Implementation of European Landscape Convention in Poland

Signature 2000, ratification 2004
More than a decade has passed since the signature of ELC by Poland but the implementation of landscape protection measures into the Polish legal systems has taken place only very slowly. 
The year 2010 can be regarded as a breakthrough: the administrative responsibility was appointed to the General Directorate for Environment Protection (GDOŚ).  Although it is equipped with very slim capacities, the GDOŚ has initiated a series of measures to start a public debate on landscape issues.

On September 20, 2012, a conference was held in Warsaw entitled "Implementation of the European Landscape Convention in Poland". It took up questions concerning the direction of legal changes, education and stakeholder participation in the protection of natural and cultural landscape resources. The conference was also an opportunity to introduce the LIFEscape project. Conclusions from this very productive workshop were:
  1. Poland has a number of research centres and outstanding experts in landscape theory, but this is not reflected in the legislation and existing legal tools are far insufficient.
  2. The ELC is a one-time opportunity to introduce sustainable landscape policy. In order to do so, bottom-up initiatives are required.
  3. The key issue is to agree on a common definition of landscape, which will be applicable in all spatial policies.
  4. An important postulate was to create an ad-hoc expert group consisting of multidisciplinary experts as an advisory body for the implementation of ELC in Poland, providing a knowledge base for the landscape protection, for example for determining protection criteria.
  5. There are two potential ways legal changes can take place: 1) new legal instruments dedicated solely to landscape or 2) improvements and adjustments to the existing tools and laws. Each of these solutions requires intensive cooperation.
  6. Valorisation of landscapes: immediate action, the first step to ELC implementation in Poland is to create a catalogue of Polish landscapes.
  7. A next important task will be a national education campaign to raise public awareness of the value and the role of changes in the landscape and landscape services. It is the lack of a common understanding of the importance of landscape that makes protection so difficult.
  8. Last but not least, the participants proposed changes in the administration and financing of the landscape protection parks.

Contact Point

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Generalna Dyrekcja Ochrony Środowiska (GDOŚ)
ul. Wawelska 52/54 
00-922 Warszawa, Poland 

Mrs. Małgorzata Opęchowska
E-mail
Tel +48 22 57 92 153

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