Landscape approach from theory to practice: the landscape indicators experience in Brittany

The complexity and multifunctionality of cultural landscapes are major factors of sustainable development, but they also make landscape approach difficult for local actors to implement. It is therefore important to develop tools and guidance for landscape approach at local scale, especially in planning documents.
Stakeholders in Brittany, both from planning and research sectors, are endeavoring to set up a framework of landscape indicators, in order to support this landscape approach on the ground. A group of actors are jointly constructing the framework of indicators, addressing 4 main issues (landscape quality, landscape diversity, access to landscape and involvement) and representative of 4 major categories (landscape amenity, landscape characters, landscape dynamics and landscape policy). Each indicator could be implemented by regional or local councils to manage their landscapes. This landscape indicators project is in conjunction with a natural heritage (geology and biodiversity) indicators project, in order to provide local actors with a comprehensive framework of guidance for landscapes.