The main objective of the project was to raise awareness about the importance of landscape and the need for its long-term and sustainable planning, especially in small and medium-sized municipalities. The project aimed to open broader discussion about landscape as an essential part of quality of life, local identity and climate resilience. Another important goal was to present landscape architecture as a discipline that can help municipalities address environmental and development challenges through an integrated approach connecting natural, social and economic aspects of the territory. The project also aimed to strengthen knowledge and skills related to climate-responsive landscape planning, biodiversity support and adaptation to climate change through accessible educational tools and practical examples. An additional objective was to make complex landscape-related topics understandable and practically applicable for non-expert audiences through case studies, the publication Landscape in Focus and the lif-t.eu platform. The project was based on the belief that long-term landscape quality depends not only on professionals, but also on informed and active local communities.
The European landscape is increasingly affected by climate change, unsustainable development, biodiversity loss and pressure on natural resources. Small and medium-sized municipalities, which manage large parts of the landscape, often lack sufficient financial, professional and organisational capacity to address complex challenges such as drought, erosion, depopulation or development pressure. The Landscape in Focus project was created in response to the need for accessible educational tools that would make principles of landscape architecture and sustainable spatial planning more understandable and practically applicable for municipalities and non-expert audiences. The project understands landscape as a key framework for long-term and responsible decision-making and aims to strengthen both people’s relationship to landscape and their understanding of its functions and values. The project also addressed the lack of practical, visually accessible and multilingual educational materials based on real examples and everyday needs of small municipalities across Europe.