Painshill Park, Surrey

Painshill Park is bringing together key players in the debate to a major conference, using Painshill’s award winning restoration as a model for past and present approaches, and discussing new ways of looking at landscapes in the future.

The two-day conference will be chaired by Dr Patrick Eyres. Speakers will include:

Mavis Batey (Garden History Society)
Mike Calnan (National Trust)
Mark Laird (Harvard University and Painshill Park Consultant)
John Phibbs (Dubois)
Michael Symes (Garden Historian, Author and Lecturer)
Janie Burford (Council Member, Painshill Park Trust)
Kate Felus (Historic Landscapes)
Brent Elliott (Royal Horticultural Society)

Tours of Painshill will be included on the first day.

Cost to delegates:  £100 for the two days including refreshments and lunches (there will be a limited number of places at a reduced fee for students)

To obtain a booking form, or for further information, please contact:

Rachael James (PA and Park Administrator)
Painshill Park, Portsmouth Road, Cobham, Surrey, KT11 1JE
e-mail: rachaeljames@painshill.co.uk
Tel: 01932 868113

This is a fundraising event and proceeds will go towards the on-going restoration of Painshill Park.
Reg. Charity No. 284944

Phoenix Park Historic Landscape

ICOMOS Ireland and ICOMOS-UK successfully organised the first of a series of annual meetings between Ireland and the UK. The main theme this year was “Cultural Landscapes”. The presentations explored new landscape initiatives in line with the aims of the ELC and the meeting was a great chance for members to network and share their views through workshops and social events.

It was also be an opportunity to hear about, and build on, the outcomes of the preceding “Heritage Council 2009 Irish Landscape Conference” that took place on 14th-16th October 2009 in Tullamore, County Offaly, Ireland. This major conference looked at how effective current strategic and legislative provisions are in securing sustainable development of landscapes and in providing effective landscape planning, management, and conservation within the framework of the ELC.

Programme Details:

FRIDAY 16TH OCTOBER
6.30-8pm: Drinks reception at the Irish Architectural Archive, Dublin

SATURDAY 17TH OCTOBER –  10am-5pm, Dublin Castle
10.00-10.10:  Introduction
10.10-10.30: Prof. Gabriel Cooney, Head of Archaeology, UCD [ICOMOS Ireland]
Overview/summary of the “Heritage Council 2009 Irish Landscape Conference” issues: strategic initiatives for identifying and sustaining landscapes and recommendations for the way forward.

10.30-11.00: Willy Cumming, National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, & Louise Harrington, ICOMOS Ireland Cultural Landscape Subcommittee [ICOMOS Ireland]
Summary of new and recent initiatives to link culture, nature and people in landscapes in Ireland.

11.00-11.20: Paul Walshe, Chair ICOMOS-UK Cultural Landscapes & Historic Gardens Committee [ICOMOS-UK]
Summary of new and recent initiatives to link culture, nature and people in landscapes in the UK.

 11.00-11.20 Tea/Coffee

11.20 -11.40: Mike Clarke, Lake District World Heritage Project [ICOMOS-UK]
Lake District World Heritage Project: Social and Economic Impact Research

11.40 -12.00: [ICOMOS-UK] Speaker tbc
Historic Urban landscapes

 12.00-12.20: Cathy Daly, Dublin Institute of Technology [ICOMOS Ireland]
Measuring Climate Change Impacts in Cultural Landscapes

12.20-12.50: Discussion

12.50-14.00: Lunch

14.20-16.00: Workshops in three groups on identified themes, such as:
 - Defining historic urban landscapes
-  How do we develop an evidence base for cultural attributes of landscapes?
-  Promoting landscape and sense of place

16.00-16.20: Tea/Coffee

16.20-17.00: General discussion:
-  Feedback from discussion groups
-  Management issues
-  How ICOMOS Ireland and ICOMOS-UK might work together in the area of cultural landscapes

SUNDAY 18TH OCTOBER -  9.30am-5pm, Site Visits:

- Phoenix Park historic landscape, Dublin. Led by John McCullen, Superintendent of Phoenix Park

- Brú na Bóinne World Heritage site. Led by Claire Tuffy,  Visitor Centre Manager

For more information and bookings please contact: 

Camilla Massara
Events Co-ordinator
ICOMOS-UK

Tel: 0207 566 0031

E-mail: camillamassara@icomos-uk.org

Cultural landscapes reflect the interaction between people and their environment over time. Sustaining the distinctiveness of World Heritage cultural landscapes can mean sustaining not just the symptoms of interaction but the underlying processes that contribute towards their Outstanding Universal Value.  The Lecture will consider examples of World Heritage cultural landscapes from around the world and show how these sites could provide approaches that are relevant for other landscapes, both rural and urban, in the UK.
 
