Landscape and Public Participation in Norwegian Local Planning—An Example of Implementing the European Landscape Convention

The ambition of the European Landscape Convention to create landscape democracy is oft quoted and discussed, but few studies have evaluated the local effects of the convention. This study follows previous studies of the Norwegian pilot project for implementation of the ELC, focussing on a local spatial planning process. The ambition of the paper is to analyse public participation in this process and to shed light on how landscape and public participation are integrated in Norwegian planning, with particular interest in the manifestation of the ELC’s «democratic promise». The analysis distinguishes between approaches to landscape form and function in planning. A main finding is that experts and local actors have differing approaches to landscape, complicating effective participation. The concluding argument is that successful implementation of the ELC, relating both to landscape and democracy, relies on the planning authorities’ ability to make both substantial and procedural changes.