European Landscape Convention Research Articles

Reading landscape by high school graduates in Czechia: the perspective of high school teachers and academic geographers

Understanding and practicing the skill of reading landscape is paramount for responsible behavior. The European Landscape Convention underscores the importance of comprehending the ongoing processes in one’s surroundings, with a dual aim of landscape preservation and efficient utilization. This proficiency should extend beyond geography graduates, becoming an integral part of school education. Surprisingly, the development of reading landscape has been largely overlooked in both school curricula and educational research. This study engaged 21 high school geography teachers and academic geographers who provided 274 questions in response to photographs depicting diverse landscapes, including urban, rural, and natural, at varying levels of detail. Teachers exhibited greater creativity and posed questions demanding more active interaction with the images compared to academic geographers. Notably, some photographs evoked strikingly similar inquiries. Through a rigorous qualitative analysis of the questions offered, we crafted a definition of reading landscape tailored for high school graduates, expressed as expected outcomes. This definition holds promise as a practical guide for geography educators seeking to cultivate these essential skills and offers a foundation for further exploration in the realm of reading landscape.

The Source-to-Sea Landscape: A hybrid integrative territory management approach

Whether fresh or salty, water is a unique resource, a continuum interlinked by the hydrological cycle. It forms a complex system connected to the landscape. When the landscape is altered, water flows and their benefits are impacted. Degraded land compromises water resources. The governance and management of landscape and water resources are handled in a fragmented manner and in separate contexts. The Source-to-Sea approach offers an integrative vision based on systems thinking that focuses its concerns on the interaction among parts, flows, and processes. It proposes a framework for the governance and management of freshwater and marine water but does not bring the landscape into the context of the approach. This research used an analytical-deductive method to explore the interactions and connections between the Source-to-sea approach, landscape concepts and approaches, and the guidelines of the European Landscape Convention. The main objective was to identify and assess the feasibility of integrating these elements. The integration resulted in a governance and management approach termed the S2S Landscape approach. It is grounded in systems thinking, practical learning, active participation, and adaptive governance and management, providing an integrated vision between landscape and water. The approach includes four essential steps (Comprehension, Involvement, Planning, and Execution and Monitoring) that address the complex connections that freshwater and marine water maintain in the landscape, considering physical, biological, socio-environmental, and economic aspects across all segments, from the land to the open sea. This S2S Landscape approach may be the path to address the challenges of governance and sustainable management of resources in an interconnected and constantly changing world.

Landscape sensitivity assessment within spatial development scenarios. Latvia case study

European countries have different experience in landscape characterisation and assessment. Comparing the different approaches used in different European countries, it is proposed to use the method developed and validated in the United Kingdom - Landscape Character Assessment, adapted and modified for the Latvian situation. This approach has also been used in most other European countries, which have chosen to use the UK approach to landscape characterisation, adapting it to their specific national situation. The need for a landscape assessment in Latvia is highlighted in the Latvian Landscape Policy Guidelines 2013-2019 and Latvian Landscape Policy Implementation Plan 2024-2027, taking into account the actions set out in the European Landscape Convention to be taken by all Parties to the Convention. The purpose of the research was to carry out the analysis of Latvian landscape sensitivity within spatial planning scenarios important for local municipalities. It is of high importance to assess landscape sensitivity for changes of build and natural environment influencing pace and scale of development of the rural areas of Latvia. As local municipalities set different goals for their spatial development, common spatial development scenarios were chosen to make analysis of landscape sensitivity in Latvian landscapes. Results from the analysis of landscape sensitivity show variation of suitable actions to be implemented if different places in Latvia. The results also can be used for defining landscape quality goals to harmonise scope of activities to be implemented by local municipalities of Latvia.

Life and death of Poland’s landscape – are we living in landscape “hell”?

