Impact case study database

Redefining landscape – Policy decisions informed by research evidence led to a new planning approach in the West Midlands.

Regional development of the Black Country (West Midlands, UK).

Moore was commissioned by the Black Country Consortium (BCC) to deliver the Broadening Horizons report, a strategic plan drawing on research from OTV [R01]. Moore’s landscape-scale vision and exploratory graphics frame the whole Black Country as an ‘Urban Park’. The report contributed significantly to the shared statutory development plan: the Black Country Core Strategy (S01). Chief Executive of the BCC comments that “as a consequence of this research, the Black Country is unique among Local Enterprise Partnerships in having a unified, endorsed Core Strategy” and that Moore’s cross-region plan resulted in a “ deeply integrated approach to transformation between and across the four metropolitan authorities of the Black Country” (S02).

Moore’s research [R01, R03] also highlighted the international significance of the region’s unappreciated and forgotten industrial heritage and geology; BCC Chief Executive said that Moore’s work;

“helped us to envision the region’s topography in relation to its diverse ecosystems (above), a network of local, regional and global vistas (beyond) and the underlying geology (below). This new way of looking at our landscape emboldened Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton Councils to apply for UNESCO Geopark status in recognition of the region’s geological diversity and its role in the industrial revolution. In July 2020 UNESCO confirmed the Black Country as a Global Geopark - a place with internationally important geology and because of its cultural heritage” (S02).

A new model of National Park endorsed by the UK government: West Midlands National Park (WMNP).

The redefinition of landscape presented in OTV [R01] has, according to a member of the Government’s Landscapes Review panel, “ had an extraordinary impact on perceptions of what National Parks are” (S03). Moore’s exploratory maps [R03], presented a vision for a different kind of National Park that celebrates the ‘everyday’ landscapes of the region. These propositions are cited in the UK Government’s Landscapes Review as “a way of getting people to act and think differently” (S04) . A member of the review panel notes that;

“the review’s report, quite remarkably, endorsed the application of National Park principles to cities. That we did so was due directly to Professor Moore’s vision and maps [R03]. This shows how, by reframing the way we think about National Parks, urban populations could benefit” (S03).

The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) adopted the WMNP programme via the 2041 WMCA Actions for Climate Emergency policy. WMCA Mayor praised it for “changing the way we think about the environment, our health and the way our economy grows” (S05).

The research has impacted culturally, prompting The Guardian Feature Writer Stuart Jeffries to write;

“Not since Mayor Joseph Chamberlain sought to make Birmingham the new Athens at the end of the 19th century has anyone round here dared to dream this big” (June 20 2018).

Media debate brought public awareness about the region’s culture to a wider audience as featured on amongst others, BBC One’s ‘Inside Out’ (October 2018); BBC Costing the Earth (November 2019); BBC Midlands Today (October 2018); and Digbeth Conversations (May 2018).

Influencing environmental and design standards for a globally significant infrastructure project: HS2

Research demonstrating that landscape is the driver and sustainer of holistic development [R01, R02, R05] together with Moore’s HS2 Vision [R02] has, according to Vice Chair of the HS2 Independent Design Review Panel;

“persuaded HS2 to set up the Urban Integration team in 2018 to maximise the opportunities from integrating the line with its urban surroundings. This is delivering ground-breaking insights and opportunities along the whole route” (S06).

The same source confirms that Arup was “ commissioned to re-write the [HS2 Landscape Design Approach] document based on the approach articulated by Professor Moore, linking social, cultural, environmental and physical issues”. Furthermore, Moore’s chairing of the HS2 Landscape Specification Working Group was key to this integrated landscape-approach becoming incorporated into the overarching HS2 Design Vision (S07) which is used by every design team across the multi-billion pound HS2 project.

The research was used in parliamentary speeches by former MP for Solihull to highlight the “enormous opportunity that exists to do something ambitious, at scale, to offset the loss of green space of the type referred to in the amendment” to the High Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) Bill on 20 Feb 2017.

Redefining perception – Challenging conventional wisdom and stimulating international debate within United Nation (UN) agencies.

Moore’s definition of landscape based on new theories of perception [R01] was integral to the proposal for a UN legal instrument, the International Landscape Convention (ILC), as outlined in a speech to IFLA and taken up as a project within the Montreal World Design Declaration as the International Landscape Covenant (S08). Work on the ILC led to the development of regional versions which are now policy in Asia Pacific and Africa, the latter of which “ formed the basis of the African Landscape Network … which IFLA has been awarded a UNESCO Participation Programmer grant” (President, IFLA Africa) (S09).

The research [R01] that challenged the nature/culture, tangible/intangible dichotomies is being used by UNESCO to monitor cultures’ contributions to the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainability Development Goals (SDG) via the Culture for Development Indicators Suite (CDIS). Former UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture states that;

“The CDIS seeks to address the issue precisely Moore articulates, the artificial distinction that is made between tangible and intangible heritage currently enshrined in two UN Conventions – the 1972 UN World Heritage Convention and the 2003 UN Intangible Heritage Convention, as well as in the traditional distinctions made between culture, economy and sustainable development in other UN tools and practices. The CDIS reflects a paradigm shift, supported by Mrs Moore’s research” (S10).