Students:Memorandum

Referring to the European Landscape Convention, it clearly states that:

• "Landscape" means an area, as perceived by people, whose character is the result of the action and interaction of natural and/or human factors;
• "Landscape protection" means actions to conserve and maintain the significant or characteristic features of a landscape, justified by its heritage value derived from its natural configuration and/or from human activity;

and according to which each party undertakes:

• to recognise landscapes in law as an essential component of people’s surroundings, an expression of the diversity of their shared cultural and natural heritage, and a foundation of their identity;
• to establish procedures for the participation of the general public, local and regional authorities, and other parties with an interest in the definition and implementation of the landscape policies mentioned in paragraph b above .

"It is clear that the views of all interested groups should be considered, not just scientific and technical or political elites.", and not only the general public alone. ... This concept "implies an exercise in democracy whereby differences are accepted, common characteristics found and operational compromises eventually reached; this represents an alternative to the drawing up by experts of hierarchical classifications of landscape qualities"

We, the students of the international ISPoS study program have undertaken a project under the 2011 Summer school that included:

• exploration of the case study of the Ústi nad Labem region with a special focus on the town of Hora Svaté Kateřiny
• investigated problems of the brown coal mining industry associated with the 'Czechoslovak Army Mine'
• listened to the presentations of regional personalities
• undertook a role play task in which we represented regional stakeholders:
  • Environmental NGO group
  • Local residents group
  • Mining company group
  • Regional government group
  • Tourists group
• drafted a SWOT analysis of the region from the point of view of these groups (on our pages)
• undertook a negotiation process to agree on common priorites as expressed in common SWOT analysis, and identified shared views and issues of conflict
• designed a Vision of regional development from the point of view of regional stakeholders
• (see also all of our discussions etc. on the Summer school 2011 web page)
• and last, but not least, developed personal relationships to the region and its inhabitants.

We have therefore fulfilled our goal to "establish a procedure for the participation of the general public", and demonstrated that in our role play with specific outcomes that were presented to actual regional representatives during our round table discussion organized in the local cinema in Hora Svaté Kateřiny. The information and experience that were developed for this purpose we thus openly provide to anybody interested in the region and its problems by publishing it in our Student wiki.

Undersigned

Jaroslav Novotný

Michaela Šteflíčková

Zuzana Cabejšková

Petr Gut

Jan Jelínek

Frank Bröhan

Juliane Schiersch

Larissa Jäger

Marcel Severith

Mariam Haydeyan

Martin Bosak

Sarah Eckert

Sebastian Henke