Under the project Medscapes, a workshop was held by end of March till early April. The first three days of the workshop were held in Limassol as a meeting of experts in landscape where experts from each partner country, Lebanon, Jordan, Cyprus, and Greece presented their thoughts on how planners can utilize landscape character assessment despite the differences in legal systems among East Mediterranean countries. Case studies from Spain and Portugal were taken into consideration for the project; experts shared their experiences, risks, and solutions taken into consideration. Updates on the project since the kick off meeting were also discussed. SPNL shared its experience in encouraging public participation in landscape practices that is through the Hima approach.
The landscape character assessment training took place in Nicosia in the Open University of Cyprus. It was led by Dr. Ioannis Vogiatzakis, Assisstant Professor Open University of Cyprus , Prof. Geoffrey Griffiths, Department of Geography, Reading University, and Steven Warnock, Consultant, UK, who have previously worked on the landscape character assessment in Cyprus. GIS expert from each partner country was present with the project coordinator to be taught on how to implement the landscape character assessment on GIS and during the field survey. The training included lectures, GIS exercises, and field visits. Certificates where distributed, by the end of the training, to all those who attended the training and who will be involved in the landscape character assessment in their countries.
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