Renewable Energy and Landscape Quality

COST RELY BuchCOST Action TU 1401- The main objective of the Action is to develop a better understanding of how European landscape protection/management and renewable energy deployment can be reconciled to contribute socio-environmentally to the sustainable transformation of energy systems.

In September 2018 the Action was published: Tookits, Case Studies, 30 Country overviews, future reflections and many photos to illustrate the country perspectives, RE technologies, influence on landscape and much more. 296 pages, English, ISBN 978-3-86859-524-6, 48.00€

Even if the Action was finished in autumn 2019, dissemination goes on. You can find call for abstracts in our news category 20191218 COST publicationon your right hand side. And also more publications are to come. Therefore don't forget to check every now and than our publications. Last but not least, the Action was evaluated positively several times. We'll keep you informed about it.


This Action investigated the inter-relationships between Renewable Energy production and Landscape qualitY, and the role of public participation for the acceptance of renewable energy systems. The Action provided tool-kits to achieve a better understanding of how landscape protection & management as well as renewable energy deployment can be reconciled to contribute socio-environmentally to the sustainable transformation of energy systems. This Action contributed to the consolidation and extension of knowledge from a pan-European perspective using a modular methodological framework. This Action prepared enhancement tools science based for decision-making, and developed guidelines for public participation in planning renewable energy systems. The potential of sustainable landscape development, with innovative land uses producing synergies for landscape quality and renewable energy, was be revealed.


1 place flyer

1st price of the COST RELY photo competition "Let the COST RELY Flyer travel" in 2018. The winning contribution was submitted by David Miller from UK.

With the continued roll-out of renewable energy technologies to meet EU targets on low carbon
energy, and the widespread recognition of the value of European landscapes to people’s wellbeing
and the rural economy, the pressures on decision-makers (e.g. planners, public agencies),
communities, and developers to resolve landscape-energy conflicts is increasing.

The Action will work on the following program:

  • Systematic review and meta-analysis
  • Strategic case studies
  • Multidimensional scenario techniques

The outcomes, the synthesis of findings and dissemination will be presented on this homepage in the sections Activities and Oucomes during the project's lifetime.

[ Download Information Material ]


We received so many impressive submission to our two photocompetitions that we created also a new category: "Reflections". 1st price of the COST RELY photo competition "Reflections" in 2018: Béla Munkácsy with a motiv from Denmark and the following explanation: "The area in the picture is one of the windiest parts of the country, called Thy. It have not been installed big wind farms for 11 years here, as the local communities prefer smaller turbines and community based solutions. The tendency of growing turbines and increasing prices is not consistent with the local interest. The turbines in the picture are the rare bigger ones."

Many examples for good and bad solutions of renewable energy production had been collected in order to get more impressions how interesting, sometimes even romantic but also divers and controversal renewable energies might be. They will be displaced again soon. In the meanwhile you'll find some impressions below.1 place reflections


COST RELY around the world

Let the Flyer travel - raise awareness on Renewable Energy and Landscape Quality. Following this motto, the Action members took their national Action flyers with them when travelling. Here you can see some very nice impressions.

Reflections screenshot


COST RELY Photo database

The photo database contains the photos taken during the various project activities carried out from Portugal to Hungary, and from Greece to Iceland. Some hundred photos have been chosen in all, representing a new reality of European Energy Landscapes, considering also the aspect of landscape quality. It is organised by country and by topic.

  • Different renewable energy sources and systems
  • Different influences towards landscape quality

Photodatabase Collage1


COST RELY Glossary

Glossary Collage