LCA Catalonia Case Study.indd - The Heritage Council

International Best Practice Case Study –
Landscape Observatory of Catalonia
On the 8 th June 2005, the Catalan Parliament passed the Landscape Act 8/2005. This Act embodies in its
entirety the philosophy contained in the ELC, as applies to the protection, management and planning of all
Catalonian landscapes, urban, peri-urban and rural. The purpose of the Act is the recognition, management
and planning of the landscape to preserve its heritage, social and economic values in a framework of
sustainable development. It is now the primary legislation and reference upon which the landscape
policies of the Government of Catalonia are founded. The Act establishes that its provisions apply to all
the territory of Catalonia: to the natural, rural, forest, urban, peri-urban and to singular landscapes such
as everyday and degraded landscapes, whether inland or coastal. 1 The Act gives the Government means
for legal recognition of the values of landscape and a mandate to promote actions for its conservation and
improvement. These means are by way of instruments (which are descriptive in nature) and directives
(which are regulatory in nature).
The Landscape Observatory of Catalonia
The most imaginative aspect of the Landscape Act 8/2005 is the provision to establish the Landscape
Observatory of Catalonia – (Observatori del Paisatge de Catalunya. 2 This is described by its Director
(Joan Nogué), as “a sort of great umbrella under which anyone interested in landscape can take shelter”.
The Landscape Observatory of Catalonia is an advisory body of the Government of Catalonia and
Catalan society in general in matters of landscape management. Its creation responds to the need
to study the landscape, prepare proposals and sensitise Catalan society to the need for better
protection, management and planning of the Catalan landscape within an overall framework of
sustainable development.
One of the main purposes of the Landscape Observatory is to increase knowledge of Catalan
landscapes among Catalan society and to support the application in Catalonia of the European
Landscape Convention (ELC). In this regard, the Landscape Observatory is the meeting point for
the Government of Catalonia, local authorities, the universities, professional groups and Catalan
society in general, in everything referring to the management and preservation of the landscape.
The Landscape Observatory, therefore, seeks to become a centre of excellence for the study
and monitoring of the evolution of landscape in Catalonia and the factors conditioning change.
It also aspires to become a point of reference for scientific and technical research in matters of
landscape. The Landscape Observatory of Catalonia, in short, is conceived as a think tank and
centre for action in relation to landscape management.
The Landscape Observatory is organised as a consortium and is included in the Act for the
protection, management and planning of the landscape in Catalonia.
The Observatory’s main benefit is that it is given particular responsibility to give effect to the 2005 Act. It is
dedicated solely to undertake this task and landscape management is no longer seen as a ‘bolt on’ extra to
the role of individual departments or indeed individual officials. The Observatory’s key objectives are to:
• Increase the knowledge that society has of its landscapes
• Collaborate with Government in implementing landscape policies
• Support application of the European Landscape Convention
.
1
Joan Nogue, Director. Paper to Landscape Conference Tullmore. The Observatory consists of a Governing Board, an Executive Committee and staff
comprising a director, three full-time staff members, a part-time web-master and two administrators.
2
Source: www.catpaisatge.net

Since its establishment, the Observatory’s achievements are substantial. For example, the Observatory
has completed a cataloguing programme in 2009 and has also engaged in the following activities:
• Designing landscape indicators;
• Promoting and carrying out professional training and public awareness campaigns;
• Creating a landscape observatory web www.catpaisatge.net available in four languages;
• Publishing a series of articles, books and documents on the Observatory’s activities
and services;
• Initiating a Catalonian historical landscape project to compliment the new catalogues;
• Establishing a documentation centre; and
• Collaborating on the Catalonian Landscape Museum.
The Instruments
The production of landscape catalogues is a new instrument for the introduction of landscape targets and
measures into town and country planning, and indeed, other sectoral policies such as agriculture and
forestry. The Landscape Observatory of Catalonia produces landscape catalogues, which are:
- Descriptive in nature and define the various types of landscape in Catalonia
- Identify their values and current state
- Propose the quality objectives, which need to be met
The Landscape Act 8/2005 prescribes the minimum content for each of the catalogues. It took just under
four years (2005-2009) for this cataloguing process to be formulated, agreed and published.
Landscape Directives
The Landscape Directives are based on the landscape catalogues and set out precisely, and incorporate
into regulations, the quality objectives to be incorporated into national and regional plans, (the Irish
equivalent of the County Development Plan) or other sectoral/strategic plans. The Directives through
articles in the 2005 Act provide for the following measures, to:
• Harmonise strategies of authorities and agents by means of landscape strategies;
• Develop research, education and public awareness; and
• Create a fund for the protection, management and planning of the landscape in accordance with the
criteria established by the act and implementation of its regulations.
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The Heritage Council
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