The Future of Traditional Landscapes: Discussions and Visions

Abstract

At the 2018 meeting of the Permanent European Conference for the Study of the Rural Landscape (PECSRL), that took place in Clermont-Ferrand and Mende in France, the Institute for Research on European Agricultural Landscapes e.V. (EUCALAND) Network organized a session on traditional landscapes. Presentations included in the session discussed the concept of traditional, mostly agricultural, landscapes, their ambiguous nature and connections to contemporary landscape research and practice. Particular attention was given to the connection between traditional landscapes and regional identity, landscape transformation, landscape management, and heritage. A prominent position in the discussions was occupied by the question about the future of traditional or historical landscapes and their potential to trigger regional development. Traditional landscapes are often believed to be rather stable and slowly developing, of premodern origin, and showing unique examples of historical continuity of local landscape forms as well as practices. Although every country has its own traditional landscapes, globally seen, they are considered as being rare; at least in Europe, also as a consequence of uniforming CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) policies over the last five decades. Although such a notion of traditional landscapes may be criticized from different perspectives, the growing number of bottom-up led awareness-raising campaigns and the renaissance of traditional festivities and activities underline that the idea of traditional landscapes still contributes to the formation of present identities. The strongest argument of the growing sector of self-marketing and the increasing demand for high value, regional food is the connection to the land itself: while particular regions and communities are promoting their products and heritages. In this sense, traditional landscapes may be viewed as constructed or invented, their present recognition being a result of particular perceptions and interpretations of local environments and their pasts. Nevertheless, traditional landscapes thus also serve as a facilitator of particular social, cultural, economic, and political intentions and debates. Reflecting on the session content, four aspects should be emphasized. The need for: dynamic landscape histories; participatory approach to landscape management; socioeconomically and ecologically self-sustaining landscapes; planners as intermediaries between development and preservation.

Adapting cultural heritage to climate change impacts in the Netherlands: barriers, interdependencies, and strategies for overcoming them

“…Furthermore, while Dutch cultural heritage policy recognises that it is not always functionally and financially feasible to preserve cultural heritage unchanged (RCE 2013), experts noted that they lack rigorous methodological approaches for making transparent decisions about which cultural heritage to preserve in current form, and which heritage to change or give a new function. Renes et al (2019) expressed the need to explore how to ensure that cultural heritage remains in use without losing its heritage integrity, significance, and values for current and future generations. Importantly, decisionmaking processes need to involve preferences, priorities, and values of different stakeholder and community groups who could be affected by those decisions (Dawson et al 2020;Henderson 2019;Henderson and Seekamp 2018;Fatorić and Seekamp 2018).…”

Assessment of Tuscany Landscape Structure According to the Regional Landscape Plan Partition

“…Thanks to the results obtained with the present research, it was possible to highlight the characteristics of the structure and complexity of the main Tuscan landscape typologies, providing a crucial baseline for future monitoring and for assessing the effectiveness of planning policies. This turns out to be useful to improve and address planning, management and protection strategies respecting all the local differences, since the awareness of the history and of the current landscapes' features is not just scientifically interesting but can also change our perspective on future planning, management and protection [75]. The most important contribution to the future planning instruments of the Tuscan region comes from the fact that, through this research, it was possible to provide scientific and quantitative data for each landscape unit, as the current Landscape Plan includes detailed descriptions of the characteristics and of the vulnerabilities of the different landscape units, but without any data or measurement.…”

Transformation of Czech cultural landscapes over the past two centuries: typology based on model areas

“…rests of vanished artificial lakes, field boundaries, ancient farm tracks, abandoned fortifications, diverse sacral structures). Landscapes with high presence of the above-mentioned structures bear an outstanding historical and cultural heritage and often boast high aesthetic and ecological values (Kolejka, Krejčí, Nováková 2020;Renes et al 2019;Skaloš, Kašparová 2012;Tappeiner et al 2021).…”