Cultural Landscapes In Europe Research Articles

Mining and Europe’s World Heritage Cultural Landscapes

This study examines the four cases of World Heritage protected cultural landscapes in Europe that are characterized by mining in order to identify the role mining plays today in such cultural landscapes, the legal requirements for their protection, and also the exploration and exploitation in these areas and the differences that exist between the five European countries concerned. Using a qualitative comparative case study approach, the authors find that active mining is taking place in the Austrian case, and exploration is happening adjacent to the German/Czech protected cultural landscape. The legal protection of the cases is mainly based on heritage and monument protection legislation as well as environment protection legislation including the Natura 2000 network. Differences exist, as other than in Germany, exploration and mining could be allowed in protected areas, which is also contrary to the position of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, and the International Council on Mining and Metals.

Small Sacral Christian Architecture in the Cultural Landscapes of Europe

Abstract Though often overlooked due to its scale, small sacral Christian architecture has a significant importance in cultural landscapes in Europe and beyond. It represents a shared international cultural heritage and is significant in its diversity, distribution and abundance across cultural landscapes. The tradition of the artistic depiction of the cross in Christianity dates back to the 4th century AD. The first monuments in the form of crosses were placed in open landscapes in Scotland in the 7th century. The most important period for the spread of small sacral architecture of Catholic origin in eastern Europe was during the Baroque, thus most of the preserved small sacral monuments date back to the late 17th,18th and 19th centuries. They are often accompanied by monumental single trees or a compositionally organised group of trees and create a sacred composition of nature and culture. They have become important landmarks, indicators of place and landscape features of spatial organization, representing a significant historical legacy and cultural heritage for future generations. This article elaborates on the origin, historical development and landscape values of small sacral Christian architecture, as well as their relation to separate natural monuments or natural features that create part of the sacral composition, such as memorial trees growing around them. This article introduces the topic of sacral architecture and its contribution to the character and identity of European cultural landscapes.

Understanding Perceptions of Cultural Landscapes in Europe: A Comparative Analysis Using ‘Oppida’ Landscapes

ABSTRACTClimatic, social and demographic change is putting increasing pressure on Europe’s cultural landscapes. The European Landscape Convention (ELC) recognises these threats and the need to integrate a wider range of stakeholders in the active management of landscapes in order to negotiate the trade-offs needed for future sustainability. This study explores the complexity of the ELC’s aims by analysing stakeholder perceptions and values connected to four European cultural landscapes. Connected by the presence of Late Iron Age oppida, the historic significance of these landscapes is integrated alongside their other ecosystems services in order to make detailed comparisons between approaches to landscapes management in France, Spain and the UK. The analysis highlights conflicts and solutions regarding the unification of heritage, farming, environmental and social needs from the diverse contexts in order to make suggestions for wider best practice in the management of cultural landscapes which align more closely with the integrated stakeholder aims of the ELC.

Priority questions for the science, policy and practice of cultural landscapes in Europe

Context The design of effective responses to safeguard cultural landscape values in Europe needs collaborative action among the stakeholders involved. Despite considerable progress triggered by the European Landscape Convention (ELC) and other initiatives to link landscape science, policy and practice, a joint research–action agenda is still lacking.

Survival rates and causes of mortality of roe deer Capreolus capreolus in a rural landscape, eastern Poland

