ABSTRACT
This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. The part is concerned with the problem of how the Landscape Convention seeks to deal with the issue of maintaining “the expression of the land—its forms and purposes” so that it continues to fit “the expression of the needs, desires and abilities of the people,” to re-use Breitbach’s words. It shows that there is something of a disjunction between the Convention, and its explanatory report, which has been prepared by a panel of experts. Though ‘old Europe’ is often identified with its picturesque and quaint landscape elements, Europe also has its quota of, for example, huge dams and power plants, from which lines of power and conduits of water flow. Much of North America and Europe is actually owned by the same gigantic corporations, including food conglomerates, so the economic reality of both continents is, to a great extent, the same.
