The European Landscape Convention at urban scale: insights from an exploratory approach in Lisbon

Urban landscapes are an essential part of the daily lives of most of Europe’s citizens. The European Landscape Convention (ELC) recognises the value of everyday landscapes for the well-being of citizens, in urban areas as well. There is far more experience in dealing with landscape in rural and natural areas than in urban areas. Literature dealing with urban landscape is rather focalized on natural elements within the cities than on built areas. Downscaling the Landscape Character Assessment (LCA), using the ELC framework, in major urban areas is still a challenge. Thus, this paper aims at discussing how LCA approaches developed for broad-scale non-urban settings need to be reviewed, adapted and articulated with other disciplinary approaches. Within the exploratory exercise carried out in the city of Lisbon, it was also explored how different maps, as produced by different groups, can be integrated into a joined consensual view that captures the diversity and the uniqueness that provides the character of the urban landscape.Les paysages urbains représentent un élément essentiel dans le quotidien de la majorité des Européens. La CEP reconnaît tout autant la valeur des paysages pour le bien-être des habitants des zones urbaines. Il existe cependant nettement plus d’études consacrées aux paysages des zones rurales et naturelles que d’études dévolues à ce sujet au niveau des zones urbaines. La littérature se focalise davantage sur les éléments naturels à l’intérieur des villes plutôt que sur les zones bâties. La réduction d’échelle de l’évaluation du caractère d’un paysage par le biais du cadre de la CEP demeure un défi dans les grandes agglomérations. C’est pourquoi notre article vise à examiner comment les approches par l’évaluation du caractère du paysage (ECP) mises au point pour les configurations non urbaines à large échelle doivent être revues, adaptées et articulées autour d’autres approches disciplinaires. Dans cette étude exploratoire menée à Lisbonne, nous avons aussi examiné comment différentes cartes, produites par différents groupes, peuvent être intégrées dans une vision consensuelle commune à même de saisir la diversité et la singularité qui caractérisent les paysages urbains

Improving visual attractiveness to enhance city-river integration - a methodological approach for ongoing evaluation

The relationship between rivers and cities has evolved from a natural coexistence and interdependence to a progressive relationship of segregation and disintegration. This article uses a planning experiment to explore and discuss some concerns about visual attractiveness of city–river landscapes in promoting spatial integration of cities and rivers. It presents a methodological approach integrating expert opinions and public perception questionnaires. This is a contribution to making operational an ongoing aesthetic assessment of different dimensions and viewpoints at the city scale. This approach is illustrated with a case-study in the Lisbon metropolitan area and its main assessment results are integrated in a city–river profile that can be useful in ongoing evaluation processes of river landscapes and urban planning practice

O ensino da ecologia da paisagem em Portugal

Neste trabalho descreve-se a dinâmica da oferta do ensino da ecologia da paisagem desde o seu início em Portugal, no final dos anos 1980, até ao presente. Faz-se um apanhado das unidades curriculares atualmente em funcionamento no ensino superior, por ciclo de estudos e por instituição, e descrevem-se as tendências observadas nas últimas duas décadas no ensino desta disciplina. Em Portugal são lecionadas presentemente 17 unidades curriculares especificamente dedicadas à ecologia da paisagem, distribuídas por cursos de 1º e 2º ciclo e mestrados integrados, em 12 instituições. Depois de um período inicial marcado pelo rápido surgimento de unidades curriculares, observou-se o seu abandono, particularmente no âmbito da adequação dos cursos ao modelo de Bolonha. Recentemente, surgiram novas unidades, principalmente ao nível de programas de doutoramento (3º ciclo), que permitem compensar o anterior desaparecimento de unidades e manter uma considerável oferta de ensino em ecologia da paisagem no país

Ecologia da paisagem e suas aplicações profissionais em Portugal: os casos da gestão florestal e da conservação da biodiversidade

