, a greater variety
of foreign languages within the frame of the implementation
process would certainly be able to help implementing the the Landscape
Convention among individual Swedes.
We will return on this subject in another context. In the mean-time, Landscape & Citizens, as most of these Swedish Authorities mentinned above, continues to suggest a ratification of the the European Landscape Convention - and as thorougly as possible.
Also, read and discuss more the original texts is our message; the rest should follow more easily...
A positive
thing about the Proposal of the Swedish National Heritage Board
after its "tour" among some 70 Swedish Authorities, was how
strongly it shows the interest of different and various
Authorities to take on a real responsibility; certainly is this in
line with the Convention and possibly also with the Proposal
of the Swedish Culture Ministry concerning "Culture for our time", in
september.
Now, the most urgent problem for all of us is
probably a stronger renationalisation of responsibilities, because
of the fincancial crisis. But shouldn't the very strategy of the
texts and reports of the Landscape Convention be able to counter
this tendency? The ELC calls for more - not less - European
cooperation!
Landscape & Citizens
wants to point out to Swedish politicians-and-agents that 30 other
European countries were probably not mistaken, as they ratified
Convention. Saying this, to us, means claiming that Swedish
citizens, too, should have their chance to dream and participate
on landscape issues, and take in more general knowledge.
With
the now starting debate on high-speed trains/ TGV:s/ AVE..., in
Sweden, ideas, too, will probably now start moving a lot faster.
And after all, we might all see each again, in Spain, for the 9th WS of the ELC, only year!
The Swedish King went there already this summer and summed
up about those very talked-about Spanish trains in his usual
way: “Impresionado”...
 
 |
|
|
Link archive of the
Landscape&Citizens´network |
The European Landscape Convention (ELC) | Articles AttestationParlamentary Question & Answer PPT Reports Communications, etc SummariesSeminarsStatementsTranslations
 +
=
?!
|
Up
Other Landscape Initiatives | Below just a few of the links Landscape & Citizens recently recommends.
|
Permanently | 
2008-03-11
Culture and "Inter-cultural" dialogue are - particularly -
essential in Europe 2008.
On this page they have naturally been essential all along...
What is to us "culture" and "dialogue" in a landcscpe & citizen's
context? Click image on top to know!
It shows one of those bridge in the "new" Europe that have
given hope to many people. Connecting the little town of Kehl
with the somewhat bigger, still not huge, but very "European"
town of Strasbourg in France, it took the initiative of celebrating
this in 1998 by adorning the bridge - Die Europabrûcke -
with poems enclosed in the bridge railings from some forty-one
European states.
Here you will also find the Swedish poet Lars Gustafsson with his
Ballad of the paths in Västmanland - a gentle reminder
to Sweden one is tented to say, about the landscape...:
"(---) That's the whole
point of being of a path: it came to be made
long ago. Who made it? Charcoal burners, fisherfolk,
women with skinny arms, gathering firewood?
The outlaws, shysters, gray as the moss,
still in their dreams the blood of fratricide
reddens their hands? Autumn hunters on the tracks
of pointer dogs with barks clear as frost?
All of them, none of them. We make the path together,
you too, on a stormy day, on earth,
be the hour late or early:
we write the paths and they stick,
and the paths are wiser than us,
and they know all the things we wanted to know."
|
Here, we celebrate the occasion of Culture and on-going Swedish
landscape cohesion ( we hope!) by presenting
(1) the The Amfora of Landscape
- an Austrian tool of landscape identification
as presented by the NGO in Austria, ECOVAST. Thank you!
(2) the more general tool of the same by
the Council of Europe: the Rural Heritage Guide.
ore on both, on Landscape Identification.
2008-01-21
The National Heritage Board of Sweden has after years of official pondering
on the question presented its final proposall of how Sweden could implement the
European Landscape Convention in January. See more on Swedish starting page.
The first proposal is that the Government should ratify it now!
The Board, among many other things discusses the four challenges that the ELC would,
according to the Auhority, give the solutions to:
1 "The negotiation of the everyday landscape"
2 "The climate question, the energy policy and the landscape",
3 "From participants to rural landscape contemplators"
4 "Patterns of consumption and ecologic foot-prints in landscape".
Landscape&Citizens
has not yet formulated any opinions.
- However, from a linguistic, humanist and historic point of view,
we ought to come back on this. No? |
|
|
Landscape & Citizens. Contact.Photo: Project leaders from all over our long country meeting in Stockholm, April 2006 © Kommittén för EU-DEBATT |
|