The author’s thesis assumes that the degree of landscape degradation in many parts of Poland is so high that the use of the term “landscape hell” is justified. This denotes such a state of visual and aesthetic, structural and functional landscape degradation that leads or has already led to the landscape’s death. This condition existed in many areas during the communist period, but now, 34 years after the political transformation and eight years of the development of the “mafia” state, it is also occurring with increasing frequency. Its origin lies in the attitude of some politicians and the public towards space and nature as resources that can be exploited to an extreme extent and that must be subordinated to people. This is due, among others, to the Poles’ civilizational lag in relation to many other nations, Polish society’s developmental history, and the recurring compensation for economic shortcomings. In the first quarter-century of transformation, the development of consumption, the dominance of economic development criteria, and the politicians’ ignorance and bias have introduced phenomena such as strip farm urbanisation, “concreteosis”, architectural “gigantomania”, “urban blight”, “railingeosis”, and “advertosis” into the landscape. After 2015, the above have been overlaid by the landscape-eroding activities of the representatives of the “mafia” state, resulting from, among others, excessive deforestation and tree clearing in open and urban areas, continued operation of the coal-based energy sector, including open-cast mines, river diversions, construction of hydro-technical facilities, mass legalisation of arbitrary construction, and transport infrastructure planning. The various recommendations on landscape conservation, formulated for many years, have, for the most part, not been implemented, despite Poland’s ratification of the European Landscape Convention. We can thus gradually kill off more landscape, which will continue to linger in our memories and documents for some time, until eventually, virtual reality becomes the main way of admiring it.

Cultural landscape as heritage: proposals for Ukraine from the experience of certain European countries

Formulation of the problem. Ukraine has a vast and uniquely diverse cultural landscape potential. However, the state of the landscapes, which has long been a matter of public concern, has deteriorated many times over as a result of russia's full-scale armed aggression against Ukraine. At the same time, Ukraine is far behind in implementing the commitments made by the European and international community in a number of international documents on the preservation of cultural landscapes. The purpose of the article. The purpose of this publication is to develop proposals for the implementation of the concept of cultural landscape in the field of protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage on the basis of fulfilling Ukraine's relevant international obligations and introducing the best mechanisms and practices of European countries. Methodology and results. The research methodology is based on a descriptive qualitative and comparative approach, which made it possible to reveal the peculiarities of the experience of preserving the cultural landscape as a heritage in certain EU countries - representatives of the “old Europe” (Italy and Spain), post-socialist (Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic) and post-Soviet (Latvia and Lithuania) space. The European experience was studied through the prism of meeting the requirements of the European Landscape Convention and the possibilities of its practical application in Ukraine. The analysis of examples of practical implementation of the concept of cultural landscape by European countries in comparison with domestic practice in Ukraine made it possible to identify the main problems in this area and to outline indicative directions of a possible strategy for their solution, the main mechanisms, tools and specific measures for their implementation. The first step in the development of such a strategy could be the development and adoption by government decree of a National Action Plan for the Protection and Preservation of the Cultural Landscape Heritage of Ukraine. The overall goal of this plan for the next 5-10 years should be to ensure the protection, preservation and careful use of the country's cultural landscapes by: bringing the country's legislation into line with the EU system of legal and regulatory standards for landscape protection, regulation and planning; taking these issues into account in the formulation and implementation of state cultural, environmental and urban planning policies and including them as an integral part of the strategy for Ukraine's post-war reconstruction; raising public awareness and involving communities. Scientific novelty and practical significance. The novelty of the study is the identification of the main areas of action for the protection and preservation of the cultural landscape heritage of Ukraine and the development of concrete proposals for their filling with appropriate measures. Acknowledgement. The research is financed by the European Union NextGenerationEU from the funds of the Recovery and Resilience Plan mechanism within the project "Scholarships for outstanding researchers threatened by the military conflict in Ukraine" No. 09І03-03-V01-00021. This article is one of the results of the research within the framework of grant no. 2/0043/23 "Identification of landscape diversity and its changes in Slovakia based on remote sensing data in the context of the European Green Deal" supported by the Slovak Scientific Grant Agency VEGA.

