GIS - European experiences

Staff exchange between Bjäre, Sweden and the Forest of Bowland and the LuneValley, England

The first staff exchange in the EPCL project took place in the end of February 2001.

The purpose with the staff exchange was to learn more about the English approach to Landscape Characterisation, a method we are planning to use in the Bjäre area of Sweden.

The exchange gave me the opportunity to study the method that the Lancashire County Council had been working with and to learn more about the English part of the EPCL-project.

During the exchange that lasted for one week, I studied documentation that was made about Landscape characterisation in England. John Darlington from the Lancashire County Council explained the theory and method of characterisation, and I looked at the work that was done for the whole county of Lancashire.

I was also given the opporunity to study the English ”Site and monument record” and learned more about the general methods of working with archaeology in England.

During the week we made an attempt to see the the Forest of Bowland and the Lune Valley, but unfortunately we were restricted by the outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease. Instead I made a presentation for the English colleagues about the Bjäre area and the GIS-methods that we have been working with in Sweden.

The last day of exchange I took part in a archaeology conference at the University of Lancashire, where I was given a good summary of the different archaeology projects in the Lancashire area.

Anders Edring, Bjäre, Sweden