Education on landscape: theoretical and practical approaches in the frame of the European Landscape Convention

The first specific measures that the European Landscape Convention proposes in order to “achieve sustainable development” are devoted to “awareness –raising” and to “training and education”; each Country has to “undertake to increase awareness” and “to promote […] school and university courses”. In view of the strong link existing between landscape issue and sustainability, landscape education is considered as one of the possible path in ESD. The paper deals with objectives, strategies and methods of landscape education in its connections with the features of ESD. The theoretical point of view is put in relationship with some examples of national and international projects and practices, in geography teaching and in other formal and informal contexts. In particular the author presents the Cultura2000 European project 3KCL – Karstic Cultural Landscapes as a best practice for education on landscape. In this project nearly 600 pupils of different school level in three areas of Italy, France and Slovenia approached their neighbouring landscape, got to know it through activities carried out with an interdisciplinary staff of researchers, and disseminated their results through a travelling exposition and the web site. The project’s theoretical frame, structure and methodology, coherently conceived, present some interesting peculiarities: the strong relevance of the relationship dimension, at different levels; the scientific and critical approach to the complexity of landscape; the contemporaneous relevance given to the emotional approaches, as a medium for a deeper and wider knowledge; the strong co-operation among researchers, teachers and pupils, oriented to a common aim; the both local (due to the focus on the neighbouring landscape) and global dimension (due to the international perspective of the project). The project results can help in defining some guidelines for education on landscape, toward a higher relevance of landscape issue in the educational context.