Venue: The Gallery, 70 Cowcross Street, London EC1M 6EJ (nearest tube station Farringdon)
 
Doors open at 6pm when wine or juice will be available
 
Tickets: £8

Tel: 020 7490 2974 to make advance reservation, or (subject to availability) tickets can be purchased at the door on the night from 6pm

Email: enquiries@gardenhistorysociety.org

27 January 2009 (Study visit 26 January),

Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, Holborn, London

Protected landscapes and cities are interdependent. Protected areas provide valuable services for our urban population – ecological, recreational, economic – and the majority of people live in cities. It is from urban areas that visitor income originates. Many opt to live in high quality countryside and work in a nearby conurbation.
Increasingly we are being encouraged to see the borders between urban and rural, between protected and non-protected, as porous and reciprocal. The European Landscape Convention requires signatories – including the UK and Ireland – to think about how all landscapes need enhancing and celebrating; and to bring people into the foreground of that work. What does this mean in practice? How can protected landscapes work best with urban populations? How should they respond to major growth plans? What can we learn from Europe? These are some of the questions to be addressed in this seminar, which will incorporate a visit to one of the places in Europe where they are most acutely being faced – Thames Gateway and the Kent Downs.
The event is aimed at advancing the application of the European Landscape Convention by Protected Landscape organisations which border major conurbations and interact with them.

Cost including lunch and refreshments on the 27th and study visit on the 26th are:
EAI Members £110
Non-member £135

For more information contact:
Dan Bloomfield
EAI Development Officer
Tel 00 44 1208 869797
dan.bloomfield@europarc-ai.org

Stenness, Orkney; Copyright: Historic Scotland

Scottish Ministers announced today their decision to refuse planning permission for the proposed development of three wind turbines at Merranblo, Stromness, Orkney. The application was considered at a local public inquiry in January 2008. ICOMOS-UK appeared at the inquiry along with other organisations, such as Historic Scotland, Orkney Archaeological Trust, Orkney Skyline Concern and Scottish Natural Heritage.

The World Heritage Site (WHS) in Orkney was inscribed on the World Heritage List as “a major prehistoric cultural landscape that provides a graphic depiction of life in a remote archipelago in the far north of Scotland some 5,000 years ago. [...] The monuments of Orkney, dating back to 3000-2000 BC, are outstanding testimony to the cultural achievements of the Neolithic peoples of northern Europe” (UNESCO World Heritage Centre). At the Inquiry ICOMOS-UK expressed concern about the adverse impact of the turbines on the historic environment of the WHS and its setting, as we believed that the site of the proposed development was located within the area of visual impact of the WHS.

The World Heritage Convention in 1972 was set out to identify, protect and preserve for future generations cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding universal value to humanity. ICOMOS-UK believed that the erection of the proposed wind turbines would compromise this very sensitive Scottish landscape and therefore have a detrimental impact on the outstanding universal value for which the WHS was inscribed in 1999.

The report by the Scottish Ministers concluded that “given the international importance of the cultural heritage resources of the area [...] the objective of preserving these monuments within an appropriate setting is consistent with the fundamental objectives of national policy”.

A study day organised in association with the British Museum, British Kazakh Society and the Royal Asiatic Society, focussing on the history and culture of Kazakhstan. It will include lectures by noted academics and writers of the archaeology, history, art and music of Kazakhstan, providing an introduction to this vast country of diverse landscapes and a rich cultural heritage. There will also be a performance by renowned Kazakh musicians of traditional music, a photographic exhibition and a reception at the end of the day.

For more information and bookings please click here.

