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EUROPEAN LANDSCAPE CONVENTION
- Florence Convention -
FIRST CONFERENCE OF THE CONTRACTING AND
SIGNATORY STATES TO THE EUROPEAN LANDSCAPE
CONVENTION
Council of Europe, Palais de lEurope, Strasbourg
22-23 November 2001
Room 10
Document by the Secretariat General
prepared by the Regional Planning and Technical
Co-operation and Assistance Division
Statement of United Kingdom
- The United Kingdom took a constructive role in the development of the Convention,
but wishes to look closely at the details of implementation before deciding
to sign it, particularly to understand the range of actions that will be necessary
to enable full compliance. An assessment of the Conventions requirements
in relation to current and future UK regulatory processes is being carried
out.
- Current philosophy and practice in the UK, is already aligned with the Convention,
notably:
- the concern for democratic participation and involvement in
attaching value to landscape and determining its future;
- knowledge of the need to pursue sustainable policies in order
to achieve social, environmental and economic health;
- knowledge of the rich contributions that landscape can make
to quality of life, sense of place, human health and economic prosperity;
- the value of a comprehensive, all-inclusive and non-selective,
approach to valuing and managing all of the landscape in a territory,
not only outstanding areas.
- The UK already has in place procedures for delivering the Conventions
requirements, for example those under Article 5 and 6, through its spatial
planning system and in other spheres of environmental management.
- In particular, the UK is well advanced in creating the assessments
that are required by article 6C of the Convention (Identification and Assessment).
This work (using England as the main exemplar; the other three countries of
the UK have parallel and similar work underway) includes:
- A national "Countryside Character" map and related descriptions, produced
by the Countryside Agency, which subdivides England into c160 discrete
character areas, on the basis of the landscapes appearance, natural
characteristics and cultural aspects;
- A national landscape character typology, a more recent, more
detailed foundation for Countryside Character;
- An Atlas of Rural Settlement Diversity, prepared by English
Heritage, adding at least a 1,000-year perspective to an understanding
of the current landscape. More detailed regional projects are also underway.
- Visual landscape assessments at county and district level, producing
local Character Areas, sponsored by the Countryside Agency. Almost half
of the country is now completed,
- Historic Landscape Characterisation at county level, an English Heritage
programme producing GIS-based understanding of the present-day landscapes
historic and archaeological dimensions, again almost half completed
across the country.
- In relation to the Conventions Articles 7 and 8, English Heritage
is involved in staff exchanges and expertise-sharing with other European countries,
for example in the EU Culture 2000 three-year programme "European Pathways
to the Cultural Landscape". EPCL has 12 partners in 10 countries from Ireland
to Estonia and from Sweden to Italy (www.pcl-eu.de). Its aims, in areas selected
because they are under-studied and under-appreciated areas of cultural landscape,
are:
- to promote better understanding of cultural landscape, develop new
methodologies, and understand and record peoples appreciation of their landscapes;
- to communicate understanding and awareness to wider audiences;
- to identify ways of improving the long-term management of cultural
landscape with particular reference to sustainability, and to expanding
its social, economic and cultural contributions to society.
The EPCL programme is being guided by the principles of the Convention, notably
its broad definition and focus on democratic participation in evaluation and
decision-making.
Graham Fairclough, November 2000
Conference Programme
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