Do you love getting outdoors and enjoying nature? Are you bursting with ideas about how to better protect our landscapes? Then the UK E-CLIC Landscape Competition wants to hear from you. The E-CLIC project, an European Union initiative set up to help people familiarise and engage with their surroundings, is looking for ideas and projects based on the use of communications and technology to help protect European landscapes.
The UK contest is based on three specific challenges: how to integrate offshore renewables in coastal landscapes and seascapes; allotment gardens and change in urban settings; and the historic shaping of upland landscapes.
Dr José Muñoz-Rojas, national co-ordinator of E-CLIC at the James Hutton Institute in Aberdeen, said: “Participants are invited to submit an idea or project based on the use of information, communication and technology devices and tools to face a challenge for the landscape, with respect to the principles of the European Landscape Convention.”
The UK competition will run until 25 May in three categories (secondary school pupils, university students and the general public) and the winners from each will have the chance to present their idea at an international E-CLIC meeting in Estonia.
To take part in the competition, participants should join the E-CLIC online community, choose one of the three challenges for landscapes in the UK, and complete the appropriate online registration form for their category at e-clic.ning.com/united-kingdom [1]. Resources are available to help entrants with their proposals, and entries can be submitted by individuals or teams.
Regarding the general aims of the E-CLIC project, Dr Muñoz-Rojas said: “Our main concern is to change peoples’ perception of EU policies, make them more familiar to the non-professional and encourage people to assess the impact of such policies upon their lives and everyday activities.
“Moreover, E-CLIC is encouraging the use of innovative methods to engage people in discussions about landscapes, taking advantage of new technologies and the internet, and focusing on the European Landscape Convention as an example of Europe-wide policy with a direct impact on the environment and economy of communities.”
Notes to editors:
About the E-CLIC project: European citizens have a right to know more about European policies and take part more actively in their implementation. The E-CLIC project is developing a methodology to raise awareness among the general public and young people in particular, helping all European citizens to better understand and assess these policies. The European Landscape Convention (ELC) is taken as an example of a wide-ranging policy, given its significance for the environment and economy of Europe and the contribution all European citizens can make on the protection, management and planning of landscapes. More information is available at www.e-clicproject.eu [2], and Dr José Muñoz-Rojas [3] is happy to answer any questions.
E-CLIC partner institutions are:
Estonian University of Life Sciences [4] (Estonia)
PRISMA Centre of Development Studies [5] (Greece)
University of Valencia [6] (Spain)
NEC Notranjska Ecologic Center, Cerknica [7] (Slovenia)
Kassel University [8] (Germany)
6th Gymnasium of Petroupolis [9] (Greece)
European Academy for Sustainable Rural Development [10]
Bernardo Rodriguez-Salcedo [14], Media Manager, Tel: +44 (0)1224 395089 [15] (direct line), +44 (0)344 928 5428 [16] (switchboard) or +44 (0)7791 193918 [17] (mobile).
Links:
[1] http://e-clic.ning.com/united-kingdom
[2] http://www.e-clicproject.eu
[3] mailto:jose.munoz-rojas@hutton.ac.uk
[4] https://www.emu.ee/
[5] http://www.prismanet.gr/
[6] http://www.uv.es/
[7] http://www.nec-cerknica.si/
[8] http://www.uni-kassel.de/uni/
[9] http://6gym-petroup.att.sch.gr/globalsch-autosch/iware/
[10] http://www.euracademy.org/
[11] https://www.hutton.ac.uk/staff/david-miller
[12] https://www.hutton.ac.uk/staff/chen-wang
[13] https://www.hutton.ac.uk/staff/gillian-donaldson-selby
[14] mailto:bernardo.rodriguez-salcedo@hutton.ac.uk?subject=Query%20from%20Hutton%20website
[15] tel:+441224395089
[16] tel:+44344928 5428
[17] tel:+447791193918