On 3 June 2026, the Landscape and Energy Chair at the École nationale supérieure de paysage is organising a day of discussions focusing on the role of landscape in environmental impact assessments and the ‘avoid, reduce, offset’ approach.
Since the Nature Conservation Act (1976), environmental impact assessments and the ‘avoid, reduce, compensate’ (ARC) approach have been key tools for reconciling development with environmental conservation. Fifty years after the legislation was introduced, what do those involved in development think of it? Are these mechanisms, and the concepts underpinning them, suited to the specific challenges of landscapes?
Does the landscape as a project, which invites us to ‘choose’ our living environment, offer alternatives to the landscape as a backdrop that ‘endures’ the impacts?
Between the need for assessment and debate, suspicions of subjectivity, difficulties in compensation and complex trade-offs, this conference aims to explore the strengths and limitations of approaches to shaping our landscapes through impact and compensation.
An essential opportunity for discussion to rethink the place of landscape in planning projects.
Target audience: elected representatives, project leaders, urban planners, landscape architects, design consultancies, associations, researchers, and engaged citizens.
Programme overview:
Feedback on specific projects (renewable energy).
Discussions with government departments, elected representatives, project leaders, engineering consultancies, landscape architects, associations and researchers.
Suggestions for improvement to give landscape a greater role in environmental assessments.
Programme for the day
Opening • ‘Impact, avoidance, reduction, compensation’ and ‘landscape’: key questions
The 1976 Nature Conservation Act: the role of landscape in debates surrounding its inception and development
Impact assessments and the ERC sequence: the respective roles of landscape and biodiversity.
An example of an impact assessment / energy project
Impact assessment: a comparison between France and Germany
Round table 1 • Impact assessment and landscape: benefits and limitations
Compensating for biodiversity and landscape through supply?
A landscape and ecological approach to localising impacts and offsets: the experimental approach of the Plaine de Crau
The Landscape Plan: a tool for project design and assessment?
Round table no. 2 • Avoid, reduce, offset: benefits and limitations
Conclusion • Landscape approach and assessment: what are the prospects?
Does the landscape as a project, which invites us to ‘choose’ our living environment, offer alternatives to the landscape as a backdrop that ‘endures’ the impacts?
Between the need for assessment and debate, suspicions of subjectivity, difficulties in compensation and complex trade-offs, this conference aims to explore the strengths and limitations of approaches to shaping our landscapes through impact and compensation.
An essential opportunity for discussion to rethink the place of landscape in planning projects.
Target audience: elected representatives, project leaders, urban planners, landscape architects, design consultancies, associations, researchers, and engaged citizens.
Programme overview:
Feedback on specific projects (renewable energy).
Discussions with government departments, elected representatives, project leaders, engineering consultancies, landscape architects, associations and researchers.
Suggestions for improvement to give landscape a greater role in environmental assessments.
Programme for the day
Opening • ‘Impact, avoidance, reduction, compensation’ and ‘landscape’: key questions
The 1976 Nature Conservation Act: the role of landscape in debates surrounding its inception and development
Impact assessments and the ERC sequence: the respective roles of landscape and biodiversity.
An example of an impact assessment / energy project
Impact assessment: a comparison between France and Germany
Round table 1 • Impact assessment and landscape: benefits and limitations
Compensating for biodiversity and landscape through supply?
A landscape and ecological approach to localising impacts and offsets: the experimental approach of the Plaine de Crau
The Landscape Plan: a tool for project design and assessment?
Round table no. 2 • Avoid, reduce, offset: benefits and limitations
Conclusion • Landscape approach and assessment: what are the prospects?
