Resources and Literature Landscape and Democracy

OLA Charta of Democratic Landscape Transformation

The vision, mission and values of the Open Landscape Academy are comprised in the OLA Charta of Democratic Landscape Transformation. This is a living document we are constantly further developing.

• Download OLA Charta of Democratic Landscape Transformation (Version June 2024)

Session materials and recordings

• Session materials from the 2025 seminar can be accessed here
• Download course syllabus

Unit 1: Mapping the Terrain

Key Readings

• Editors Shelley Egoz, Karsten Jørgensen, Deni Ruggeri (2018): Defining Landscape Democracy (first three chapters)
• Schneidewind, Uwe et al (2016): Pledge for a Transformative Science - A conceptual framework
• Council of Europe (2000):The Council of Europe Landscape Convention
• Landscape Convention Contribution to human rights, democracy and sustainable development (Council of Europe, 2018)
• LED Team (2019):Landscape Education for Democracy (Chapters 1-3, InBo Special Issue)
• Kühne, Olaf (2015): Landscape Concepts
• The Dirt American Society of Landscape Architects blog about activism
• Jeff Hou, Deni Ruggeri, Kofi Boone, et al: (2020). Design as Activism: A Framework for Actions in Landscape Architecture Education. Retrieved from https://designactivism.be.uw.edu/framework/, pages 12-15, 29-37 and 56-68.
• Shelley Egoz, Jala Makhzoumi and Gloria Pungetti (2011): The Right to Landscape: An Introduction, in: The Right to Landscape: Contesting Landscape and Human Rights
• Faurest, Kristin (2018): Listening to Nature - and Each Other

Unit 2: Entering the Process: A reflection on our role and agency

Key Readings

Key Articles

• Randy Hester, 2005: Whose politics do you style?
• Jeff Hou, Deni Ruggeri, Kofi Boone, et al: (2020). Design as Activism, pages 12-15, 29-37 and 56-68.
• Rebecca Solnit, Hope in the Dark. Chapt. Grounds for hope. (intranet)

Websites, manuals and blogs

• Council of Europe, 2000: Compass: Manual for Human Rights Education with Young People
• American Society of Landscape Architects: The Dirt blog on activism in landscape architecture
• Podcast on how Dutch bicycling culture is the democratic result of citizen activism
• Sadler et al: Field notes on activism

• Education for Change: What is design activism?

Case studies

• Superblocks, Barcelona (Oriol Bohigas, Ildefons Cerdà)
  • Video
  • Linkedin

• Urban forests, Miyawaki method
  • Video
  • website

• Vertical Garden, Patrick Blanc
  • website
  • video

• Marjory Allen, Lady Allen of Hurtwood, adventure playgrounds
  • report
  • video

• Dimitris Pikionis, Greek Architect (Acropolis and the Hill of Philopappou)
  • website
  • video

Short List of Landscape Democracy 'Movers and Shakers' (to be extended)

• Wangari Maathai (Kenyan Green Belt movement)
• Jadav Payeng (Forest man)
• Kofi Boone (Black Landscapes Matter)
• Hoichi Kurisu (healing gardens, Oregon State Penitentiary garden)
• Randy Hester (UC Berkeley, Manteo, Big Wild, The Spoonbill project)
• Lawrence (Larry) Halprin, (The RSVP cycle, Levi’s Plaza and Headquarters)
• Karl Linn (UC Berkeley, Community Gardens)
• Mark Francis (Village homes)
• Anne Spirn (Mill Creek Project)
• Ken Reardon (University of Memphis, the East Saint Louis Project)
• Henry Sanoff (Planning Games)
• Ralph Erskine (Byker Redevelopment)
• Jeff Hou (Insurgent Urbanism, International district in Seattle)
• Walter Hood (UC Berkeley, Lafayette Park Oakland, CA)
• Samuel Mockbee (The Rural Studio)
• James Rojas (place-it)
• ReBar (Parking day/parklets)
• Giancarlo De Carlo (Team 10, Legitimizing architecture)
• Paula Horrigan (Cornell University; Rust to Green project)
• Christopher Alexander (The Oregon Experiment, Pattern Language)
• Julian Petrin et al., Hamburg (nexthamburg, German only)
• Leonie Sandercock (University of British Columbia, Collingwood Neighbourhood House)
• Klaus Overmeyer (Urban Catalyst Studio)
• Robert Jungk (Zukunftswerkstatt)
• Cecily Corti (Vinzi Rast mittendrin)
• Santiago Cirugeda, Seville Spain
• Plansinn.at
• Sonja Hörster http://www.partizipativ-gestalten.de (Germany)
• Dominika Tihanyi (Budapest)
• Monika Arzberger http://www.koine.de (Germany)
• Alessandra Orofino
• Khondaker Hasibul Kabir (Bangladesh)

