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L’actualité des allées d’arbres en Europe by Chantal PRADINES – Château de Bénouville
Update on Europe’s tree-lined avenues
Tree-lined avenues, be they roads, streets or paths, have long since left their mark on Europe’s landscapes. Since the post-war period, they have tended to disappear from our country landscapes whilst a number of initiatives, non-trading companies or institutions have endeavoured to valorise them. Since the publication, by the Council of Europe, of “Infrastructures routières: les allées d’arbres dans le paysage” (Road networks: tree-lined alleys in the landscape), these opposition efforts have been reinforced. We will offer a retrospective look at the major events that have marked recent decades in Europe in order to generate the right conditions for preserving this rich heritage.
Chantal Pradines
Chantal Pradines is a qualified engineer graduated from the École Centrale de Paris. She has worked and continues to work in public works and communication. With Franco-German roots, and having worked in Sweden, she is particularly open to European exchange and intercultural relations. She has worked for several years on the question of landscape and society, and on roadside trees in particular. Expert for the Council of Europe within the framework of work on the European Landscape Convention, she is the author of the report entitled Infrastructures routières : les allées d’arbres dans le paysage (Road infrastructures: tree avenues in the landscape). This report, presented in 2009 and published in 2012, focuses on the good practice identified in different European countries and sets down recommendations for preserving the heritage of roadside trees. Today, she is particularly attached to increasing public awareness on this type of heritage and in generating virtuous practice for its maintenance and renewal. She keeps a close eye on all European stakeholders in an aim to developing cooperation towards the creation of a cultural “avenues” route.