VISTORIA - PAYSAGES HISTORIQUES DE L'EUROPE
Throughout history, human activity has shaped our urban, suburban and rural landscapes. Whether landscapes are natural or inhabited, are the sites of historic, artistic or even literary events or just of everyday activities, they deserve to be spared from the erosion inflicted by the imprints – some deep and indelible – that are gradually covering our territories. Whether through extensive monocultivation or excessive coastal development subjected to seasonal occupation by mass tourism, it is clear that the main agent for the destruction of landscapes is often an economic activity. The interdisciplinary partnership set up within the VISTORIA project aims to propose both a policy for awareness and protection and an economic strategy that considers landscape as the cultural aspect of sustainable land use. Overall objective / Objectif général To build a permanent partnership to deal with landscape problems; to set up a theoretical procedure for evaluating landscapes based on their history; to establish a plan for tourism based on sustainable land development; to establish a communication strategy to disseminate the notions of respect and fragility in line with the principles advocated by the European Landscape Convention (ELC). Expected results / Résultats attendus Promotion of local channels for economic use (tourism) of landscapes, based on respect for the principles advocated by the ELC; fairer distribution of tourism flows. Economic use of landscape should entail adoption of initiatives for protection by all those benefiting from the landscape. In this way measures to maintain the historical and natural environment – often unpopular because they are costly – will be seen as investments.