Statement of Purpose:  The International Scientific Committee on Earthen Architectural Heritage (ISCEAH) is issuing this Call for Expressions of Interest to find organizations and countries to promote, host, run and administer the next international conference known as “Terra”.  The Terra conference, which occurs every three to five years approximately, is an international conference whose theme relates to the study and conservation of earthen architectural, archaeological and cultural landscape heritage. Terra 2008 took place in Bamako, Mali, lasted five days followed by post-conference tours, and was attended by approximately 450 people. 

Proposed Conference Schedule:  The next Terra conference will be scheduled for 2012 so as not to coincide with the 17th ICOMOS General Assembly in the fall of 2011.

Aegis:  The Terra conference will occur under the aegis of ICOMOS and its specialist international scientific committee, ISCEAH.  ISCEAH will actively participate in the organization of the Terra conference by assisting in the selection of a separate Scientific Committee for the conference that will include the conference host, major partners and representatives of ISCEAH.  The purpose of the Conference Scientific Committee will be to assist in proposing program contents, recommend and review the selection of speakers, solicit sponsoring organizations, review the conference budget and venue for adequacy, request financial assistance for participants from developing countries, peer review submitted papers, etc.  In addition, ISCEAH will provide the following:

·        Validation and branding of the event as being internationally recognized as part of the ICOMOS Terra events lineage

·        Assistance in promoting the event worldwide through broad dissemination and website postings for the call for papers and the event itself

·        Advisory support from past organizers via ICOMOS

·        Help with acquiring financial assistance from countries, international organizations, foundations, etc. for travel and subsistence of speakers, students and delegates from developing countries

·        Advice on the form and scope of publications

·        Dissemination of the meeting’s conclusions through ICOMOS’s (www.icomos.org) and ISCEAH’s websites (http://isceah.icomos.org), newsletters, national and international committees

1st Submission:  Responders to this Call for Expressions of Interest are to prepare a preliminary proposal identifying the following:

·        Location and feasibility of venue

·        Relevance of location to earthen architectural, archaeological and cultural landscape heritage

·        Tentative schedule

·        Proposed partners, collaborators and sponsoring organizations

·        Preliminary costs

·        Proposed sources of funding

·        Suggestions for the main theme of the conference and the relevance of its scientific and social aim as a tool for the development of communities, as well as on a territorial basis

Deadline for 1st Submission: 30 September 2008.

2nd Submission:  Responses will be reviewed and proposers informed of the results by 15 October 2008.  A short list of responder(s) will be asked to further develop their proposal(s):

·        Details of venue (accessibility to major airports and other transportation, capacity of conference venue in terms of number of participants expected, quality of conference venue, costs to participants, etc.)

·        Suggestions for main scientific sub-themes

·        Timeliness and potential of the venue for addressing relevant issues in terms of the conservation of earthen architectural, archaeological and cultural landscape heritage

·        Preliminary program (number of days, number of presentations, suggested post-conference tours, etc.)

·        Detailed schedule

·        Committed partners, collaborators and sponsoring organizations

·        Developed costs

·        Committed sources of funding and proposed methods of financing

·        Details of publication of proceedings

·        Languages

Deadline for 2nd Submission: 15 January 2009.  Proposer(s) will be informed of the results by 31 January 2009.

Formalization of Agreement:  Agreements with partners, collaborators, sponsoring organizations, conference host and ICOMOS/ISCEAH will be formalized and finalized within a year of notification.  The Conference Scientific Committee will be selected and in place by 31 March 2009.

Responses:  Submit all responses to John Hurd, hurdcon@yahoo.co.uk, Pamela Jerome, pamela.jerome@gmail.com, and Mary Hardy, mhardy@lmi.net.

October 9-10 2008, Regent’s College London

With a Government commitment to build three million homes by 2020, the conference will stimulate debate on the importance of good quality landscape in housing developments and in creating sustainable communities.

Speakers include Professor Robert Tregay of LDA Design, architect and urban designer Terry Farrell, Director of CABE Space Sarah Gaventa, Chief Executive of The Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust Karin Woodley, Director of External Affairs at the House Builders Federation John Slaughter, Senior Lecturer at Sheffield University Helen Woolley and Landscape Regeneration Manager at the Peabody Trust Group Matthew Frith. A mixture of plenary sessions, keynote speeches and seminars will bring together experts from across the built environment professions. A range of site visits to innovative housing schemes in London will also take place.

