The 2020 International Conference of UNISCAPE, the European network of universities dedicated to supporting and applying the principles of the European Landscape Convention, took place in Florence on 16 and 17 October 2020,, with the aim to celebrate the 20 years from the opening to signature of the European Landscape Convention (Florence, 20 October 2000).
The conference, entitled “Cultivating continuity of the European Landscape – New challenges innovative perspectives” has set itself the main objective of a shared reflection, beyond national and disciplinary borders, toward the exploration of a new European “landscape dimension”. Thus considering the outcomes and innovations generated by the Convention since its signature, but also foreshadowing new cultural and scientific challenges to be faced in light of the environmental, climatic and social transformations that took place in the new century.
The 2020 UNISCAPE Conference opened with a session dedicated to challenges for the future with the keynote speakers lectures by the philosopher Emanuele Coccia, the climatologist Lucka Kajfež Bogataj, the expert in international law and Landscape Amy Strecker and theater director Frédérique Aït Touati; followed by three thematic sessions dedicated to Landscape Policy and governance; Landscape Design and Time; Observing Landscape and two special sessions dedicated to Forest and Agriculture Heritage Systems.
The initiative was supported by the Tuscany Region with the Regional Landscape Observatory, by the Municipality of Florence and by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation with the patronage of the Italian UNESCO Commission and the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and was held mainly online, directed from a control room located in the Sala d’Armi of Palazzo Vecchio in Florence.
The event ended on the afternoon of Saturday 17 with a live session in the Salone dei Cinquecento in Palazzo Vecchio, right where the Convention was signed 20 years ago. The discussion, moderated by the President of the Landscape Observatory of Tuscany Mauro Agnoletti, was dedicated to political and institutional issues and saw the participation of numerous guests, including Maguélonne Dejéant Pons, of the Secretariat of the Council of Europe, Juan Manuel Palerm, President of UNISCAPE, and the representatives of ECLAS, AIAPP, IFLA Europe, IASLA and Slowfood. As part of the Overture Session, introduced by Tessa Matteini, director of UNISCAPE, Franco Zagari, one of the founders of UNISCAPE, read an open letter on landscape issues addressed to the President of the Italian Republic.
The conference launched an annual process of a shared and transdisciplinary work on the themes of protection, management and planning of European landscapes, which will see the UNISCAPE network operate in synergy with other institutions, associations and NGOs and will end on 20 October 2021 in Florence with a new appointment.
UNISCAPE 2020 numbers:
Registrations conference online: 431
Participants in the live session at Palazzo Vecchio: 100 (limited)
Keynotes + guest speakers online conference: 10
Selected speakers special sessions:12
Selected papers for conference publication: 56
Video posters presented: 31
Invited speakers live session: 25
Partner organisations: 14
The registration of the live streaming is still available on the Conference platform
Other sessions registration will be made available on the UNISCAPE website.
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