Landscape Quality Objectives
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The European Landscape Convention defines the landscape quality
objectives as "the formulation by the competent authorities of the
aspirations of the public with regard to the landscape features of their
surroundings. It means that to be able to express the quality of a defined landscape it is
necessary to determine its shared values. Thus the quality
objectives are the consequences of the evaluation and assessment of the
character of the landscape (LCA) and the starting point for the preparation of
landscape directives which have to lead the planning system.
The MEDSCAPES project, through the implementation of the LCA methodology, the
landscape Risk Assessment and Decision Support System, initiated the process in recognition of the importance of
landscape planning for the conservation, management, and
development at all levels of the landscape features in the Eastern
Mediterranean region. Now it's the
time for the different countries in the area to recognize the value of the
tools that were put in place and tested during the two year of the ENPI project and to use and
adopt them in their planning rules and system.
The MEDSCAPES partners, after disseminating the results of the project in their
country, initiated the long and not easy procedure for the promotion of the
landscape values as well as for the definition of policies related to the shared values in reference to landscape. The absence of a
clear and shared landscape definition in the majority of the countries
bordering the Mediterranean bassin
along with the lack of an Arabic word for the noun "landscape" are slowing down the above mentioned process.
The East Med Landscape Observatory aims to disseminate the importance of the
landscape planning for the future of the region and to become a reference body
for all the stakeholders interested and involved in the landscape issue.