The Convention's 'landscape' is everywhere, and it is multiple in its perception. It can be urban as much as rural, ordinary as much as special, marine as well as terrestrial, cultural as well as natural.
The European Landscape Convention (ELC) - the Florence Convention - was published in October 2000 and came into force in 11 ratifying countries on 4 March 2004. It is a forward-looking and democratising document, aimed at promoting the highest quality landscape for future generations, by protecting special landscapes and by managing and enhancing all landscape everywhere.
Its underlying philosophy, and its democratic approach to both value and change, matches that of 'Power of Place' and 'Force for our Future', being focused on the connections between people and place and on the idea of 'heritage everywhere'. It was taken into account in drawing up Conservation Principles, which are in harmony with its core concepts. It is also supportive of English Heritage's philosophy of managing change constructively.
The European Landscape Convention in England
The Florence Convention has been in force in the United Kingdom since 1 March 2007. The UK is already compliant with the Convention, but is always seeking to strengthen its implementation. Further implementation is being led by Defra, with a co-ordinating role for the whole of the UK and an organising role for England, where Defra works closely with English Heritage and Natural England, within its 'Framework for Implementation in England'.
English Heritage published its own Action Plan for the Convention 2009. It sets out how we already work extensively with the concept of landscape in many areas of our research, planning and outreach work - and how we shall in future strengthen our contribution to the implementation of the Convention, through:
- adhering to the philosophy of the ELC
- meeting the ELC's General Provisions
- contributing to national landscape policy
- developing specific measures to promote the historic aspects of landscape
- working with partners
The Faro Convention - the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society
A second Council of Europe Convention, the Faro Convention extends the Landscape Convention's people-centred focus to cultural heritage. It is not yet in force in the UK but it follows a line pursued by English Heritage through the Heritage Dividend, Constructive Conservation and Power of Place programmes.
Faro offers a very broad definition of cultural heritage and reinforces the links between cultural heritage, quality of life, identity and the right to participate in cultural life. It identifies the important role played by trans-national heritage communities in the context of this definition of the common heritage of Europe, but it also identifies a shared responsibility towards this common heritage.
Perhaps most of all it makes the case that the heritage resource can have wide social benefit and can help meet major social, demographic and economic challenges. A recent book 'Heritage and Beyond' reinforces its wide-ranging and important message.
