How can both policy makers and citizens make better use of ICT in order to protect Europe’s landscapes? This is the question posed by
E-CLIC, an innovative EU-funded project designed to encourage greater citizen involvement in the protection of nature.
Through social media platforms and competitions, the project aims to promote learning, stimulate discussion and, ultimately, get people
engaged in the formulation and implementation of landscape policy.
A specific aim of the project has been to highlight the importance of the European Landscape Convention (ELC), the first international
treaty to be exclusively devoted to all aspects of European landscape.
The ELC covers natural, rural, urban and peri-urban areas, and concerns ‘outstanding’ landscapes well as every day or degraded ones.
It encompasses protection and management, as well as raising awareness of the value of a living landscape.
One means of achieving this is through the use of social media tools, which can connect policy makers with the general public and help to
create a sense of community. Indeed, a virtual E-CLIC community has already been set up, where citizens can go to discuss, share and
network with others interested in landscapes. Examples can also be added to the existing E-CLIC best practice database, while the E-CLIC
project can be followed on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest.
The second key innovation of the project has been the launch of competitions in the six project partner countries – Estonia, Greece,
Germany Slovenia, Spain and the UK – as well as international competition open to all EU Member States plus Liechtenstein, Norway,
Switzerland and Turkey. Participants from eligible countries are invited to submit an idea / project based on the use of ICT to solve a
landscaping challenge. The challenges for the international category, for example, are: urban sprawl/inner urban shrinkage; post-industrial
landscapes; and extensification / intensification of rural landscapes.
In order to take part in the competition, participants must join the E-CLIC online community, choose one of three landscape challenges, and
complete the appropriate online registration form for their category.
Resources are available to help entrants with their proposals, and entries can be submitted by individuals or teams. Deadlines for the
national competitions vary between May and august, while the deadline for international submissions is 30 May 2014.
Selected finalists will be given the chance to present their ideas at the E-CLIC International Conference to be held in Estonia in 2015.
From the 18 national winners (three from each participant county) and three finalists from the other European countries, three eventual
winners will be selected by a jury of experts.
Ultimately, through the effective application of ICT, the E-CLIC project aims to change peoples’ perception of EU landscape policies
and encourage citizens to think about the impact such policies can have on their lives and everyday activities. It also aims to promote
understanding of the ELC at schools and universities, and create a database of interactive learning tools that may help demonstrate the
challenges faced by landscapes. – Eurasia Review