Neste trabalho avalia-se a aplicação da ecologia da paisagem à prática profissional em duas áreas distintas: a gestão florestal e a conservação da natureza e da biodiversidade. A partir de uma hipótese, de acordo com a qual a elevada aplicabilidade da ecologia da paisagem a determinadas áreas e a vasta experiência formativa nesta disciplina em Portugal deveria ser traduzida por um elevado número de aplicações práticas nos âmbitos da conservação da biodiversidade e a gestão florestal, avaliamos um conjunto de indicadores de utilização da estrutura teórica, dos conceitos e dos métodos desta disciplina a partir da análise de um conjunto de documentos concebidos a diferentes níveis organizacionais. Os resultados indicam que a presença da ecologia da paisagem nestas duas áreas profissionais é muito ténue, sendo muito poucos os casos onde é clara a influência da disciplina na conceção e desenvolvimento de políticas, planos e projetos. As explicações para esta situação podem envolver simultaneamente insuficiência de transferência de conhecimento da ecologia da paisagem para o mundo profissional e uma não sincronização entre a formação académica e a aplicação

Landscape ecology in meeting challenges in land management: the case of Portugal

The practice of planning and management at the landscape scale has increased over the year and in some fields, such as forestry, hydrology, or biodiversity conservation, the landscape approach is already a requirement. Management at this scale is a challenging task due to the complexity of the socio-economicecological systems under consideration but mostly due to the level of uncertainty of current and future drivers of change and their effects. Theoretical foundations and methods to support management of landscapes can be found within landscape ecology, an emerging science field in the 1990’s and 2000’s but now fully established despite the diversity of perspectives. In Portugal, landscape ecology has also emerged in the 1990’s but applications in real world cases are infrequent. The goal of this work was to analyse the role of the science of landscape ecology in meeting or contributing to meet challenges in landscape management in Portugal. We analysed approaches and methods used to address the sustainable management of landscapes as well as particular case studies in forestry, fire hazard reduction, biodiversity conservation and regional planning where landscape ecology based knowledge or methods have been applied. Considering the insufficiency of applications in Portugal revealed by this work, we additionally present principles, guidelines and measures to be used in land management in general and within in the fields described above based upon the foundations and the practice in the field of landscape ecology, particularly in Portugal

Is land cover an important asset for addressing the subjective landscape dimensions

This paper explores which physical landscape components relate to subjective landscape dimensions. The ways in which people describe their surrounding cultural landscape was analyzed through an assessment of their representations of it. A special focus was placed on assessing the role of land cover as a means to communicate landscape meanings regarding a specific geographical region. The methodological framework was built on the basis of a questionnaire survey, multivariate statistical analysis and mapping approaches. This research shows that there is a set of physical landscape components that relate to subjective landscape dimensions which can be disclosed through the assessment of social representations. Enhancing and safeguarding those physical landscape components associated with the subjective landscape dimensions are important aspects in both framing and targeting land cover/use policies and decision making. Results also suggest that land cover can be understood as an important asset for describing landscapes as more than 30% of respondents referred to it when asked to represent the case study region of Alentejo in southern Portugal. This might mean that in addition to objective ecological and biological functions, land cover is also an important asset for evaluating subjective landscape dimensions in line with place attachment and landscape identity. Finally, the ways in which the empirical material gathered here can be used to inform policy and planning are explored

The Restorative Effect of the Presence of Greenery on the Classroom in Children’s Cognitive Performance

Studies developed in a scholar context report a restorative effect of nature on human beings, specifically in terms of the psychological recovery from attention fatigue and restored mental resources that were previously spent in activities that require attention. Studies usually compare the performance of children in schools with or without access to green spaces. In this study, the effect of introducing greenery into the classroom context was compared across time. The experiment was developed in two primary schools with pupils in different socioeconomic contexts, at three moments: before introducing an artificial green wall into the classroom, one month later, and one month after the introduction of vegetable pots. Results showed a significant increase in sustained and selective attention, and work memory between the experimental and the control group, notably in the third moment when vegetable pots were introduced. In the second moment (green walls), only the work memory (tested with the inversed number) showed a significant effect. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed in terms of nature’s role both in terms of natural and artificial elements and the cumulative effect of direct interaction with natural element

