Conclusion: Benefits, Difficulties, and Challenges of Participation Under the European Landscape Convention

Abstract

The ambition of this volume has been to evaluate and discuss the state of public participation in landscape issues a decade after the establishment of the European Landscape Convention. This concluding chapter summarizes the insights from various countries and discusses vital issues for future landscape research. While the merits of the ELC and public participation are acknowledged in the Open image in new window cases presented, a number of weaknesses and difficulties are also recognized. The main challenges to participation identified include public indifference, political and administrative power structures, scepticism regarding participatory approaches in government quarters, diverging perspectives between experts and stakeholders, and how to ensure democratic involvement. Positive lessons and cases of good practice show, nonetheless, that there are democratic gains to be made from participation. Methods may vary in detail, but techniques to ensure effective two-way communication are essential. The spectrum of participatory methods and communicative concepts examined indicates a need for mediation and arbitration. This is particularly so as the number of conflicts over the role of participation in environmental and landscape issues is likely to increase as the participatory approach spreads. Finally the chapter discusses the ELC in relation to European Union (EU) Directives, the future role of science in participatory approaches, and new issues emerging. There is a need for further knowledge concerning landscape perceptions, the interface between the ELC and other societal goals concerning landscape and land use, and policy strategy discourses. Since participatory approaches challenge the role of experts, questions are raised about how this field is to be researched. New questions also arise regarding options for participation in the face of contemporary trends and issues such as tourism, climatic change, biodiversity loss, and multiculturalism.