Landscape Education Two Decades after the European Landscape Convention—A Study with Trainee Teachers

The European Landscape Convention promotes the protection, management and planning of landscapes and organises international co-operation on landscape issues. Member states committed to implement measures such as promoting social education about landscapes. The convention stated that, although it was part of the education curricula in some countries, landscape education was to be expanded from a multidisciplinary perspective. The Education Act in force in Spain in 2008 (LOE, 2007), when the convention was ratified, included landscape in the syllabus, but not from as broad a perspective as that reflected in the ELC. Later education reforms have gradually increased the presence of the landscape in school curricula. This study examines landscape-related knowledge and awareness among current trainee primary school teachers, whose whole education has occurred under the umbrella of the ELC. This aims to assess whether the ELC’s targets have been met in terms of social awareness of landscape issues. A mixed questionnaire was designed, validated, and implemented in a sample of 322 students studying subjects related to the teaching of geography. The answers were analysed with descriptive and inferential statistics. The results reflect poor landscape-related knowledge and awareness, suggesting that the educational measures implemented since the ratification of the ELC have not been successful.

Does landscape play a role in the governance of the coastal region? An evolutionary perspective from Portugal since 1950

The landscape crisis and the climate crisis strongly affect coastal landscapes in many coastal regions worldwide. Evidence shows that the difficulty of governing coastal regions has increased alongside the attractiveness of contemporary societies for settlements near the coastline. There is a growing debate in landscape governance conceptualisation and operationalisation, in landscape research. Despite the significant progress on this theme, empirical discussions on coastal landscapes are scarce, a trend already followed by landscape and coastal planning and management debates, highlighting the need for empirical research. This article explores this research gap, conducting an evolutionary analysis of the governance of the coastal region in Portugal, tracing the co-evolution of its institutions and actors since 1950 to understand whether the landscape concept has been integrated into the governance of the coastal region. Our research design comprised two main parts. Firstly, we conducted a literature review comparing the Portuguese landscape and coastal governance diachronic analysis with the evolution at the European level. Secondly, we undertook a content analysis of the principal legislative institutions over the analysed time frame. Results reveal that Portuguese governance evolution diverges somehow from European trends, particularly after the European Landscape Convention, and show that the integration of the landscape concept into the coastal governance system was strongly dependent on powerful actors, their particular interests, values and stocks of knowledge. Along its evolutionary path, the imperative for coastal landscape governance arises from recognising its pivotal role in addressing the intricate and interconnected challenges inherent to coastal regions, needing further research to advance its theoretical and empirical knowledge.

Landscape Democracy and the Implementation of Renewable Energy Facilities

The internationally accepted goal of eliminating climate gas emissions implies substantial investments in renewable energy (RE) facilities. This will inevitably lead to major impacts on landscapes. Landscape concerns linked to RE facilities are already leading to controversies in many local communities. In this article, we focus on the question of landscape democracy related to the establishment of RE facilities. Based on recommendations from the European Landscape Convention, an analytical framework is presented identifying three main dimensions of landscape democracy, followed by an overview of arrangements, procedures, and methods that are or may be used to encourage democracy. The procedures and methods are analyzed based on examples from Denmark and Norway. This is followed by an analysis of decision levels with a special focus on the principle of subsidiarity. Finally, recommendations are presented to strengthen landscape democracy in relation to the installation of RE facilities.

