ABSTRACT
This chapter explores some of the challenges for policy-makers and administrators of introducing effective public participation in landscape protection, management and planning in accordance with the European Landscape Convention. The perspective is in the main a Nordic one, more specifically a view from Norway, which was the first country to ratify the European Landscape Convention. Knowledge and awareness of landscape are enhanced when the authorities share relevant information with the general public. Conversely, public participation allows the incorporation of the public’s knowledge, values, viewpoints and behaviour in decision-making and gives the authorities a better overview of problems as perceived by the public, thus facilitating the finding of appropriate solutions. One of the principal challenges for the implementation of the European Landscape Convention is how to incorporate people’s perceptions of their landscapes into a form of participatory planning and management that takes into account differing perceptions of landscape.
