This intensive three-day course will explore current thinking and best practice in the cultural landscape field. The cultural landscape approach operates at the intersection of natural and cultural heritage, and embraces an ecological perspective in planning and design. It puts cultural heritage in a dynamic rather than static context, and helps bridge the gap between heritage conservation and contemporary design and development.

The cultural landscape approach is an important tool in identifying, assessing, and altering significant natural and built environments, whether urban, rural or remote. It is not limited to more traditional definitions of landscape as open or green space, but considers the full range of inhabited spaces and the rituals that sustain them. It is an increasingly important aspect of policy and project work in the planning and development field.

The course will include presentations and discussions, a variety of case studies, and a field exercise. It will take advantage of Willowbank's rich setting.
The instructors for the course are Julian Smith of Willowbank and Lisa Prosper of Ottawa. Julian has been developing and practicing cultural landscape approaches for more than twenty years, and developed the world's first regional policy addressing cultural landscape issues in 1989. He has adapted cultural landscape theory to his projects both in Canada and abroad, and has been an advisor to UNESCO on its new international recommendation on Historic Urban Landscapes. Lisa has been researching and theorizing cultural landscapes since meeting Julian at Carleton University in 2002. As the lead at Prosper Consulting, she helped develop the new guidelines for cultural landscapes in the 2nd edition of the Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada and sits on the Cultural Heritage Expert Committee for Gatineau Park. Lisa has presented widely on the topic of cultural landscapes at national and international forums, and has published on Aboriginal cultural landscapes in the George Wright Forum. She is currently working on a project that adopts a cultural landscape approach to safeguarding and representing the cultural heritage of the James Bay Cree.

Suggested advance readings -

Marrying the Old With the New in Historic Urban Landscapes, Julian Smith, World Heritage Papers, UNESCO, pgs. 40-51

Where in Lies the Heritage Value? Rethinking the Heritage Value of Cultural Landscapes from an Aboriginal Perspective, Lisa Prosper

A welcome reception will be hosted at Willowbank on Wednesday evening, May 9th, 7-9 pm. Coffee breaks and lunch will be provided for the duration of the course. Please let us know if you have dietary restrictions.