Quantitative Landscape Analysis Using Earth-Observation Data: An Example from Chania, Crete, Greece

Pursuing sustainability in a challenging world and under the influence of numerous natural and anthropogenic drivers of change presents one of the major global concerns. The transition towards a more sustainable development requires a harmonious balance between human well-being and environmental management. The concept of landscape is at the core of such a process. Hence, evaluating the different aspects of the landscape and their components is crucial for policy making, planning and management. In fact, landscape quality assessment has become a special focus of interest, especially with the directives of the European Landscape Convention. This research work aims to analyze the rural landscape of the Chania prefecture, West Crete, Greece, taking into account its multifold dimensions. The analysis was carried out using a series of quantitative spatial indicators. Consecutively, structural (mean patch area, contagion index, edge density and percentage of landscape occupied by a class of the highest share), ecological (density of ecological barriers, Modified Shannon diversity index), visual (share of positive land-cover forms, share of negative land-cover forms, form and color disharmony index, shape disharmony index) and cultural indices (historical monuments index) were estimated and analyzed in a GIS environment. The overall methodology incorporated different land-use/land-cover data (multitemporal Corine data and land use derived from the classification of Earth-observation (EO) data). The historical and current analysis of the landscape within Chania revealed quite high structural and visual values. The ecological dimension is rather stable, with a potential decrease by the year 2045. Additionally, the structural dimension seemed to be sensitive to the spatial resolution of the data source. The spatial extent, at which the landscape is evaluated, seemed to impact the landscape’s ecological, visual and cultural values.

Co-design workshops for cultural landscape planning

In the last twenty years, citizen participation has become a formal requirement in landscape and heritage planning all over Europe. The European Landscape Convention (2000), in particular, encourages public participation in defining landscape heritage values and identifying strategies for its protection, management and planning. However, despite the development of various participatory methods, citizen participation in landscape planning remains rarely applied in practice. With an empirical case study, the research presented in this article tries to bridge the gap between theory and practice, evaluating a methodology in which citizens, stakeholders, planners, and heritage experts are invited to co-design a spatial strategy for local cultural landscape valorisation.

New Approach to Landscape-Based Spatial Planning Using Meaningful Geolocated Digital Traces

The integration of landscape-based approaches into regional and town planning policies is one of the main objectives of the European Landscape Convention. In the twenty-first century, the traditional discipline of city spatial-planning has gradually been incorporating two types of tactics linked to a landscape-based approach: nature-based strategies, which focus on sustainable goals; and people-based strategies, which integrate a social dimension into decision-making processes. A backbone of landscape-based spatial planning challenge consists of reshaping consolidated urban areas to improve quality of life, encouraging people’s physical activity, and supporting healthier urban lifestyles. This study assumes that physical activity is further encouraged by itineraries that incorporate both landscape features—i.e., natural assets and sense of place—and functional diversity associated with urban activities—i.e., public facilities. A methodology was elaborated to define a preliminary landscape-based spatial planning approach, centering on the analysis of walking-related activity in urban and peri-urban areas. For this purpose, geolocated digital traces are intertwined: official city routes, urban facility locations, users’ Wikiloc trails, and Google Places API data. Once applied to selected medium-sized European cities in the Mediterranean area, these data sources lead to the identification of intangible values and dynamics in places where landscape-based spatial planning solutions could be enhanced. As a result, the present work shows the suitability of interrelating these geolocated data sources, permitting to identify landscape features as key components of spatial planning, which permit balancing individual goals, the aims of local communities, and administrative functions.

Relevance and Role of Contemporary Architecture Preservation—Assessing and Evaluating Architectural Heritage as a Contemporary Landscape: A Study Case in Southern Italy

Since WWII to the 2000s, numerous masters of contemporary architecture have contributed to the construction of new landscapes with their works; therefore, these places have become part of a changing landscape and of the multifaceted process of landscape generation. Nevertheless, during this fifty-year period, capitalism has led to the destruction of many existing landscapes, and the policies of protection and preservation have often entailed a process of musealization. In 2000, the European Landscape Convention adopted a new common-grounded definition of landscape, integrating a wide set of cultural approaches and disciplinary topics. Starting from the assumption that contemporary architecture and urban projects can generate high-quality landscapes, this paper investigates the link between the architecture and the landscape, taking the opportunity to catalogue the second half of twentieth-century architecture and urban projects in Sicily as part of the national cataloguing activity “Ereditare il Presente” promoted by the Italian Ministry of Culture. Using the Ministry-proposed cataloguing procedure and adding a quality assessment methodology of buildings and urban projects, this study has produced a theoretical and applicative advancement on how architecture and urban projects of the second half of the twentieth century should be offered as a dynamic component of sustainable human settlement planning under SDG11 “sustainable cities and communities”.

Sustainable Collaborative Strategies of Territorial Regeneration for the Cultural Enhancement of Unresolved Landscapes

The experience of adaptation and instability to a plurality of threats that question the life of human beings on the planet, from the post-pandemic to political conflicts, up to the danger looming in the background—the upheavals expected from climate change—impose a reflection that recognizes that landscape/cultural heritage plays a key role in preservation/enhancement as a specific resource for its “human-centered development”, based on values included. These threats are challenges in which phenomena that require solidarity and common actions are faced, which should lead humans to cooperate to face them. The European Landscape Convention of 2000 attributed an important role to the landscape, as an “essential component of the life context of peoples”. The phase of listening to the territory and participatory and co-design processes are necessary tools for understanding the expectations and perceptions of the communities, co-exploring possible new uses of the landscape, being capable of generating added value for all stakeholders, and adopting a “win-win” approach. From this perspective, this contribution poses the following research question: how to build collaborative processes capable of putting local institutions, businesses, and local communities in synergy, to identify enhancement strategies for the cultural landscape? This study explores the potential of an integrated, incremental, and adaptive decision-making approach, oriented toward the elaboration of shared choices aimed at the elaboration of territorial enhancement strategies attentive to the specificity of the multiple values and complex resources that characterize the cultural terraced landscapes of the Costa Viola (Italy). In particular, the interactions between different knowledge, approaches, and tools makes it possible to formulate scenarios, strategies, and actions, contributing to the creation of a richer and more complex context of knowledge of the territory and to the construction of bottom-up and situated transformation strategies, supported from a decision-making process attentive to the identification of values and an understanding of the needs of the local ‘landscape community’ who live and animate it.

Which Landscape for Which Community? Opportunities and Pitfalls in the Application of the European Landscape Convention in Uncollaborative Context

This article attempts to assess the various ambiguities in the application of the principles of the European Landscape Convention (ELC) in Italy and is divided into two main sections. In the first, a theoretical framework is constructed, analyzing the link between “environment”, “territory” and “landscape”. Attention is focused on the consequences that the different perspectives open up on both the value and operational levels, as well as dealing with attempts at definition. The idea of community is then questioned and some theoretical and practical challenges related to involvement and participation in landscape planning processes are analyzed. In the second part of the paper, the relationship between the city of Palermo (IT) and the Oreto River is taken as an extreme example in the theoretical argumentation and is examined from the perspective of development and current bottom-up practices. The aim of the research is to provide a divergent point of view on the concept of community and identity as this constitutes the foundation of the ELC definition of landscape, through an argumentation that is applicable in general and not only related to particular circumstances, in order to fully apply the ELC also in controversial and peripheral situations where landscape struggles to be accepted by local communities as a common good.

Outdoor recreation and the private forest owner: Place attachment, social values, and public access

IntroductionThe Swedish National Forest Program emphasizes that the forest can be more multifunctional where the values created by human experiences of the forest, i.e., social values, can be used for tourism and outdoor recreation, leading to rural development and sustainable growth. To develop multifunctional forests in this respect, private forest owners' perspectives on development are critically important. For example, the place attachment of the private forest owners affects how they manage their forests. Therefore, it is crucial to consider private forest owners' perspectives when planning land use.MethodThe study area is a region in southwest Sweden (Hallandsås) designated as a national interest area for outdoor recreation. There is interest in expanding and developing nature-based tourism, including trail systems, based on the perception of the areas as having great outdoor recreation value. This article aims to present findings from a study that investigated the potential for outdoor recreation development in the forests of Hallandsås. A questionnaire was sent out to private forest owners, which contained questions about social values, perspectives on the Swedish right of public access, development of outdoor recreation, and place attachment.ResultsThe results showed that private forest owners considered health, well-being, and a good living environment the most important social values of their forested lands. The identity and cultural heritage value of private forest lands and the value of working on the land were the second and third most highly identified forest social values. Outdoor recreation was not identified as a top forest social value.DiscussionThe analysis identified seven key factors that must be considered with outdoor recreation development, given concerns and the importance of other forest social values. Careful consideration of these factors and their interactions can provide a path for outdoor recreation development that is respectful to people and places. This consideration is at the core of landscape protection and management as interpreted by the European Landscape Convention. Forest owners' social values are a critical part of landscape quality objectives, along with planning that links public aspirations with landscape character.

Possibilities and challenges for landscape observatories

The twentieth century saw rapid environmental degradation due to changes that contributed to increased net GHG emissions, loss of natural ecosystems, and declining biodiversity. Deterioration of unprotected landscapes during swift industrialization, urbanization, increasing monocultures in agriculture, expansion of commercial production significantly contributed to these negative consequences. However, a cultural shift occurred during the last two decades in favour of landscape conservation. In response to widespread landscape degradation and loss of ecosystem services, the Council of Europe saw the need to protect, manage, and develop the landscapes, and thus signed the European Landscape Convention (ELC) in 2000. This was the world's first international agreement that described all aspects of landscape management in detail. The European Landscape Convention fully meets the challenges through its goal of correcting a lack of understanding of landscapes as a unique system embracing natural, economic, and social features throughout Europe. It goes beyond simply protecting landscapes and addresses landscape management and development, as well as raising public and government awareness of the importance of paying attention to all types of landscapes, whether exceptional or spoiled. Landscape observatories, multifunctional platforms and knowledge centres for researchers, technicians, administrators, and citizens, are one of the Council of Europe's instruments for implementing the European Landscape Convention (ELC). They can be established on a variety of scales and can serve as a vital link between administrations, civil society, researchers, and the economic sector. This article discusses the emergence of landscape observatories and the role they can play as decision support instruments in promoting sustainable landscape development through a regenerative approach. Additionally, the paper discusses the implementation of ELC in Västra Götaland in Sweden through the establishment of Landscape Observatory Västra Götaland, and its impacts and challenges associated with landscape development. Furthermore, we propose a comprehensive and holistic, to any landscape type adaptable landscape observatory concept, based on multifunctionality of these institutions, emphasizing their decision support roles, social and economic importance.

Representative versus Natural Values of Public Open Spaces—A Landscape Approach (Szczecin Case Study)

Apart from interactivity, representativeness (in the meaning of grandness) is the basic and required characteristic of public open spaces. The representativeness of public open spaces (POS) is understood in terms of their ability to portray cities and their inhabitants as a whole. This study considers the historical value of public spaces and determines their contemporary role as spaces for representing cities. Moreover, we explore the relationship between the natural value of such places and their representativeness function. It was necessary to define the criteria determining the representativeness of public spaces, including their physical, semiotic, and functional features. The study was carried out in the midtown zone of Szczecin. The subject of the study is urban landscape objects. The landscape, according to the definition presented by the European Landscape Convention, is part of the land, as perceived by local people and visitors, which evolves through time as a result of being acted upon by natural forces and human beings. The landscape approach used in this research enables an assessment that requires taking into account and comparing many aspects that build the layers of the landscape. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were used to assess the characteristics that distinguish POS in the symbolic, formal, location-related and functional layers and to examine their ecological value. The results of the study generally confirmed our hypothesis: i.e., embedding the studied POS within the city’s tradition—with its strong semiotic connections and with the specific history of the place (genius loci)—increases the space’s range of contemporary, representative functions. At the same time, an apparent decrease in the prestige of the studied POS was observed. Although they originally had high historical value, they either lost key artifacts constituting that identity or were excluded from the main functional and compositional axes of the city. Moreover, this study proves that the representativeness of POS, conditioned by historical value and contemporary functional, spatial, and location features, is generally inconsistent with their high natural value. Still, this inconsistency does not have to be a mean contradiction.