Unit 3 - Visioning and Co-Creation

• Gaete Cruz, Macarena; Ersoy, Aksel; Czischke, Darinka & van Bueren, Ellen (2022) Towards a framework for urban landscape co-design: Linking the participation ladder and the design cycle, CoDesign, DOI: 10.1080/15710882.2022.2123928
• Sanders, Elizabeth B.-N. & Stappers, Pieter Jan (2008) Co-creation and the new landscapes of design, CoDesign, 4:1, 5-18, DOI: 10.1080/15710880701875068
• Sanders, Elizabeth B.-N. & Stappers, Pieter Jan (2014) Probes, toolkits and prototypes: three approaches to making in codesigning, CoDesign: International Journal of CoCreation in Design and the Arts, 10:1, 5-14, DOI: 10.1080/15710882.2014.888183
• Krebs, Roland; Mayr, Stefan (EDs.) (2023): Future Public Spaces. Urban Design in Times of Crisis. Berlin, Jovis.
• Szilágyi-Nagy, Anna; Mihály, Regina (2019) With children in all spaces. Online and offline community planning with young people. Tips and methodology for transforming young people’s outdoor spaces for teachers and designers. Pécs, kultúrAktív Egyesület. ISBN 978-615-6382-01-6.
• McCann, Eugene J. (2001): Collaborative Visioning or Urban Planning as Therapy? The Politics of Public-Private Policy Making, The Professional Geographer, 53:2, 207-218, DOI: 10.1111/0033-0124.00280.
• Hofmann, Susanne (2019): Architecture Is Participation. Die Baupiloten—Methods and Projects. Berlin, Jovis.
• Delbecq, Andre L.; Van de Ven, Andrew H. & Gustafson, David (1975): Group Techniques for Program Planning. A guide to nominal group and Delphi processes. Glenview IL, Scott Foresman and Company. ISBN 0-673-07591-5
• Deip, P., Thesen, A., Motiwalla, J., & Seshardi, N. (1977): Systems tools for project planning. Bloomington, Indiana: International Development Institute.

Unit 4 - Evaluation and Outlook

• Landscape Democracy Tool Box, from the first landscape democracy project
• Campilan, D., 2000. Participatory Evaluation of Participatory Research. Paper presented at the Forum on Evaluation of International Cooperation Projects: Centering on Development of Human Resources in the Field of Agriculture held on 6-7 December 2000at the International Cooperation Center for Agricultural Education (ICCAE) of Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan.

Websites

• Participatory Evaluation
• Participatory Evaluation PDF
• Collaborative Outcomes Reporting

>>> from here: the remaining part of this page is about to be archived, we are revising it. Readings for the current seminar sessions will be updated shortly.

Archive with reading lists and materials from previous courses

General: Materials and Recordings from previous seminars (free for everyone to use)

• LED2LEAP 2022 Materials and Recordings (open access)
• LED2LEAP 2021 Materials and Recordings (open access)
• LED2LEAP 2020 Materials and Recordings (open access)
• LED 2019 Materials and Recordings (open access)
• LED 2018 Materials and Recordings (open access)
• LED 2017 Materials and Recordings (open access)
• LED 2016 Materials and Recordings (open access)

The Legal Framework of Landscape Democracy

POLICY FRAMEWORKS, LAWS & RESOLUTIONS

United Nations

• The New Urban Agenda Quito Declaration on Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements for All, UN resolution from December 2016
• The Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters

Council of Europe

• European Landscape Convention (Florence Convention, 2000)
• Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society (Faro Convention, 2005)

European Union (Parliament and Council)

• Directive on public access to environmental information
• Directive providing for public participation in respect of the drawing up of certain plans and programmes relating to the environment
• Policy Review: Past, present and future of democracy, 2019
• Commission Recommendation on promoting the engagement and effective participation of citizens and civil society organisations in public policy-making processes

International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA-Europe)

