Landscape planning and assessment has long been the preserve of the landscape specialist, with few attempts to see if our 'professional' methods accurately reflect those of the wider public. This project sought to develop more effective means of engagement with the public.
The project ran in three phases and was carried out with Sheffield University and the Small Town and Rural Development Group. The first reviewed different ways of representing landscape change and of engaging with the public.
The second phase applied this to three landscape settings (two real, one made up of elements from a range of images) in Ayrshire. Manipulation of carefully selected base images enabled us to represent a selection of changes.
The third phase used a similar approach in three situations in the Cairngorms National Park. Again, manipulated photographs were used to show the effects of changes in moorland management, woodland expansion and different patterns of housing development. We carried out questionnaire surveys in a number of locations across the National Park to find out what visitors and local people thought about the different changes. We used qualitative and quantitative analysis to explore the findings which are now being used to inform the development of more policies for the National Park.
This proved to be a very successful way of gauging people's views on changes in the landscape. People were very willing to participate, and most people showed considerable understanding of the issues represented in the photographs. The work confirmed the practical value of community involvement in this kind of project wherever it is possible.
