Landscape services strengthen landscape quality
A newly developed cyclical model shows how the access via landscape services can strengthen landscape qualities. By means of surveys and discussions, relevant landscape services are identified from the perspective of the local population and other stakeholders. In addition, landscape and structural qualities that underlie these services can be identified. Based on this, concrete implementation projects can be launched to strengthen the landscape’s qualities.
«Landscape knowledge in brief» for teachers
The websites landschaftswissen.ch (in German) and penser-le-paysage.ch (in French) provide compact landscape knowledge for teachers. A newly developed information sheet (available in German and French) helps teachers to analyse the issues in their lessons. It shows how landscapes shape our quality of life today and in the future. The project was developed jointly by the University of Zurich and the Zurich University of Teacher Education. For the French-language version, there was cooperation with the University of Lausanne and the Lausanne University of Teacher Education.
In a follow-up project, a picture book "I discover landscapes" is now being developed for schoolchildren and the general public.
New visitor guidance «Around the Hudelmoos»
The «Thurgauisch-Fürstenländische Kulturlandschaft mit Hudelmoos» is a site within the federal inventory of landscapes and natural monuments (German abbreviation: BLN). A participatory process lasting several years was carried out with the aim of increasing the appreciation of this BLN site. Participants in the participation process were the three municipal authorities concerned, cantonal agencies from two cantons (Thurgau and St. Gallen), moss corporations, civic communities, hunters, foresters, nature conservationists, farmers and schools. This participatory process was documented in a film (in German only).
A visible result of this close cooperation is the updated visitor guidance and information in the area. The new information boards (link still missing) present the landscape's special features and local personalities with their stories about the landscape. An overview map (link still missing) provides orientation on the newly signposted circular routes to experience this landscape of national importance.
Revision of the Lavaux management plan
Lavaux is inscribed as both a site within the federal inventory of landscapes and natural monuments and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Each World Heritage site must have a management plan that defines how the site's Outstanding Universal Value will be preserved. The 2007 management plan for Lavaux, vignoble en terrasses is the reference document for the "Lavaux Patrimoine mondial" (LPm) association, which is responsible for managing the World Heritage Site. At the invitation of the LPm, the research team from the University of Lausanne was involved in the preparation for the revision of this management plan. The aim was to jointly develop a method for incorporating landscape services. Specifically, the key values, i.e. the attributes that carry the exceptional universal value of the area from the point of view of landscape services, as well as the indicators describing these attributes and their evolution over time, are to be analysed.
(Re)discovering the Val d'Hérens landscape: school project
In collaboration with the school of Val d'Hérens, located a few hundred metres from the pyramids of Euseigne, a project was carried out involving all the secondary school students of the valley. The aim was to initiate an intergenerational dialogue about the landscape in which the young people live. Specifically, it asked what the landscape brings to the young people, how the landscape has changed and how it might develop in the future. To this end, the students were divided into six thematic workshops (Radio; Escape Room; Erosion and Geology; Cooking and Local Crafts; Sustainable Future of the Pyramids; Fairy Tales and Legends). Through these workshops, the students learned about the landscapes of their valley and its links to economic activities (crafts, agriculture, tourism). They also thought about the future of the site of the Euseigne pyramids.
As part of the 20th anniversary of the European Landscape Convention, the Interdisciplinary Centre for Mountain Research of the University of Lausanne (CIRM) organised a "Landscape Month " in the Val d'Hérens in autumn 2020. The aim of this series of events was to communicate to the population the evolutionary character of mountain landscapes, the contributions of landscapes to society and the importance of preserving high-quality landscapes. The various events (exhibitions, public lectures, excursions, round tables) organised in the five communes of the Val d'Hérens were a nice success among the population.
Since 2021, a project of the University of Lausanne has been carried out in the Val d'Hérens, combining participatory science, science education and an artistic approach. Entitled "Val d'Hérens 1950/2050 - Life, images and practices of an area in transition", it invites citizens to question the development of the area (and thus of the landscapes) against the backdrop of climate change, but also of ecological and digital change. Inhabitants, researchers, artists and visitors of the Val d'Hérens will jointly examine the challenges and effects of climate change on life in the mountains.
Videos on landscapes, landscape services and associated conflicts.
What is green at Greencity (Zurich), what landscape services does the Limmat offer in the city of Zurich, what conflicts arise from Covid-19 in local recreation areas? These and other questions were addressed by students in a course at the Department of Geography at the University of Zurich and six videos (in German only) were made.