Three years of Landscape Observatories in the Veneto region: an evaluation

The regional administration of Veneto has been one of the first in Italy to establish and structure landscape observatories both at regional andlocal level. The first initiative was the project “OP! Landscape is a part of you!” launched in June 2011 in “Canale di Brenta” (Prealpine area), that led to the institution of a local Landscape Observatory, as a result of the co-operation between regional, local administrations and the Universities of Padua and Venice (IUAV). Some months later, other seven local initiatives started in the Veneto region, under the supervision of the regional government and thanks to the co-operation of local administrations, stakeholders, NGOs, etc. At the same time, the Regional Landscape Observatory has been instituted with the official involvement of the Universities in the Scientific Committee. The Committee has also had the commitment of the co-ordination of the network of the local Observatories. The author presents a first evaluation of the previously mentioned experiences, to which she has actively participated. She focuses on the following points: - The objectives and purposes of the regional and local initiatives, compared with actions effectively implemented and/or in progress - The means used in the implementation of the actions and the structuring of the observatories - The roles of the stakeholders (institutional as well as non-institutional), the involvement of lay people, the communication inside and outside the observatory network. This evaluation, despite its positive and/or negativeoutcomes, may contribute toa more effective implementation of Landscape Observatories, at regional and local scale, in the Veneto region as well as in other places