THE CONTEXT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
The need to incorporate landscape considerations into decision-making is not new, but has grown in importance as the emphasis on sustainable development has increased. The Government's Sustainable Development Strategy A Better Quality of Life [2], sets out the following definition of sustainable development:

"It means meeting four objectives at the same time in the UK and the world as a whole:

social progress that recognises the needs of everyone;

effective protection of the environment;

prudent use of natural resources; and

maintenance of high and stable levels of economic growth and employment."

Landscape Character Assessment is a tool which can make a significant contribution to the objectives that relate to 'environmental protection' and 'prudent resource use' as cornerstones of sustainable development. In England this is recognised in the Government's Rural White Paper [3], which endorses the use of Landscape Character Assessment as a way of informing decisions. In Scotland various elements of planning legislation now recognise the importance of landscape character, such as NPPG 14 [4]. In particular, Landscape Character Assessment can help in processes which:

identify what environmental and cultural features are present in a locality;

monitor change in the environment;

understand a location's sensitivity to development and change;

inform the conditions for any development and change.

For many years, and especially in the 1970s, the emphasis in dealing with landscape as a consideration in land use planning and management was on landscape evaluation - what makes one area 'better' than another. Landscape assessment emerged in the mid-80s as a tool to separate the classification and description of landscape character (i.e. what makes one area 'different' or 'distinct' from another) from landscape evaluation. During recent years yet more emphasis has been placed on the role of landscape character and the process has become described as Landscape Character Assessment to reflect this. In Scotland this term has been used to describe the national programme of assessment. The concept of landscape character is also central to the Countryside Agency's Countryside Character initiative and national framework of character areas in England.

This guidance defines Landscape Character Assessment as addressing both the characterisation process, involving identifying, mapping, classifying and describing landscape character, and the process of making judgements based on landscape character to inform a range of different decisions. This distinction is the most important principle of the approach and is stressed throughout this guidance.

Landscape Character Assessment is one of a growing number of tools which can be used in planning for sustainable development. Among the most relevant are those in which character assessment has a part to play alongside assessments of other environmental resources. Further details of this wider range of tools are contained in Topic Paper 2, which also briefly discusses where Landscape Character Assessment fits into these wider initiatives. It deals with:

Environmental Impact Assessment;

Quality of Life Capital

Development of landscape indicators

Natural Heritage Futures Prospectuses.