Valley landscape management: the context of a 'river contract' in the Semois valley, Belgium

A trans-boundary and multi-disciplinary approach to the river contract project for the Semois valley in Wallonia (Belgium) is described that provided the opportunity for a landscape-scale focus during actions to restore the watercourses and the associated valley area. A trans-boundary landscape survey was carried out under the context of the Interreg III European programme. This resulted in the rediscovery of lost views and viewpoints within the landscape and in the implementation of actions leading to the opening up of the valley, which provided opportunities to re-establish lost landscape features, such as hay meadows. The gathering of many partners in the negotiation process of this project can be seen as an example of 'landscape democratization' or participative management of landscapes in a trans-boundary and trans-disciplinary context and as such this project is a concrete realization of the aims of the European Landscape Convention (ELC).