By Eurasia Review

(CORDIS) — 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.

About the author: Eurasia Review

Eurasia Review is an independent Journal and Think Tank that provides a venue for analysts and experts to disseminate content on a wide-range of subjects that are often overlooked or under-represented by Western dominated media.

Despite the combined Eurasia and Afro-Asia areas containing over 70% of the world’s population, analysis and news continues to be dominated by a U.S. slant, and that is where Eurasia Review enters the picture by providing alternative, in-depth perspectives on current events.

“I had the idea in October 2012 at the Imperial War Museum,” Rowe says.
“Standing in front of John Nash’s painting Over the Top, I had a eureka
moment to do a garden to mark the centenary.”

The idea had a personal resonance for Rowe. Her paternal grandfather went over
the top on the first day of the Battle of the Somme and was wounded. He
returned to the fighting, and also saw action in the Second World War,
landing in Normandy on D-Day. On the other side, her maternal grandmother
left a box of papers in which she revealed that she had served as a nurse
behind the front line, and been awarded a Military Medal for gallantry.

“Those were the inspirations,” she says. “They took me to Flanders and the
Somme a couple of months later, in early December 2012. I thought it was
amazing that you could still see traces of the trenches, mines and bomb
craters that had been created over the course of the war. The lines hardly
moved, and the landscape was completely destroyed. The topsoil was removed,
trees were stumps and there were crevasses in some areas.

“The tie-in with the ABF charity is this whole idea of no-man’s-land – what
today’s soldiers should not have to come back to. I’m trying to bring
together ideas of the landscape recovering with the human spirit and body
recovering – it’s quite conceptual, really.”

_{Rowe: ‘I’m trying to bring together ideas of the landscape recovering
with the human spirit and body recovering’}

This concept will take form in three stages. The front of the garden, inspired
by mine craters, has a large water basin as its focal point. This will be
surrounded mostly by moisture-loving and waterside plants, such as reeds and
irises, and a group of three river birches (Betula nigra).

“They are majestic, and also they are pioneer trees, the kind that come in
when an area is disturbed,” Rowe says.

The central part of the garden is a “lost” area, inspired by the village
gardens that became overgrown when their populations fled or were killed.
There will be peonies, euphorbia and a field maple, among other ornamental
plants. Finally, the end of the garden aims to evoke the chalky downland of
the Somme, with the kind of woodland that inspired the war poets. Three wild
cherries will provide structure, while Wildflower Turf, the firm that made
the mound for the Olympic opening ceremony, is providing the mix of flower
and grass for the hillocks. Unifying the garden is “quite a long, slightly
Brutalist, gently sloping wall” – a reminder of trenches, tunnels and
pillboxes. Other details will be made from Portland stone, the material used
for many of the First World War headstones.

In contrast to all this period inspiration, Matthew Keightley of landscaping
firm Farr Roberts has designed a garden for the Help the Heroes charity,
“Hope on the Horizon”, which addresses the war in Afghanistan. Keightley,
29, has a brother serving in the RAF Regiment who has been deployed for his
fifth tour. Last time he was fighting as a helicopter gunner, covering
medical evacuations.

_{Matthew Keightley’s garden for Help the Heroes}

“Talking to him got me thinking about how all we hear about is the tragic
wounding and then, much later, the soldier who has recovered heroically,”
Keightley says. “I wanted to represent the recovery process through a
garden.”

Keightley is unusual in never having designed a show garden before. He is more
of a hands-on, practical landscape designer. Another unusual aspect of this
project, sponsored by The David Brownlow charitable foundation, is that
rather than being broken up or sold off, as is often the case with Chelsea
show gardens, “Hope on the Horizon” will form part of a larger landscape at
the Help for Heroes facility Chavasse, near Colchester.

“The challenge is to adapt it so it doesn’t look like a 15m x 10m plot plonked
in a landscape. The whole thought process has to be positive,” he says. “Not
just for people looking at the garden but for the soldiers using it to help
with their recovery.”

The garden is arranged along two axes, in the shape of the Military Cross. At
one end is a sculpture by the Scottish artist Mary Bourne, depicting the
horizon. The hard landscaping is in granite, which becomes more refined as
you move through the garden, to represent soldiers growing physically
stronger.

The planting, meanwhile, is intended to represent psychological well-being. It
becomes more deliberate as you progress through the plot.

It will also be a tactile space, he says. “I am using herbs that will release
a scent when the soldiers brush past, and plenty of grasses that can be
touched. There is an avenue of large hornbeam trees, to frame the view.”
Other plants include acanthus, agapanthus, geraniums and poppies.

_{Keightley: ‘I am using herbs that will release a scent when the soldiers
brush past, and plenty of grasses that can be touched’}

Battling this symbolism, of course, are the usual weather issues that affect
every Chelsea designer.

“It has been a mild spring, so I have had to make some amendments – some of
the digitalis, for example, flowered too early, and I will replace them. But
I staggered most of the planting to give myself options,” says Keightley.

He hopes that the garden won’t be seen as gloomy. “It’s obviously poignant
that this is the anniversary of the First World War. But the garden is a
celebration of the soldiers who have fought in Afghanistan, rather than
dwelling too much on the past.”

*Exclusive
offer for Telegraph readers: enjoy tickets to Chelsea Flower Show, a
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Lisa Heyer

Posted: Thursday, April 24, 2014 6:15 am

Lisa Heyer: Ramp up curb appeal with gardening ideas from HouseLogic.com

Lisa Heyer

northwestgeorgianews.com

Spring is underway and for many it’s time to get outdoors and reconnect with nature. Gardening enthusiasts who want to deepen the shade of their green thumb can find helpful information and how-tos just a click away at the landscaping and gardening section of HouseLogic.com, the comprehensive website for homeowners from the National Association of Realtors.

“HouseLogic.com has all the tips, advice and inspiration you need to make your garden really stand out this year,” said Pamela Geurds Kabati, NAR senior vice president of communications and HouseLogic spokesperson. “Whether your gardening plans are as simple as pulling weeds and raking leaves or as large-scale as a complete overhaul of your backyard, HouseLogic.com offers valuable insights on how to make it happen.”

According to the 2013 Remodeling Cost vs. Value Report, gardening and landscaping efforts pay off; curb appeal projects are rated among the most valuable home improvement projects. A pleasing exterior with well-groomed shrubbery can really make a home stand out.

Visitors to HouseLogic.com will find tips and ideas for beautifying their yard in articles like “Five awesomely easy landscaping projects”. Users can also check out “10 must have landscape tools” for help planning their projects. Another interesting article explores the benefits of spending time outdoors and “Gardening as a cure for depression”.

HouseLogic also helps homeowners avoid landscaping pitfalls with resources like “11 trees you should never plant in your yard”. This slideshow highlights trees that are sometimes more trouble than they’re worth and can help owners make more informed decisions when deciding what trees to plant.

HouseLogic is an award-winning, free source of information and tools from the National Association of Realtors® that helps homeowners make smart decisions and take responsible actions to maintain, protect, and enhance the value of their home. HouseLogic helps homeowners plan and organize their home projects and provides timely articles and news; home improvement advice and how-tos; and information about taxes, home finances, and insurance.

Article prepared and submitted by Lisa J. Heyer, owner/broker with Jackson Realty.

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