For the purposes of this Convention:

A.

"Landscape" Designates part of the territory as perceived by the populations, the character of which results from the action of natural and/or human factors and their interrelations;

B.

"Landscape policy" Means the formulation by the competent public authorities of the general principles, strategies and guidelines for the adoption of specific measures for the protection, management and management of the landscape;

C.

"Landscape quality objective" Refers to the formulation by the competent public authorities, for a given landscape, of the aspirations of the populations with regard to the landscape characteristics of their living environment;

D.

"Landscape protection" Includes actions to conserve and maintain the significant aspects or characteristics of a landscape, justified by its heritage value arising from its natural configuration and/or human intervention;

E.

"Landscape Management" Includes actions aimed, from a sustainable development perspective, to maintain the landscape in order to guide and harmonise the transformations induced by social, economic and environmental changes;

F.

"Landscaping" Includes actions that are particularly forward-looking in terms of development, restoration or creation of landscapes.

Subject to the provisions of Art. 15, this Convention shall apply throughout the territory of the Parties and shall cover natural, rural, urban and peri-urban areas. It includes land, inland and maritime areas. It concerns, both landscapes that can be regarded as remarkable, as well as the landscapes of everyday life and degraded landscapes.

The purpose of this Convention is to promote the protection, management and development of landscapes and to organise European cooperation in this field.

Each Party shall implement this Convention, in particular its art. 5 and 6, according to the distribution of its own competences, in accordance with its constitutional principles and administrative organisation, and in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, taking into account the European Charter of autonomy Local. Without derogating from the provisions of this Convention each Party shall implement this Convention in accordance with its own policies.

Each Party undertakes:

A.

Legal recognition of the landscape as an essential component of the people's living environment, an expression of the diversity of their common cultural and natural heritage, and the basis of their identity;

B.

Define and implement landscape policies for the protection, management and management of landscapes through the adoption of specific measures referred to in s. 6;

C.

To put in place procedures for the participation of the public, local and regional authorities, and other stakeholders involved in the design and implementation of the landscape policies mentioned in the let. B above;

D.

To integrate the landscape into spatial planning policies, urban planning and cultural, environmental, agricultural, social and economic policies, as well as other policies which may have a direct or indirect effect on the Landscape.

A. Awareness

Each Party undertakes to increase the awareness of civil society, private organizations and public authorities about the value of landscapes, their role and their transformation.

B. Training and Education

Each Party undertakes to promote:

A.

Training of specialists in knowledge and landscape intervention;

B.

Multidisciplinary training programmes on the policy, protection, management and management of the landscape, aimed at professionals in the private and public sector and the associations concerned;

C.

Academic and academic teaching, in the fields of interest, the values attached to the landscape and issues relating to its protection, management and management.

C. Identification and Qualification

1. By mobilising the actors concerned in accordance with Art. 5, let. C and with a view to a better knowledge of its landscapes, each Party undertakes:

A. I. To identify its own landscapes, throughout its territory,

Ii.

Analyze their characteristics and the dynamics and pressures that modify them,

Iii.

To follow the transformations;

B.

To qualify the landscapes identified by taking into account the particular values attributed to them by the stakeholders and the populations concerned.

2. The identification and qualification work will be guided by exchanges of experience and methodologies, organised between the Parties at European level pursuant to Art. 8.

D. Landscape quality objectives

Each Party undertakes to formulate landscape quality objectives for the identified and qualified landscapes, after consultation with the public in accordance with Art. 5, let. C.

E. Implementation

To implement landscape policies, each Party undertakes to put in place means of intervention for the protection, management and/or management of landscapes.

The Parties undertake to cooperate in taking account of the landscape dimension in international policies and programmes, and to recommend, where appropriate, that landscape considerations be incorporated.

The Parties undertake to cooperate to enhance the effectiveness of the measures taken in accordance with the articles of this Convention, and in particular:

A.

Provide mutual technical and scientific assistance through the collection and exchange of landscape research and research experiences;

B.

Encourage the exchange of landscape specialists, particularly for training and information;

C.

To exchange information on all matters covered by the provisions of this Convention.

The Parties undertake to encourage cross-border cooperation at local and regional level and, if necessary, to develop and implement common landscape enhancement programmes.

1. Existing competent committees of experts established under s. 17 of the Statute of the Council of Europe ¹ , are responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Convention by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

2. After each meeting of the Committee of Experts, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe transmits a report on the work and functioning of the Convention to the Committee of Ministers.

3. The Committee of Ministers shall propose to the Committee of Ministers the criteria for the award and the settlement of a Council of Europe Landscape Prize.

