ABSTRACT
In the course of its development, the idea of landscape has been embraced by many disciplines and used to frame scientific, political and professional discourses. The Right to Landscape is yet another framing, offering a particular discourse on landscape and human rights. The concept of the right to landscape explores in detail the role of landscape in working towards justice and human wellbeing. This is especially pertinent, we believe, for those who are engaged in research and actions that influence the form and function of the landscape. For us the editors, landscape architects Shelley Egoz and Jala Makhzoumi, and scholar of holistic landscape Gloria Pungetti, the prolific multidisciplinary body of literature on landscape forms the theoretical foundation and inspiration for the necessary visionary thinking needed to address planning, design and management of landscapes. As landscape architects whose passion, research interests and practice revolve around ethics and social justice related to the designed space, Shelley Egoz and Jala Makhzoumi sought the Cambridge Centre for Landscape and People (CCLP) that was founded by Gloria Pungetti as the ideal platform for this initiative that explores the interface of landscape and human rights.1 CCLP’s mission statement is to: “integrate the spiritual and cultural values of land and local communities into landscape and nature conservation and socioeconomic needs into sustainable development; and to support biological and cultural diversity, as well as awareness and understanding of, and respect for, landscape and nature” (CCLP, 2010a). Within this mission the initiative of the Right to Landscape (RtL) “seeks to expand on the concept of human rights and to explore the right to landscape”. RtL proposes the premise that “Landscape, as an umbrella concept of an integrated entity of physical environments, is imbued with meaning and comprises an underpinning component for ensuring wellbeing and dignity of communities and
individuals”. The aim of the initiative is “to collectively define the concept of the right to landscape and to generate a body of knowledge that will support human rights” (CCLP, 2010b).
