Evaluation and further development of landscape consulting

Brugger + Partner, together with  the companies Steiger Texte, Konzepte, Beratung and RELIEF, evaluated the landscape consulting programme of the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN). As part of implementation of the Swiss Landscape Concept (SLC), the FOEN offered 50 free impulse landscape consultations to municipalities during a two-year pilot phase. The goal was to pragmatically improve the management of landscape issues at the municipal level with minimal administrative effort. The evaluation focused on the first part of the pilot phase, during which approximately 30 consultations were conducted. Evaluation questions were analysed from the perspective of various stakeholders (including FOEN, advisory group members, municipalities, cantonal offices, landscape consultants) using a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods, including exploratory discussions, standardised surveys, evaluation questionnaires, case studies with in-depth interviews, and workshops.