• Landscape Democracy Resolution

European Council of Spatial Planners

• European Charter on Participatory Democracy in Spatial Planning Processes

DEMOCRATIC LANDSCAPE TRANSFORMATION

• Shelley Egoz, Jala Makhzoumi and Gloria Pungetti (2011): The Right to Landscape: An Introduction, in: The Right to Landscape: Contesting Landscape and Human Rights
• The Just City Essays - 26 Visions for Urban Equity, Inclusion and Opportunity
• Jean McNiff (2002): Action Research for Professional Development - Concise advise for new action researchers
• John Kania & Mark Kramer (2011): Collective Impact, Stanford Social Innovation Review
• Rittel, Webber (1973): Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning
• Merlijn van Hulst (2012): Storytelling, a model of and a model for planning
• Hester, Randolph (2006): Design for Ecological Democracy
• Wilson, Barbara (2020): Disorientation as a Learning Objective

LANDSCAPE CONCEPTS

Accompanying lecture reading: Bruns/Bartolomei, 2016 'Concepts of Landscape'

• Antrop, Marc; Kühne, Olaf (2015) Concepts of Landscape, in: Landscape Culture - Culturing Landscapes. The Differentiated Construction of Landscapes (Bruns, Kühne, Schönwald, Theile ed.)
• Burckhardt, Lucius (1979): Why is landscape beautiful? in: Fezer/Schmitz (Eds.) Rethinking Man-made Environments (2012)
• Kühne, Bruns et al: Landscape Culture - Culturing Landscapes
• Kucan, Ana (2007). Constructing Landscape Conceptions. In: ECLAS (ed.). JoLA spring 2007, 30-41. Munich: Callwey.
• Jackson, John Brinckerhoff (1980): "By way of conclusion. How to study the landscape" In: The necessity for ruins, and other topics, 113-126. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.
• Meinig, D. W. (1979): "The Beholding Eye: Ten Versions of the Same Scene." In: The Interpretation of Ordinary Landscapes: Geographical Essays, edited by D. W. Meinig and John Brinckerhoff Jackson, 33-48. New York: Oxford University Press.

Democratic Landscape Analysis

Key Readings

• Angotti,Tom; Doble,Cheryl; Horrigan; Paula: At the boundaries: The Shifting Sites of Service-Learning in Design and Planning
• Cooke, Bill et al: The case of participation as a tyranny
• de la Pena, David et al: Design as Democracy (Techniques Part)
• Ganz, Marshall: Leading Change: Leadership, Organization, and Social Movements
• Hester, Randy: Labors of Love in the Public Landscape
• Landscape Democracy Tool Box (status April 2020)

Collaborative Visioning

Key Readings

• UN Habitat: Visioning as Participatory Planning Tool
• Apel, Heino (2004): The Future Workshop
• Ruggeri, Deni (2004): Crafting Westport, Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, University of California, Berkeley , CA (co-author)
• N Harvey, CA Holmes et al: Nominal group technique: An effective method for obtaining group consensus
• Dunham, Randall: Nominal Group Technique: A User's Guide
• Vidal, R.V.V. (2005) The Future Workshop: Democratic Problem Solving [Technical Report], Denmark: Technological University of Denmark

Further Readings

• André L. Delbecq, Andrew H. Van de Ven: A Group Process Model for Problem Identification and Program Planning. In: Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 1971
• Jungk, R, & Müllert, N. (1987). Future workshops: How to create desirable futures. London: Institute for Social Inventions.
• Landscape Democracy Tool Box (status April 2020)

Collaborative Design, Transformation and Testing

Prototypes

• Probes, Toolkits and Prototypes: Three Approaches to Making in Co-designing CoDesign, 2014 Vol. 10, No. 1, 5–14, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15710882.2014.888183
• Histories and Futures of Research through Design: From Prototypes to Connected Things. http://www.ijdesign.org/index.php/IJDesign/article/view/3192/875
• Probes and prototypes: a participatory action research approach to codesign. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15710882.2014.881884
• Bedö, V. (2019). Rapid Street Game Design: Prototyping Laboratory for Urban Change. In M. d. Lange & M. d. Waal (Eds.), The hackable city : digital media and collaborative city-making in the network society(pp. 51-65). Singapore: Springer. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-13-2694-3_3

