European Landscape Convention

The European Landscape Convention (ELC) promotes the protection, management and planning of landscapes and organises European co-operation on landscape issues. The ELC defines landscape as "an area, as perceived by people, whose character is the result of the action and interaction of natural and/or human factors". One of the major innovations of the ELC is the definition of "landscape quality objectives", meaning, for a specific landscape, the formulation by the competent authorities of the aspirations of the public with regard to the landscape features of their surroundings.