The general purpose of European Landscape Convention It is to encourage public authorities to adopt policies and measures at local, regional, national and international levels to protect, plan and manage European landscapes with a view to conserving and improving their quality and to lead the public, institutions and local and regional authorities to recognize the value and importance of the landscape and to take part in public decisions relating to it.

The Convention recognizes all forms of European landscapes—natural, rural, urban, and peri-urban—both iconic and ordinary. It addresses their natural, cultural, and human-modified components and their interconnections. The Convention considers that the natural and cultural values linked to the diversity and quality of European landscapes impose a duty on European countries to work collectively on their protection, planning, and management.

The European Landscape Convention commits to taking general measures for the recognition of landscapes; their definition and characterization; the implementation of policies for their protection and management; public participation; and the integration of landscapes into spatial planning policies, as well as economic, social, cultural, and environmental policies. It also addresses raising public awareness, education, and the training of experts.