Ethics of Prototyping

• Ethics by Design. Exploring Experiences of Harmony and Dissonance in Ethical Practice. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/14606925.2019.1595428?needAccess=true
• Towards Ethical Principles for Participatory Design Practice https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15710882.2018.1502324
• Ethics for Design - online documentary (50min) https://ethicsfordesign.com/player?lang=en

Further Readings

• André L. Delbecq, Andrew H. Van de Ven: A Group Process Model for Problem Identification and Program Planning. In: Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 1971

• Protype bank from our lecture: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1CvDpH6GKHo9srs3V1p7aiZqRaS94Bm2Qw6YQ9dUzr7g/edit?usp=sharing
• Three prototyping exercise from ideo: https://acumenacademy.org/blog/3-prototyping-exercises-get-unstuck-ideo
• Applying Prototyping in Landscape Design: https://ldvalidate.wordpress.com/2010/07/06/applying-prototyping-in-landscape-design/
• Public space prototypes: https://www.asla.org/uploadedFiles/CMS/Meetings_and_Events/2015_Annual_Meeting_Handouts/MON-D08_Public%20Space%20Prototypes.pdf
• Tactical urbanism: https://ahbelab.com/2017/11/16/from-prototype-to-permanent-tactical-urbanism-in-landscape-architecture/
• Type in your browser: Urban Prototyping Festival San Francisco

Concepts of Participation

• Arnstein, Sherry R.(1969): A Ladder of Citizen Participation, JAIP, Vol. 35, No. 4
• Hester, Randolph (1999): A Refrain with a View, UC Berkeley
• Hester, Randolph (2005): Whose Politics, Landscape Architecture
• Sanoff, Henry (2014): Multiple Views of Participatory Design, Focus
• Davis, Mike (1990): Fortress Los Angeles: The Militarization of Urban Space, From: City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles
• Gaventa, John: The Powerful, the Powerless, and the Experts
• Hester, Randolph (2012): Evaluating Community Design, Landscape Journal
• Day, Christopher (2002): Consensus Design, Architectural Press
• Furco, Andrew (1996): Service-learning: A balanced approach to experiential education

Further recommended readings and resources

• Burckhardt, Lucius (1957): Urban Planning and Democracy in: Fezer/Schmitz (Eds.) Rethinking Man-made Environments (2012)
• Burckhardt, Lucius (1974): Who plans the planning? in: Fezer/Schmitz (Eds.) Rethinking Man-made Environments (2012)
• David, Harvey (2003): The Right to the City, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Volume 27, Issue 4, pages 939–941
• Freire, Paulo (2000): Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Continuum
• Park, Peter: What Is Participatory Research? A Theoretical and Methodological Perspective
• Selle, Klaus (1994): Was ist bloß mit der Planung los? Erkundungen auf dem Weg zum kooperativen Handeln.(GERMAN, not open access)
• LIFEscape Handbook on Participative Landscape Planning
• Hester, Randolph (2006): Design for Ecological Democracy - Fairness, The MIT Press

Community and Identity

• Hester, Randolph (2006): Design for Ecological Democracy, The MIT Press
• Spirn, Anne (2005): Restoring Mill Creek
• Welk Von Mossner, Alexa (2014): Cinematic Landscapes, In: Topos, No. 88, 2014.
• Gafford, Farrah D. (2013): It Was a Real Village: Community Identity Formation Among Black Middle-Class Residents in Pontchartrain Park, Journal of Urban History 39:36
• Woodend, Lorayne (2013): A Study into the Practice of Machizukuri, RTPI

Further recommended readings and resources:

• Girling, Cynthia (2006): Informing Design Charrettes, The Integrated Assessment Journal
• Nassauer, Joan Iverson (1995): Culture and Changing Landscape Structure, Landscape Ecology, vol. 10 no. 4.
• SEISMIC project, An urban research and innovation project across 10 European countries
• URBACT programme, The European Territorial Cooperation programme aiming to foster sustainable integrated urban development across Europe
• CBS, Community-Built Association of the U.S.
• Francis, Mark: A Case Study Method for Landscape Architecture
• Hester, Randolph (2006): Design for Ecological Democracy - Sacredness, The MIT Press

Designing

• Hester, Randolph: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Sustainable Happiness
• Kot, Douglas and Ruggeri, Deni: Westport Case Study
• Hester, Randolph: Democratic Drawing - Techniques for Participatory Design
• Smith, Nicola Dawn(2012): Design Charrette: A Vehicle for Consultation or Collaboration
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2013): Places in the Making: How Placemaking Builds Places and Communities

