Europes Living Landscapes

Landscape is one of the most fascinating assets of Europe. The great diversity in landscapes reflects a multitude of historical layers. This book presents the story of some of the most expressive European landscapes. It explores how engagement may safeguard and improve landscape identity for the future.

'On Site' presents projects and strategies in landscape architecture from Berlin to Bordeaux. The projects are supplemented by essays on European cartography, the cultural landscape, the history of ideas in landscape architecture, the role of ideal landscapes, urban policies, and the pioneers from Portugal.

This important and insightful book provides, for the first time, a broad presentation of ongoing research into public participation in landscape conservation, management and planning, following the 2000 European Landscape Convention which came into force in 2004. The book examines both the theory of participation and what lessons can be learnt from specific European examples. It explores in what manner and to what extent the provisions for participation in the European Landscape Convention have been followed up and implemented. It also presents and compares different experiences of participation in selected countries from northern, southern, eastern and western Europe, and provides a critical examination of public participation in practice. However, while the book’s focus is necessarily on Europe, many of the conclusions drawn are of global relevance. The book provides a valuable reference for researchers and advanced students in landscape policies and management, as well as for professionals and others interested in land-use planning and environmental management.

A presentation of the challenges of European rural landscape management, exploring alternatives that incorporate place-based approaches.

“This thoughtful, intelligent book is all about connectivity, addressing a natural world in which we are the primary influence.” —The New York Times Books Review Many gardeners today want a home landscape that nourishes and fosters wildlife, but they also want beauty, a space for the kids to play, privacy, and maybe even a vegetable patch. Sure, it’s a tall order, but The Living Landscape shows you how to do it. You’ll learn the strategies for making and maintaining a diverse, layered landscape—one that offers beauty on many levels, provides outdoor rooms and turf areas for children and pets, incorporates fragrance and edible plants, and provides cover, shelter, and sustenance for wildlife. Richly illustrated and informed by both a keen eye for design and an understanding of how healthy ecologies work, The Living Landscape will enable you to create a garden that fulfills both human needs and the needs of wildlife communities.

Come along on a field trip with the esteemed American naturalist May Theilgaard Watts to see how nature, history and culture have written their stories on the landscapes of Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Norway and Britain. She makes a lively guide, knowledgeable, literary, witty and opinionated, drawing on botany, ecology, and geography, as well as literature and folklore, to explain how a place came to look and feel the way it does.In this sequel to her popular book Reading the Landscape of America, Watts explored the hills of Italy, the grouse heath of Britain, the Black Forest of Germany, the limestone plateaus of France, and much more, explaining the forces that shaped these landscapes and continue to change them. Illustrated with dozens of pen and ink by the author. Includes a key to identifying the trees of Europe.