By Shalimar Sinno , Project Coordinator
MedScapes Project, which has been funded by the multilateral cross-border cooperation “Mediterranean Sea Basin Programme” of the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI CBC-MED 2007-2013), has successfully come to an end.
For the past two years, MedScapes brought together eight partners from four countries –Cyprus, Greece, Jordan and Lebanon:
Laona Foundation for the Conservation and Regeneration of the Cypriot Countryside (Lead Partner);
Open University of Cyprus;
Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) from Jordan;
German Jordanian University (GJU);
Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon (SPNL);
American University of Beirut (AUB) from Lebanon;
Mediterranean Institute for Nature and Anthropos (Med-INA) from Greece; and
University of the Aegean (UoA) from Greece.
During this period, MedScapes also engaged a great variety of stakeholders, ranging from Ministries and Municipal authorities to local communities and small NGOs. All these efforts sought to build a strong network for conservation of the area’s rich landscape heritage, through the introduction of a regionally adapted framework for landscape character assessment (LCA). In this way not only we contributed to an in-depth level of understanding of the character of Eastern Mediterranean landscapes, but we have managed to develop a set of tools that can be useful to sustainable territorial planning and decision-making for the management of our ever-changing landscapes. All our efforts were anchored by a vision to contribute to the improvement of the environment and the lifeways of the people in Eastern Mediterranean.
It is therefore with great pleasure that we are writing to you today, to thank you for your support and share our major achievements with you. We hereby present to you four different tools, which we hope and believe that you will find useful in the framework of your activities:
The MedScapes Best Practice Methodology (BPM) for identifying, mapping and assessing Landscape Character, tailored for the Eastern Mediterranean;
http://enpi-medscapes.org/images/Deliverable/WP4_Final_Deliverable_BPM_for_LCA_in_the_East_Med.pdf
The Eastern Mediterranean Landscape Observatory, the first transboundary Landscape Observatory in the Region
http://www.aub.edu.lb/fafs/ldem/emlo/Pages/Index.aspx
The Risk Assessment Model (RAM) and Decision Support System (DSS) tool, which uses the LCA results to build an innovative framework for decision-making in the filed of landscape conservation and territorial planning (link available at the Eastern Mediterranean Landscape Observatory home page); and
The Hima Guideline Manual and video, as an exemplary public participation practice with respect to the cultural and historical specificities of the area.
http://enpi-medscapes.org/images/Deliverable/HGmanual_finalweb.pdf
Please do not hesitate to contact us should you need any clarifications. We are always here to assist you in the demonstration and use of any of our tools. If you need additional information on the Project as a whole please visit our website: http://enpi-medscapes.org/index.php/en/
Download LANDSCAPE CHARACTER ASSESSMENT LEVEL 1 & LEVEL 2 MAPPING – LEBANON