A compilation of methods

• Wates, Nick: The Community Planning Handbook: How people can shape their cities, towns & villages in any part of the world (2nd ed 2014, Routledge)

Further recommended readings and resources:

• Ruggeri, Deni (2004): Crafting Westport, Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, University of California, Berkeley , CA (co-author)
• Woodcraft, Saffron, et al.: Design for Social Sustainability: A Framework for Creating Thriving New Communities
• Salgado, Mariana, et al. (2015): Designing with Immigrants
• Hussain, Sofia, et al. (2012): Participatory Design with Marginalized People in Developing Countries: Challenges and Opportunties Experienced in a Field Study in Cambodia, International Journal of Design, Vol. 6, No. 2
• Hester, Randolph (2006): Design for Ecological Democracy - Everyday Future, The MIT Press
• Pritzker Prize winning architect Alejandro Aravena on sustainable design and community involvement in Chile
• D’hondt, Frank (2014): Better Cities for Kosovo: Visioning as Participatory Planning Tool,UN-Habitat report
• Vall, N. (2013): Social engineering and participation in Anglo-Swedish housing 1945–1976: Ralph Erskine's vernacular plan, Planning Perspectives, 28(2), 223-245
• Sanoff, Henry (2010): Democratic Design - Library access only.
• Sanoff, Henry (1999): Community participation methods in design and planning - Library access only.
• de la Pena, David et al(2017): Design and Democracy: Techniques for Collective Creativity Library access only

Communicating a Vision

• Storytelling example from the Scottish Islands

• Online decision making with loomio

• 'Reading the Landscape' by Simon Bell, EMU Tartu

• A toolkit for transforming abandoned spaces through the arts. https://issuu.com/mahatat/docs/toolkit_en._final_issuu

Storytelling theory

• Potteiger, Matthew, and Jamie Purinton. 1998. Landscape narratives: design practices for telling stories. New York: J. Wiley. GoogleBook.
• Lejano, Raul P., Mrill Ingram, and Helen M. Ingram. 2013. The power of narrative in environmental networks. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Case study - Water Square Benthemplein

• Boer, Florian, Jens Jorritsma, and Dirk van Peijpe. 2010. De Urbanisten and the wondrous water square. Rotterdam: 010 Publishers. Webpage and Video

Case study - Los Angeles River

• Goldstein, B. E., A. T. Wessells, R. Lejano, and W. Butler. 2015. Narrating Resilience: Transforming Urban Systems Through Collaborative Storytelling. Urban Studies. 52 (7): 1285-1303.
• Friends of the Los Angeles River (FoLAR). Flyer about their activities connected to the river. City walk, environmental education, and other water-related activities could be searched on their websites.
• Brownson, Omar, and Marsh, Emily. Urban Coast 4/1. December 2013. Los Angeles River 3.0: Changing the course of Los Angeles.

Learning democracy theory

• Council of Europe. 2016. Competences for democratic culture: living together as equals in culturally diverse democratic societies.
• Bir̂zeá, Ceśar. 2000. Education for democratic citizenship: a lifelong learning perspective. Strasbourg: Council for Cultural Co-operation of the Council of Europe.
• Brander, Patricia. 2012. Compass: manual for human rights education with young people. Strasbourg: Council of Europe.
• Huber, Josef, Pascale Mompoint-Gaillard, and Ildikó Lázár. 2015. TASKs for democracy: 60 activities to learn and assess transversal attitudes, skills and knowledge.

Games in urban planning examples

• BUG project: http://www.decisionproblem.com/bug/bug2.html
• Participatory Chinatown: http://www.participatorychinatown.org
• Stadtspieler: http://www.stadtspieler.com
• Block By Block: http://blockbyblock.org/about

Apps, webpages, toolkits

• Online debate app http://plugins.speakol.com
• CitySwipe App - the fastest way for you to tell us what you like and don't like about your Downtown http://www.dtsmcityswipe.com
• EngagementLab - From playing games, to making media, to running campaigns https://elab.emerson.edu/about
• Participedia - catalogue and compare the performance of participatory political processes https://participedia.net/en/about
• Online toolbox with the most important engagement tools and their descriptions. https://www.publicengagement.ac.uk/do-it/techniquesapproaches