Landscape Atlases Landscape identification, characterisation and assessment method Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy General directorate for Development, Housing and Nature Landscape office Sequoia tower 92055 La Défense cedex conception graphique de la couverture et impression : MEDDE/SPSSI/ATL2 Ministère de l’Écologie, du Développement durable et de l’Énergie Tel.: +33 (0)1 40 81 21 22 imprimé sur du papier certifié écolabel européen www.developpement-durable.gouv.fr www.developpement-durable.gouv.fr Landscape Atlases Landscape identification, characterisation and assessment method Project coordinator Aurélie FRANCHI – DGALN / DHUP / Landscape and publicity office Authors/Contributors Richard RAYMOND, Director of Research, Yves LUGINBÜHL, Senior Research Emeritus at the CNRS, co-author of the European Landscape Convention, Jean-François SEGUIN, Council of Europe Expert on the European Landscape Convention, Quentin CEDELLE, contract Research Engineer and Landscape Engineer. Hélène GRARE, Landscape Engineer and Cartographer Geomatician. Proofreaders (members of the steering committee) Stéphane BERTIN, Myriam BOUHADDANE-RAYNAUD, Jean-Luc CABRIT, Adrien COUTANCEAU, Mireille DECONINCK, Jacques DEVAL, Jean DOUCET, Mireille FALQUE, Aurélie FRANCHI, Thibaut GABORIT, Julien GANDAR, Yves HELBERT, Daniel LAROCHE, Hélène LEBLOND, Laetitia MANTZARIAS-CONREAUX, Claire MIEGE, Jean-Philippe MINIER, Françoise PELISSIER, Jean-Claude RENAUD, Justine RIGAULT, Michaël RIPOCHE, Muriel SAINT SARDOS, François SALGE, Jean-Pierre SAURIN, Elise SOUFFLET, Jean- Philippe STREBLER, Marie VILLOT, as well as Isabelle ARTS, Carole CONSTANS-MARTIGNY, Philippe DORNOY, Perrine LAON, Sébastien GIORGIS, Laurence LE DU-BLAYO and Yves MICHELIN. Cover photograph: Marie VILLOT ISBN: 978-2-11-139389-9 Important: This publication is a translation of "Les atlas de paysages, méthode pour l’identification, la caractérisation et la qualification des paysages" (Landscape atlases - a method for identifying, characterising and describing landscapes), by Richard Raymond, Yves Luginbuhl, Jean-François Seguin, Quentin Cedelle and Hélène Grare, published in March 2015 (ISBN no. 978-2-11-139325-7). In the event of differences between the original French version and the English translation, the French version shall prevail. Landscape Atlases - Landscape identification, characterisation and assessment method Contents Preface .................................................................................................................................................................3 Introduction .........................................................................................................................................................5 ALL LANDSCAPES ARE WORTHY OF ATTENTION ........................................................................................................5 LANDSCAPE, AN OVERARCHING VISION OF THE AREA ...............................................................................................5 LANDSCAPES: TOOLS FOR TERRITORIAL DEVELOPMENT ...........................................................................................6 AN IMPORTANT PART OF PEOPLE'S SURROUNDINGS .................................................................................................6 1- What is a Landscape Atlas? ..........................................................................................................................7 THE LANDSCAPE ATLAS, AN INFORMATION TOOL ......................................................................................................7 What landscape atlases are not ................................................................................................................................. 8 WHO IS A LANDSCAPE ATLAS FOR? FOR WHAT PURPOSE? .......................................................................................8 A landscape atlas to guide public action .................................................................................................................... 9 A landscape atlas to raise awareness among regional stakeholders ......................................................................... 9 A landscape atlas to capitalise on reusable knowledge ........................................................................................... 10 A landscape atlas to promote public participation .................................................................................................... 10 WHY UPDATE A LANDSCAPE ATLAS EVERY 10 YEARS? .......................................................................................... 11 THE 1994 LANDSCAPE ATLAS METHOD ............................................................................................................... 12 The structure of the proposed approach .................................................................................................................. 12 Feedback on twenty years of experience of landscape atlases................................................................................ 13 Specifying the context and the choices made .......................................................................................................... 16 Having a consistent level of knowledge between the landscape atlases .................................................................. 16 Reporting the information and making it available .................................................................................................... 17 2- Organisation for producing a landscape atlas ......................................................................................... 19 ORGANISING AND DISTRIBUTING ROLES BETWEEN THE PARTNERS ......................................................................... 19 Contracting authority ................................................................................................................................................ 20 Project management ................................................................................................................................................ 20 Steering committee .................................................................................................................................................. 21 Monitoring committee ............................................................................................................................................... 22 Coordination committee ........................................................................................................................................... 22 PREPARING FOR THE CREATION OR UPDATE OF A LANDSCAPE ATLAS..................................................................... 22 The sharing of objectives ......................................................................................................................................... 23 Formalisation of the specifications ........................................................................................................................... 24 3- Creating or updating a landscape atlas .................................................................................................... 27 THE DIFFERENT SCALES TO CONSIDER................................................................................................................. 27 Geographic scales .................................................................................................................................................... 27 Landscape processes and time scales ..................................................................................................................... 27 THE ORGANISATION OF LANDSCAPE KNOWLEDGE ................................................................................................. 28 Characterising a landscape ...................................................................................................................................... 29 Assessing a landscape ............................................................................................................................................. 35 Identifying a landscape ............................................................................................................................................. 38 Landscape processes .............................................................................................................................................. 41 Landscape issues ..................................................................................................................................................... 44 The study area, landscape units and landscape unit groupings ............................................................................... 45 1 Landscape Atlases - Landscape identification, characterisation and assessment method VALIDATING THE KNOWLEDGE PRODUCED ............................................................................................................ 47 LANDSCAPE ATLAS REQUIREMENTS ..................................................................................................................... 48 Requirements at study area level ............................................................................................................................. 48 Landscape unit groupings ........................................................................................................................................ 49 Requirements