Exercising Landscape Character Assessment: Providing Context for Involving Stakeholders

Abstract

In the framework of the implementation of the European Landscape Convention and the arising need to train students to con- tribute to it in their professional life, this papers aims to present successes and drawbacks concerning the integration of different stake- holders’ perspectives for an improved Landscape Character Assessment at local scale in the academic context. It reports on four exercises in Portugal (Almada, Castelo de Vide, Setúbal and Tomar), focusing on three aspects: firstly, the integration of the public using different approaches, secondly, on the views of local authorities on the usefulness of LCA in local planning and urban management, and ultimately, on how students benefited from the various kinds of processes that were carried out in each municipality. The processes are presented and critically analyzed in order to identify strengthens and weaknesses in proving a context for students to meet with stakeholders.