Public participation in landscape character assessment: The case of Erzincan Plain (Turkey) and its near surroundings

The purpose of the research was to provide an exemplary method for public participation in the identification and assessment of landscape character through the inclusion of social landscape values in a landscape character assessment process carried out by experts in Erzincan Plain and its vicinity. With this aim in mind, a four-tiered method was followed in the study with the collective work of experts and local stakeholders, including the determination of the scope of landscape character assessment, office work, a field survey and classification, and landscape characterization and assessment. During the field survey, the draft landscape character areas that had been identified by the experts during the office work were assessed by the experts and local stakeholders’ representatives. Also in this phase, the visual / aesthetic, perceptual and distinguishing features of the area were determined by the experts, and the social landscape values that had been assigned to the landscape by the local stakeholders were mapped. The mapping of the social landscape values was completed in a workshop with 45 individuals consisting of representatives of the local experts and stakeholders. According to the findings, the primary factors that shape the characteristics of the landscape in Erzincan Plain and vicinity and the social landscape values of the stakeholders are: hydrological, geological and topographic structure, climatic characteristics, biodiversity, aesthetic / visual characteristics, socio-cultural and economic structure and the tangible and intangible functions and benefits of the natural and cultural elements of the landscape. Including the mapping of social landscape values in the landscape characterization process of the study enabled the spatial expression of the local stakeholders’ thoughts and evaluations of the landscape, and also allowed their active participation in the landscape assessment process. As a result, landscape policy and quality objectives have been proposed for the identified landscape character areas in the area