Closing speech by Rafael Benitez, Director of Social Rights, Health and Environment
Dear colleagues,
As we come to the close of these proceedings, I would like, on behalf of the Council of Europe, to reflect briefly on the key contributions of these two days and on what we hope to achieve moving forward.
First, this workshop has come at a particularly important moment. After a four-year hiatus, we have returned to this format at a time when landscapes across Europe are facing unprecedented pressures: climate change, biodiversity loss, and increasing stress on natural resources, especially water.
In this respect, Ribeira Sacra has been an especially fitting host. This remarkable area illustrates many of the challenges we have discussed: a landscape shaped by the relationship between people and water, exposed to climate pressures, and requiring coordinated action at local, regional, national and international levels.
I would also like to underline the unique place of the Council of Europe Landscape Convention within the international framework of environmental and heritage instruments.
To this day, it remains the only legally binding international treaty dedicated entirely to landscape in all its dimensions, ordinary and remarkable alike, grounded in human rights and democratic participation.
This is not simply a technical instrument. It is a framework of values that connects people, territory, democracy and quality of life. For this reason, the Convention must have a stronger presence in international discussions on climate, biodiversity and sustainable development, including within global environmental processes.
This workshop has also highlighted the growing importance of water landscapes. In this regard, cooperation with the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands offers particularly promising opportunities. The synergies between our instruments are evident, and we hope that the discussions initiated here in Ribeira Sacra will lead to concrete forms of cooperation.
At the same time, we must continue strengthening the role of parliamentarians and local and regional authorities. Landscape protection is not only a matter for governments; it depends above all on the daily work of those responsible for territorial management and democratic governance at all levels.
Dear colleagues,
Perhaps the most important message I wish to leave with you today is this: these workshops must become more than forums for exchange. They should become spaces where concrete cooperation is built - between States Parties, Council of Europe institutions, and international partners.
The discussions held here on water landscapes, climate resilience, public participation and cooperation across conventions must lead to tangible results, operational recommendations and stronger institutional partnerships.
Allow me therefore to share the following conclusions we can draw:
· We recall the importance of the Florence Declaration adopted last year, which provides a blueprint for strengthening our commitment and cooperation on landscape;
· We recall the significance of the Council of Europe Strategy on Environment, in particular Objective 5, which places landscape at its core;
· We call on the Steering Committee on Environment (CDENV), responsible for ensuring the effective implementation of the Strategy, to give due attention to landscape issues;
· We underline that landscape is a vector for multidisciplinary cooperation, bringing together environmental, cultural, spatial planning and educational dimensions;
· We recognise that water landscapes are among the territories most vulnerable to the triple planetary crisis, while also representing powerful resources for resilience and mitigation;
· We underline the urgency of integrated approaches linking landscape management, climate adaptation and water governance, including through cross-border cooperation, democratic participation and interdisciplinary research;
· We encourage States Parties to place water landscapes at the centre of their climate adaptation agendas, in line with the Florence Declaration of 2025 and relevant Committee of Ministers recommendations;
· We encourage States (both members and non member States of the Council of Europe) that have not yet done so to become Parties to the Landscape Convention, in line with the Florence Declaration of 2025;
· We underline the essential role of parliamentarians and local and regional authorities in promoting and protecting landscape and raising awareness of its importance;
· We encourage partnerships to promote the Landscape Convention, in line with the Florence Declaration of 2025 and the Council of Europe Strategy on Environment, and we welcome in particular strengthened cooperation with the Ramsar Convention and with civil society;
· We thank the Spanish authorities and the Xunta de Galicia for organising and hosting this 27th Workshop and for their generous hospitality.
Naturally, it will be for the Conference of State Parties to the Landscape Convention to decide whether to pursue work towards a future Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers on water landscapes and climate resilience under the aegis of the CDENV.
In the meantime, the conclusions of these two days, which will be published on the Landscape Convention website, already send an important signal, one that we will continue to promote through all our institutional channels.
The Council of Europe remains fully committed to landscape and to working together to protect extraordinary places such as Ribeira Sacra for present and future generations.
Before concluding, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the Spanish Ministry of Culture for organising this workshop and for Spain’s longstanding commitment to the Convention.
Heartfelt thanks also go to the Xunta de Galicia for its warm hospitality and for sharing with us the richness of your land, culture, history and respect for landscape.
I also thank all participants for the quality of their contributions, as well as the Landscape Convention team, the interpreters, technical staff and the Parador de Santo Estevo for making this meeting such a success.
Dear colleagues,
The Landscape Convention was founded on a simple but powerful conviction: landscape is a shared responsibility, and its quality directly shapes people’s quality of life.
That conviction is even more relevant today. The climate crisis does not diminish its importance, it reinforces it given as we heard that Europe is heating up faster than any other region in the world and that our continent bears a particular responsibility in fighting climate change.
We already have the tools, institutions and partnerships required to act. Our task now is to ensure that they work together in a coherent, ambitious and effective manner.
Finally, I would like to wish Galicia and Spain every success with the Ribeira Sacra UNESCO World Heritage candidature. We look forward to celebrating that success with you.
Thank you all.