1. Can be awarded the Landscape Prize of the Council of Europe the local and regional authorities and their groupings which, within the framework of the landscape policy of a Party to this Convention, have implemented a policy or Measures for the protection, management and/or sustainable development of their landscapes, demonstrating sustainable efficiency and thus serving as an example to other European local authorities. The distinction can also be attributed to non-governmental organizations that have made a particularly remarkable contribution to the protection, management or development of the landscape.

2. Nominations for the Council of Europe Landscape Prize will be forwarded to the Committees of Experts referred to in Art. 10 by the Parties. Cross-border local and regional authorities and the groupings of local or regional authorities concerned may be candidates on the condition that they manage the landscape together.

3. On the proposal of the Committees of Experts referred to in Art. 10 The Committee of Ministers defines and publishes the criteria for the award of the Council of Europe Landscape Prize, adopts its Rules of Procedure and awards the Prize.

4. The award of the Landscape Prize of the Council of Europe must lead the subjects who hold it to ensure the protection, management and/or sustainable development of the landscapes concerned.

The provisions of this Convention shall not affect the stricter provisions on the protection, management or management of landscapes contained in other binding national or international instruments which are or Enter into force.

This Convention shall be open for signature by the member States of the Council of Europe. It will be subject to ratification, acceptance or approval. Instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval shall be deposited with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

2. The Convention shall enter into force on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three months after the date on which ten member States of the Council of Europe have expressed their consent to be bound by the Convention in accordance with the Provisions of the preceding paragraph.

(3) For any signatory who subsequently expresses its consent to be bound by the Convention, the Convention shall enter into force on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three months after the date of deposit of the instrument of Ratification, acceptance or approval.

After the entry into force of this Convention, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe may invite the European Community and any European State which is not a member of the Council of Europe to accede to the Convention by a decision taken at the Majority provided for in s. 20, let. D the Statute of the Council of Europe ¹ , and unanimously by the States Parties having the right to sit on the Committee of Ministers.

2. For any acceding State or the European Community in the case of accession, this Convention shall enter into force on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three months after the date of deposit of the instrument of accession Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

(1) Any State or the European Community may, at the time of signature or at the time of deposit of their instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, designate the territory or territories to which this Convention shall apply.

(2) Any Party may, at any time thereafter, by a declaration addressed to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, extend the application of this Convention to any other territory designated in the declaration. The Convention shall enter into force in respect of that territory on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three months after the date of receipt of the declaration by the Secretary General.

(3) Any declaration made under the two preceding paragraphs may be withdrawn in respect of any territory designated in that declaration, by notification addressed to the Secretary General. The withdrawal shall take effect on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three months after the date of receipt of the notification by the Secretary General.

1. Any Party may, at any time, denounce this Convention by sending a notification to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

(2) Denunciation shall take effect on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three months after the date of receipt of the notification by the Secretary General.

1. Any Party or Expert Panels referred to in s. 10 may propose amendments to this Convention.

2. Any proposed amendment shall be notified to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, who shall communicate it to the member States of the Council of Europe, to the other Parties and to each non-member European State which has been invited to accede to the present Convention in accordance with the provisions of Art. 14.

3. Any proposed amendment shall be considered by the Committees of Experts referred to in Art. 10 who submit the text adopted by a majority of three-quarters of the representatives of the Parties to the Committee of Ministers for adoption. After its adoption by the Committee of Ministers by a majority provided for in Art. 20, let. D the Statute of the Council of Europe ¹ And by unanimity of representatives of the States Parties having the right to sit on the Committee of Ministers, the text shall be transmitted to the Parties for acceptance.

4. Any amendment shall enter into force in respect of the Parties which have accepted it on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three months after the date on which three member Parties of the Council of Europe have informed the Secretary General that they have accepted it. For any other Party which subsequently accepts it, the amendment shall enter into force on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three months after the date on which the said Party has informed the Secretary General of its Acceptance.

The Secretary General of the Council of Europe shall notify the member States of the Council of Europe, to any State or the European Community having acceded to this Convention:

A.

Any signature;

B.

The deposit of any instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession;

C.

Any date of entry into force of this Convention in accordance with Art. 13, 14 and 15;

D.

Any declaration made under s. 15;

E.

Any denunciation made under s. 16;

F.

Any amendment, as well as any amendment adopted in accordance with Art. 17 and the date on which this amendment enters into force;

G.

Any other act, notification, information or communication relating to this Convention.

In witness whereof , the undersigned, duly authorized to that effect, have signed this Convention.

Done at Florence, on 20 October 2000, in English and French, both texts being equally authentic, in a single copy which shall be deposited in the archives of the Council of Europe. The Secretary General of the Council of Europe shall transmit certified copies to each member state of the Council of Europe and to any State or European Community invited to accede to this Convention.

(Suivent signatures)