European rural landscapes are highly diverse and rich in cultural and natural values. They attract a large number of international tourists and, to a large extent, they contribute to making many European regions attractive living places for an increasingly mobile population. Currently European landscapes are facing a number of policy and planning challenges which must be dealt with including the need for policy integration, pro-active place making approaches and collaborative governance. These challenges are illustrated through two examples: urban sprawl and land use conflicts associated with farming and nature conservation. Different institutional solutions are briefly outlined and a framework for collaborative landscape strategy making is presented together with a concrete example of such as strategy.