For a full programme along with details about the site visits and seminars, plus costs and booking forms, please visit www.liconferences.org or telephone 020 7299 4500.

The Landscape Institute is the professional body and regulator for landscape architecture. Under its Royal Charter the Landscape Institute is charged with protecting, conserving and enhancing the natural and built environment for the benefit of the public.

Landscape architecture is the profession best able to provide a holistic approach to creating places where people want to live and work both now and in the future. The Landscape Institute promotes landscape architecture as the environment and design profession, one that works with communities to create places that respect their environmental context and contribute to a high quality of life.

Contacts:

James Gosling, Media and Public Relations Officer

T: 020 7299 4528

E: jamesg@landscapeinstitute.org

Paul Lincoln, Director of Communications and Marketing

T: 020 7299 4500

E: paull@landscapeinstitute.org

ICOMOS-UK Summer Conference delegates on Todd Crag, Lake District

Selected Summary Proceedings of the ICOMOS-UK 2008 Summer Conference are now online.

The conference was organised in collaboration with the University of Cumbria and took place on 12-14 June 2008 at its Ambleside Campus in the Lake District. The packed conference programme showcased speakers from across the UK and Europe, with a particular focus on cultural landscape World Heritage sites.

The persistent themes were how cultural and natural environments can be integrated in landscape management; the importance of educating local communities, especially young people in and about their landscapes; sustainable infrastructures and sustainable methods; the importance of a spirit of place or terroir in making one landscape, its produce and people, distinct from another; the challenges posed by government agendas and the use of international guidelines such as the European Landscape Convention and World Heritage Convention in protecting the integrity of cultural landscapes; and how landscape encompasses both tangible and intangible qualities, past and present.

If ever there was a conference which allowed delegates to ‘live’ its themes, it was this one. The peaceful and breath-taking environment of Ambleside was a constant reminder of the human yearning for discovering a sense of place. After the formal proceedings over two days, all delegates were invited to sign up to an afternoon guided walk on the Friday (13 June) (Rydall Hall followed by a circuit of Rydal Water; Low and High Sweden Bridge); Todd Crag) and a day’s excursion on Saturday (14 June) with options to visit a number of sites in the Lake District (Evolution of the Great Langdale landscape; Aira Force and Lyulphs Tower, Ullswater; Tarn Hows and Monk Coniston; Vernacular Buildings in Troutbeck; Villa architecture in the Lake District 1770 – 1900; Hill farming and land management at
Glencoyne Farm, Ullswater).

Prehistoric rock art on a boulder, Great Langdale Valley, Lake District

The close relationship between people and their landscape being part of the continuity of ‘place’ was most evident in the passion with which our guides led groups of delegates over Fells, in the valleys, around historic buildings and around the Lakes.

On behalf of the conference, we thank all the guides for leaving us with such a refreshing impression of the history and nature of the Lake District.

Some will remember the conference for the picturesque scenery and walks, some for the new information they gleaned from listening to others, others still, from the many opportunities afforded by meeting over lunch, tea and dinner, or while on a tour. After the evening buffet on Thursday 12 June, delegates who attended the conference dinner were treated to a short but highly-charged performance (a mini ceilidh) of Lake District folk music by local band, Striding Edge, including traditional clog dancing: a true demonstration of how place, landscape, and culture function as one. Listen to traditional Lakeland music by Striding Edge

Selected Summary Proceedings of Cultural Landscape Management

A Westminster view from St James' Park, photo: Gavin Kingcome/ICOMOS-UK

Over the last decade, London’s skyline has been changing. Many new, tall buildings have been appearing across the heart of London irrevocably changing the historic skyscape of the capital city. In 2006, the ICOMOS-UK Cultural Landscape and Historic Gardens Committee decided to commission a photographic record of these views with particular reference to the two World Heritage sites of Tower of London and Westminster.

A project was initiated in mid-2007 to make a photographic record of the appearance of these World Heritage sites. The London Views Project feature describes some of the background to the project and makes a selection of the photographic record available and geo-referenced via ICOMOS-UK’s photographic website on Flickr. You can also browse the selection of images on ICOMOS-UK’s photo map.

See London Views Project