The European Landscape Convention, also known as the Florence Convention, was initiated by the Congress of Regional and Local Authorities of the Council of Europe. The Convention is aimed at: the protection, management and planning of all landscapes and raising awareness of the value of a living landscape
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The Convention is the first international treaty to be exclusively devoted to all aspects of European landscape. It applies to the entire territory of the Parties and covers natural, rural, urban and peri-urban areas. It concerns landscapes that might be considered outstanding as well as everyday or degraded landscapes.
The European Landscape Convention was adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on 19 July 2000 in Strasbourg and opened for signature of the Member States of the Organisation in Florence (Italy) on 20 October 2000. It aims to promote European landscape protection, management and planning and to organise European co-operation. The Convention came into force in 1 March 2004.
To date, 33 Council of Europe member states have ratified the Convention: Armenia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom. A further five states have signed but not ratified it: Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Malta, Serbia and Switzerland.
The Convention provides an important contribution to the implementation of the Council of Europe’s objectives, namely to promote democracy, human rights and the rule of law and to seek common solutions to the main problems facing European society today. By developing a new territorial culture, the Council of Europe seeks to promote populations’ quality of life and well-being.
The aim of the Conference is to present to all member and observer States of the Council of Europe, and to international governmental and non-governmental institutions and organisations, the progress made in the implementation of the Convention, and practical questions related to its implementation.
The European Landscape Convention introduced a Europe-wide concept centring on the quality of landscape protection, management and planning and covering the entire territory, not just outstanding landscapes. Through its ground-breaking approach and its broader scope, it complements the Council of Europe’s and UNESCO’s heritage conventions.
After the 6th Conference of Parties held in Strasbourg in 3-4 May 2011, the current president of conference is selected as Portugal and vice-chair as Turkey.