Landscape character assessment: european approaches

Abstract

The landscape character results from the particular combination of the defining attributes of the landscape pattern by the elements that distinguish a landscape from another, whose arrangement is shaped by cultural and natural actions of each site. The theoretical approach revisits a few authors and some international European organizations, particularly from the United Kingdom and Spain. The present study aims to introduce a brief proposal for the landscape study from the European Landscape Convention (EPC) viewpoint. The ECP, adopted in 2000 by Florence, understands the relation between natural and cultural aspects of the landscape focusing on sustainable development together with balanced and harmonious relations among social, economic and environmental needs of each community in order to promote protection, management and development of landscapes. This way it is possible to protect the landscape by conservation and maintenance actions for significant or characteristic features of the landscape, justified by the patrimonial value resulting from its natural configuration or human intervention. As landscapes have always changed and will continue to change, either by natural processes or by human action, it is necessary to monitor the changes in order to enrich the diversity and the quality of each of them.