Press release 2022-09-05 at 7:00
The Finnish Environmental Center and the Ministry of the Environment provide information 5.9.2022
Landscapes are an essential part of our well-being and the quality and diversity of our living environment. Thursday 20 October is International Landscape Day. The annually celebrated Landscape Day encourages everyone to participate in observing landscapes and in the decision-making concerning them. Take part in the programme to celebrate Landscape Day or create your own way to celebrate.
Take a landscape walk or participate in the photo competition
Various campaigns, competitions and guided landscape walks are organised to celebrate Landscape Day, offering many opportunities to explore landscapes from new perspectives.
The traditional landscape is managed with grazing in Hanko's Tulliniemi. Photo Tapio Heikkilä.
In connection with the Landscape Day, a landscape photography competition will be organised, with the theme "my landscape". Photos taken between 17 and 23 October 2022 can be entered into the competition. The competition period ends on 23 October 2022. The main prize is a EUR 500 gift card to Rajala Pro Shop. The photos entered in the competition will be displayed at the Ministry of the Environment and on the Landscape Day website. The winner of the competition will be announced at the Landscape Symposium, in Helsinki on 9 November 2022. The Landscape Symposium is a national event for shaping perspectives on the implementation of the Council of Europe Landscape Convention in Finland.
Landscapes can also be observed with guided landscape walks organised by the Rural Women’s Advisory Organisation. Walks are organised around Finland on 20 October. They are free of charge.
Participate in the photo campaign celebrating landscapes by taking photos of the landscapes of your everyday life and sharing them on Instagram with the hashtag #Arkimaisema (#everydaylandscape). What kind of landscapes can you see on your way to work, to school or to the shops, or from the windows of your home? What is fascinating or beautiful in your everyday landscapes, what would you like to change, or what is already changing in the landscape? You can also follow the campaign’s Instagram account @arkimaisema.
Or organise your own programme to celebrate Landscape Day
Anyone can organise programme to celebrate Landscape Day. The Ministry of the Environment encourages organisations and communities to consider, how they could participate in the celebration of Landscape Day and highlight the importance of landscape management, now and in the future.
Salonjoki landscape in the evening. Photo Tapio Heikkilä.
“It has been great to see, how various parties have been enthusiastic about ideas for their own ways of celebrating the Landscape Day, in recent years. For example, libraries have compiled literature on landscape topics on display, landscapes have been photographed in Nature Schools, and municipalities have organised their own landscape walks,” says Senior Environmental Advisor Tapio Heikkilä from the Ministry of the Environment.
The European Landscape Convention safeguards landscapes
International Landscape Day is celebrated on 20 October, the anniversary of the Council of Europe Landscape Convention. The aim of the Council of Europe Landscape Convention is to plan, manage, and protect all kinds of landscapes. The Convention covers both everyday landscapes and landscapes recognised as being of outstanding beauty in the countryside, nature, and cities alike. It encourages everyone to participate in observing landscapes and in the decision-making concerning them. The Council of Europe Landscape Convention is the first international treaty to concern only landscapes. Finland joined the Convention in 2006.
Water is both a calming element and an element that enlivens the landscape. Photo Tapio Heikkilä.
This year, Landscape Day will be celebrated for the sixth time. Landscape Day will be organised by the Ministry of the Environment and the Finnish Environment Institute. The organisations taking part in the collaboration also include the Finnish Local Heritage Federation, the Rural Women’s Advisory Organisation, the National Board of Antiquities, and the Finnish Association of Landscape Industries – Viherympäristöliitto ry. International Landscape Day is part of the European Cultural Environment Day Programme.
Further information
Researcher Annika Uddström, Finnish Environment Institute, tel. +358 295 251 715, annika.uddstrom@syke.fi
Senior Environmental Advisor Tapio Heikkilä, Ministry of the Environment, tel. +358 295 250 166, tapio.heikkila@gov.fi