Landscape Initiatives foster the provision of a broad range of landscape services (such as nature conservation, sustainable and local food production, increase of local income in rural areas, preservation of traditions or historical features of landscape, etc). Having an overview of these initiatives in Europe could contribute towards making them more effective, enabling a better management of their resources and to take advantage of their potentials and to mitigate their constraints. Moreover, an exchange of experiences and ideas may be enabled, helping to inform current landscape-related policy processes, as well as national policies and regional planning. It will be particularly helpful in the context of achieving a transition towards sustainability, where Landscape Initiatives play a crucial role.
Read more »A large share of the European land is agricultural and this agricultural land has changes considerably over the last few decades. Such land use changes are the result of local conditions, such as local policy measures, cultural values, accessibility, and the local climate. Many case studies have been published that describe local land use changes. This study collected available case study evidence to find general patterns in agricultural land use change in Europa and the processes causing these changes.
Read more »I was recently invited to present a seminar paper in Amsterdam, at the annual HERCULES Consortium Meeting. Bringing together geographers, ecologists, archaeologists, sociologists and anthropologists from a dozen or more countries, this project is concerned with ensuring the resilience of heritage within the cultural landscape of Europe. They are doing this task by assessing existing knowledge and management systems and developing tools for ongoing landscape observation and modelling, bringing together some sophisticated GIS applications with a variety of quantitative material (including remote sensing, land-use and census data), and qualitative material (including old postcards and oral histories). Furthermore, they also have an ambition to define some recommendations for landscape policy and practice, engaging with a range of stakeholders, policy makers and ordinary people.
Read more »Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by e-mail: