The Syndicate Group on European Cultural Landscapes was led by Hans Peter Jeschke, ICOMOS Austria. It was chaired by Bengt Edgren, Senior Executive Officer, National Heritage Board, Sweden, and the Rapporteur was Giorgio Galletti, Architect, Soprintendenza Beni Archtettonici – Firenze, Italy.
Mr Jeschke began by asking the Group what participants understood by
“European Cultural Landscapes” and it was agreed that the term implied
human, architectural, archeological and agricultural values but that
there were also links between human history and natural landscapes which
are constantly changing and developing. Participants established that a
Cultural Landscape could include any landscape which had been
influenced by human activity, but since it was not possible to protect
every landscape, it was important to develop a method of prioritising.
It was suggested that Salz-Kammergut, the Lake District (UK) and Dessau
Wörlitz (Germany) were examples of European Cultural Landscapes which
were recognised as being of international importance. It was considered,
however, that there were other important landscapes which were not
protected by any international agency. For example, according to one
participant, the Tuscan landscape (Italy) had been greatly affected by
regional legislation, which had led farmers to change the system of vine
cultivation. This had not only affected the landscape, but had changed
the ecological balance.
The discussion highlighted many different experiences from throughout
Europe with regard to how European Cultural Landscapes should be
defined. According to Mr Jeschke, there were already lists of Cultural
Landscapes in Poland, Austria and Slovenia. In the UK, it was agreed
that it was very important for the local community to be involved in the
decision making process because cultural heritage could only be
preserved if the local people wanted to protect it. Some communities in
Germany, on the other hand, had decided that the economic development of
their area should take preference to preservation of heritage. It was
concluded that a high priority should be given to raising public
awareness to ensure that local communities learnt to value their
heritage and to understand that this does not necessarily oppose
economic development. It was pointed out that if the local communities
were to be consulted, the authorities had to accept that sometimes the
opinion received would not always be what they might wish.
Further discussion revealed that much work had already been done on
identifying areas to be protected in European countries. However, each
country had a different planning system, and so areas which had been
identified as in need of protection vary greatly in size and the type of
features they include. Local authorities in many areas throughout
Europe already represented cultural areas whose geographic borders had
been defined historically according to geographic or geological
features, vernacular buildings, farming practices etc. It was agreed
that information existed at a local level with local conservation
offices, archaeological groups, planing officer etc. and they could be
provided with guidelines to help them draw this information together on a
trans-European scale.
Mr Jeschke believed that it was important for every cultural landscape
to be recognised not only by the local people, but by the local
administration which had the power to transform or to preserve them.
More important, added Mr Jeschke, was to develop a land use management
plan at international or national level for the future conservation of
cultural landscapes.
It was concluded that a network of similar cultural landscapes across
Europe would establish solidarity and enable an exchange of experience
to tackle common problems. ENNHO and the European Exchange Programme, it
was agreed, already provided such a framework and it was important for
the partnerships resulting from this to be developed in the future. The
main aim of these partnerships and exchanges could focus on raising
public awareness of the importance of cultural landscapes.
