Landscape in peripheric rural regions: can a non-ackowledged asset be a potential for development?

Abstract

The aim of the Meeting of the Workshops - The European Landscape Convention states that the advances in production techniques in agriculture, forestry, industry and mining, together with the practices followed in town and country planning, transport, networks, tourism and recreation, and more generally the global economic changes, have in many cases led to degradation, debasement or transformation of landscapes. The landscape is however, as the Convention mentions, an essential factor for the quality of life of people. It has an important public interest role in the cultural, ecological, environmental and social fields, and constitutes a resource favorable to economic activity, particularly to tourism. Each citizen should contribute to preserving the quality of the landscape and it is the responsibility of the public authorities to define the general framework in which this quality can be secured. It appears essential in this context to take into account the “multifunctional value” of the landscapes.