Perspetivas a partir do Observatório da Paisagem da Charne

UIDB/04647/2020 UIDP/04647/2020A identidade territorial é hoje um aspeto chave no desenvolvimento local. Torna-se assim relevante ganhar um melhor entendimento sobre o processo de construção da identidade dos territórios, enquanto suporte para atuações ao nível local. A paisagem, na aceção estabelecida pela Convenção Europeia da Paisagem, constitui um quadro essencial para explorar a formação e compreensão da identidade territorial enquanto construção social ao longo do tempo. Este artigo pretende fazer uma reflexão sobre a identidade da paisagem da Charneca Ribatejana, uma unidade de paisagem ondeestá em curso a implantação de um Observatório da Paisagem, seguindo as recomendações da Convenção Europeia da Paisagem. Para isso abordam-se três escalas territoriais interligadas, sob os pontos de vista geográfico, histórico e ecológico: i) a província do Ribatejo, unidade administrativa e política criada pelo Estado Novo, ii) a charneca do Ribatejo, paisagem extensa, despovoada, na margem esquerda do rio Tejo na transição para o Alentejo, e iii) a área da charneca ribatejana no concelho da Chamusca, caracterizando o território e a sua matriz biofísica e cultural, integrando também as perspetivas das comunidades locais face ao papel da paisagem na construção da identidade territorial. Identificam-se oportunidades e ameaças para a valorização da paisagem e dos seus recursos, tendo em vista opções para o desenvolvimento local, baseadas no envolvimento das comunidades presentes e de visitantes. Destaca-se ainda o papel do Observatório da Paisagem da Charneca como centro de partilha, pesquisa e divulgação de conhecimento relativoa este território, comunidades e paisagens. Territorial identity is today a key aspect of local development. Thus, it becomes relevant to gain a better understanding of the process of constructing the identity of territories, as a support for local actions. Landscape, as defined by the European Landscape Convention, is an essential framework for exploring the foundation, and understanding territorial identity as a social construct over time. This article intends to reflect on the landscape identity of Charneca do Ribatejo, a landscape unit where the implementation of a Landscape Observatory is underway, following European Landscape Convention recommendations. For this, three interconnected territorial scales are approached from the geographic, historical and ecological points of view: i) Ribatejo province, as an administrative and political unit created by the Estado Novo, ii) Charneca do Ribatejo, as an extensive, unpopulated landscape, in the left bank of the Tagus River in the transition to the Alentejo region, iii) Charneca do Ribatejo, as part of the municipality of Chamusca, characterizing the territory and its biophysical and cultural matrix, and also integrating the perspectives of the local communities regarding the role of landscape in the construction of territorial identity. Opportunities and threats to enhance the landscape and its resources are identified, with a view to local development options based on the involvement of the present and visitant communities. We also highlight the role of the Charneca Landscape Observatory as a centre for research, sharing and dissemination of knowledge related to this territory, its communities, and the landscape.publishersversionpublishe

How Landscape Ecology Can Promote the Development of Sustainable Landscapes in Europe:The role of the European Association for Landscape Ecology (IALE Europe) in the 21st century

In Europe, landscape research has a long tradition of drawing on several disciplines. ‘National schools’ of landscape research developed, which were related to the characteristic landscapes found in the different countries and to specific linguistic meanings and legal traditions when using landscape related concepts. International co-operation demands a certain harmonization of these concepts for better mutual understanding. The 2000 European Landscape Convention provided an important momentum to rethink research, policy and management of landscapes from the perspective of sustainable development and participatory planning. Landscape ecology as a transdisciplinary science with a dynamic and holistic perspective on landscape offers a great potential for an integrative approach. The specificity of the European landscape research rests on its long history and on integration based on the great diversity of the landscapes, characterised by an intimate relationship between the varied natural environment and the different cultural traditions which define the identity of countries, regions and people. Within a unified Europe, with increasing international and trans-border co-operation and increasing common environmental problems, the creation of a specific European Association for Landscape Ecology (IALE-Europe), in addition to the existing international association and its national chapters, became justified by the need for a collaborative endeavour to address the specific problems of landscapes in Europe and to stimulate cooperation between landscape ecologists in research, education and practice