A refined literature review to promote sustainable development through integrated frameworks in the European landscape

Humans and human communities influence—and are influenced by—the landscapes or ecosystems of which they are a part. The contemporary landscape which much of the world’s population inhabits is a complex matrix of interrelated human and natural systems. The European Landscape Convention’s comprehensive definition recognizes the importance of landscape but is deficient in classification frameworks and cohesive approaches to planning, particularly sustainable development. This paper provides a critical literature review for the term ‘landscape’; it’s evolving and iterative procedure synthesizes interdisciplinary perspectives of literature’s varied theories, paradigms, frameworks and concepts. Results indicate the disciplines of Social Science and Environmental Science transcend the literature and current paradigms for the concept of ‘landscape’ still lack interrelated perspective and are generally poorly understood among disciplines. This literature review concludes that sustainable development within the European landscape requires an integrated spatial approach for applying the concept of ‘landscape’. The context of the human-nature relationship within a socio-ecological production landscape (SEPL) allows the interactions of its interdependent components to be viewed comprehensively. This critical analysis grounds perspectives of landscape and assist students, practitioners, and researchers to interpret concepts of the term ‘landscape’ within multiple frameworks. This paper fills interdisciplinary gaps and provides the structural, spatial, and contextual considerations for further integrated research, theory, and planning in thinking about sustainable development within Europe’s rapidly changing landscapes.

Conflicting perspectives on urban landscape quality in six urban regions in Europe and their implications for urban transitions

The European Landscape Convention urges countries to involve stakeholders including citizens in the governance of ordinary (urban) landscapes. This paper studies conflicting stakeholder perspectives on urban landscape quality in the context of urban sustainability transitions in six European urban regions in the Netherlands, Italy, France, Croatia, Belarus and the Russian Federation. Repertory grid technique helped to identify the dimensions through which persons evaluate urban landscape quality. Ninety-three (93) interviewees elicited 1400 bipolar constructs, such as “Edible green – Concrete” or “Community, group – Loneliness”. They then selected two constructs they consider most relevant in the context of urban sustainability transitions, and ranked all pictures on a 10-points scale. The rankings were analyzed using Multiple Correspondence Analysis. We find that, in spite of the many social and cultural differences between the regions, stakeholders largely agree on the preferred direction of urban transitions; more green and blue spots where people can meet and undertake joint (leisure) activities. The main conflict is between, on the one hand, a preference for organized development and beautification and, on the other hand, naturalness (permeability of soil) and organic development. The paper considers several challenges for transition governance.

The Approach to Typology of The Biocultural Landscape In Slovakia.

The European Landscape Convention aims to promote landscape protection, management and planning. This must be done based on identification and knowledge of those basic landscape types that were created by the interaction of human and nature over the course of historical development. This paper presents a methodological approach for creation and evaluation of representative biocultural types of landscape, in order to elaborate an effective strategy for landscape protection, and proposes a management strategy of sustainable use of representative biocultural landscapes of Slovakia. That will ensure the regular maintenance of the landscape in view of current global trends and factors affecting the landscape. Our interdisciplinary approach is based on previous landscape classifications and the interaction of natural and cultural elements. The classification of the biocultural landscape is obtained as a result of multi-criteria analysis in GIS and synthesis of maps of potential vegetation, real ecosystems and current land use, abiotic conditions of representative geoecosystems of Slovakia, and other specific statistical data. We assessed the perception and significance of individual landscape types by way of a questionnaire survey. In Slovakia, seven basic types of landscape were singled out, ranging from natural to semi-natural to anthropogenic, within which other subtypes were specified. We assessed the protection of individual types, as well as threats and degradation of the landscape. Insufficient protection is given to the most valuable types of biocultural landscape and new tools and methods of support and protection have to be implemented.