Landscape compatibility of wind energy: suggestions from Italian and foreign guidelines

The need of a widespread landscape quality (European Landscape Convention, 2000 has led, in Italy as abroad, to the establishment of laws, procedures and tools for a preliminary assessment of territorial transformations in relation to their landscape compatibility. The awareness of the ineffectiveness of a purely prescriptive rule has led to a wide production, since some decades, of “guidelines” as a tool to accompany design activity with qualitative suggestions, stemming from a careful reading of the landscape in which the project is placed. The paper analyses guidelines for wind farms, referring, in particular, to micro wind turbines and the urban environment. Through the comparison of national and international experiences the paper reflects on possible shortcomings and potentialities.