EUROPEAN LANDSCAPE CONVENTION. POLICY AND PLANNING INNOVATIONS

The landscape valorisation is a central objective in Europe, since the approvation of the European Landscape Convention (Council of Europe, ELC, 2000). ELC gives centrality to the sustainability strategy, stimulated the development of an innovative system of policies aimed at protecting natural and cultural heritage of the landscape, managing and planning the landscape as a framework of the population lifestyles, as an expression of regional and local identity and diversity, and as an important resource of social-economic and territorial development. The Convention introduces in the pan-European context a reference strategy for action in order to disseminate a common approach in different landscape planning traditions, aimed at valorizing the landscapes for the sustainability of the territories. The paper discusses the legislative innovations, policies, plans, design methodologies which were developed by various countries during the ten-year period following the approval of the ELC. The recent landscape policies and implementation approaches can be traced to the interaction between European guidelines and historical tradition of heritage protection, planning and management of each Country. In this direction, the paper analyzes the approach, the criticity and the recent results of policies, programs and projects for the valorisation of landscape identity and quality of some countries (as The Netherlands, Great Britain, Germany, Austria, Denmark, France, Spain and Italy). This comparison outlines the role of the different landscape cultures in respect of their tradition of protection of the natural and cultural heritage and with reference to the spatial planning, highlighting the role of heritage for the socio-economic development. The analysis will also evidences: the individual track of each planning culture developed to implement the Convention; the relation among landscape planning and other planning; the role of participation to define policies and projects to enhance identity; the interrelation among different levels of landscape planning; the relation between landscape planning and the projects. It will also describe participative landscape governance and urban design tools aimed at valorize the local identity integrating development and conservation especially in small towns.