Active involvement of residents is critical for creating distinctive local landscapes and for their continuous management. Accordingly, the first national Landscape Policy Basic Plan, established by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport (MLIT) in 2015, emphasized the necessity of forming a public consensus on national landscapes and of increasing recognition for their inherent value. However, there are few opportunities for the public to be educated on this issue or to participate in landscape management projects or to experience the positive effects of landscape management. Hence, the concept of landscape management has failed to take root among the general public and even for interested individuals, as educational and experiential opportunities are too sparse for them to pursue this topic in a meaningful way.

This study was developed alongside a plan to implement landscape education for diverse groups of the general public (e.g. professionals, citizens, children, etc.) for the sustainable management of Korean national landscape. To this end, the study examined landscape value perception of each participatory group and utilized the results to tailor recommendations for the purpose, direction, and implementation of landscape education. Furthermore, a pilot project was developed and tested in the course of the study, a landscape education program for children – a relatively overlooked group in the discussion on landscape education. To develop and verify the applicability of the pilot project, researchers collaborated with Suwon Research Institute under a research agreement.