The purpose of this unit is to explain that landscape is about much more than picturesque views of the rural environment as we might expect to see in a painting. Landscape is everywhere, it is the place where we live, work, learn and relax. Everyday.
In some landscapes natural elements will be dominant, but in towns and cities, where most of us live, it is cultural elements which shape it: buildings, roads, parks etc. At the edges of urban areas, where the town slowly gives way to the countryside, built elements become fewer and vegetation becomes prominent, but even this is a cultural product, namely of agriculture. So, in all cases landscape is the result of the interaction between natural and cultural elements, but also between the mind of the viewer and the physical environment. To understand how this unique combination of the objective and the subjective makes up the environment in which we all live is the goal of this Unit. To paraphrase the Council of Europe’s Convention on Landscape: landscape is the environment as perceived by people.
It is this combination of landscape’s multi-layered complexity, of the physical with the psychological, together with its ease of access – landscape is to be found outside the door and window of every home and school building – that make it an ideal medium as a teaching and learning environment.
Educating children to have an enquiring and critical understanding of the ‘real world’ landscape in which they live is, of course, of great value in itself, but it is all the more so at a time when so much emphasis is being placed on the virtual environment of the world within the screen. Added to this is the importance that everyone has a good understanding of their local landscapes if there are to be able to participate in decision-making processes about how it is managed and developed: ‘landscape literacy’ is an important precondition for successful public participation in the democratic process.
The European Landscape Convention calls on all signatory states to undertake awareness raising.
Giving children a first awareness of the landscapes in which we live is the motivation behind this unit based around different stages of actively ‘looking’.
Unit 1 is designed as an introduction to the Eduscape project. The unit has a theoretical part for teachers and a practical part for students.
The teachers learn
The aim is to motivate to work with EduScape.
A practical part is aimed at students and should bring them in the mood for the topic, get them interested in Eduscape, make the students' interests visible and, based on this, select the appropriate units for further use in the classroom.
The unit uses the students' living environment as a field of research, encouraging engagement with the topic and critical reflection. Students are made aware of the cultural landscape in their everyday life. They are sensitized to it and analyze it.
Students are encouraged to use creative methods to communicate their perception of the landscape. Their interests in the topic can be derived from this: in common decision will be made which further EduScape-unit project will be taught.
Starting with looking consciously at the landscape and reflecting the meaning of landscape in your everyday life. Does everyone see the same landscape?
The next step involves looking beyond the landscape you see. Why does it look as it does? Which elements is it made up of? How do they fit together? Has it always been like that? Are some parts newer/older than others? How often does it change? What is the balance between nature and culture?
Which other senses are involved in perceiving the landscape (sound, smell, touch, taste, memory, emotion)? Based on the analysis the students represent the “genius loci” of their landscape.