Chapter 2 - Research methods

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the research methods for the development of standards for the landscape management. The objective of the research is to make a set of standards for the landscape management, which warrants the sustainable development of landscape. Two research methods have been developed to meet the standards of sustainable landscape management: Maslow's theory and interdisciplinary approach. Landscape reflects the human motivations as merged into social procedures of society's motivations. Maslow's triangle of human motivation is translated to objectives for sustainable landscape management. An interdisciplinary approach is applied to achieve a science based and consistently sustainable landscape management. There are several targets a sustainable landscape management has to meet and for each target there are several criteria that can be used to assess the degree in which the management meets that target. For each criterion there are several parameters that can be chosen to assess the degree in which that criterion is being met. The chapter provides a diagram to illustrate the relationship among target, criteria, parameters, and preferred values.