Game species in the cultural landscapes of Europe are exposed to several sources of anthropogenic pressure. Whilst hunting is part of coordinated wildlife management, poaching is difficult to quantify, and hence, relatively little is known about its impact on survival patterns of game species. We estimated survival and cause-specific mortality rates of 31 roe deer Capreolus capreolus in the surroundings of the Białowieża Primeval Forest, eastern Poland, from 2010 to 2013. The study area consisted of large, extensively used agricultural fields and a mosaic of pine plantations, which were interspersed with natural forest stands and small agricultural fields and meadows. Roe deer were regularly hunted and the forested part of the study area was traversed by large carnivores. Annual survival rate of all deer was 0.69 and did not differ between seasons. Annual survival rates of females and males in each age class (young and adult) were similar. Poaching was a major source of mortality (6 out of 13 roe deer deaths), and poachers did not prefer any sex or age. Adult survival (0.77) was higher than survival of young individuals (0.53); this trend was stronger when poaching was excluded from the analysis. All cases of poaching were recorded between mid-September and February. Although the two parts of the study area were exposed to a similar degree of anthropogenic pressure, all poached individuals occupied home ranges in the mosaic, where the forest cover in home ranges of roe deer was significantly higher than in the field.

Monitoring directions and rates of change in trees outside forests through multitemporal analysis of map sequences

This study explores the potential of historical maps to detect, measure and monitor changes of trees outside forests. The main goal is to assess local-level changes of scattered trees and orchards and their land-use determinants in two areas in Southern Germany between 1901/1905 and 2009. Firstly, overall landscape changes are recorded. Secondly, the spatial-temporal trajectories of scattered trees and their land-use determinants are identified. Thirdly, changes in quantity and fragmentation patterns of traditional orchards are analyzed in their relationship to overall land-cover change. The results confirm major losses in scattered trees, mainly due to urbanization, agricultural intensification, and land abandonment. They further reveal that, while orchards have persisted in total area, they have undergone critical changes toward a simplified landscape structure and loss of the traditional land-use mosaic, which is a characterizing feature of high nature value landscapes. Multi-temporal assessment showed that most trends have been continuous and did not change directions over time, but rather accelerated during periods of rapid change (most dramatically in the 1950–1990 period). The case of orchards and scattered trees illustrates a major problem of cultural landscapes in Europe: Semi-natural landscape features of high nature value are threatened by both intensification and abandonment of land uses. This makes their conservation a potentially costly enterprise, as both opportunity costs for lost alternative land uses and for conservation management costs arise.

Indicators for the Identification of Cultural Landscape Hotspots in Europe

Hotspots of traditional cultural landscapes in Europe can be found in locations which meet a specific set of characteristics. These characteristics were defined in a study based on literature review, content analysis and two case studies conducted in peripheral regions of Europe. The preconditions for hotspots of traditional cultural landscapes seem to be geographic, economic, infrastructural and political isolation, marginal agricultural land and often a population that differs from the surrounding national mainstream. These indicators are exemplified in two case studies. Based on field work carried out in Las Hurdes, in Spain, and Gyimes, in Romania, I argue that the factors that once enabled unique cultural landscapes to emerge are also those that nowadays help to preserve them as islands or hotspots in a globalized, and increasingly more uniform world. Finding and monitoring these traditional cultural landscape hotspots in Europe is the first prerequisite for systematically studying and eventually protecting them. But existing inventory, monitoring and policy approaches have not been designed and hence are not fully able to identify regions with traditional cultural landscapes. The indicators presented in this study can be used to identify such regions.

Transformation of rural-urban cultural landscapes in Europe: Integrating approaches from ecological, socio-economic and planning perspectives

This paper presents a review of the presentations and synthesis of the discussion during a Symposium on 'Transformation of rural-urban cultural landscapes in Europe: Integrating approaches from ecological, socio-economic and planning perspectives' held at the European IALE conference 2009 in Salzburg, Austria. The symposium addressed an extended and much debated subject of the landscape dynamics in Europe. The papers presented during the symposium showcased a broad spectrum of cutting edge research questions and challenges faced by the cultural landscapes of Europe. During six sessions, 18 presentations (besides 20 posters) were made by 36 scientists (including co-authors) from 14 countries, representing 25 institutions of Europe. A glance at the presentations revealed that the state-of-the-art focuses on driving forces and selected aspects of transformation processes, methods of its analysis and planning support as dimensions of research in this field. However, inter- and transdisciplinary research and integrative approaches to the development of rural-urban cultural landscapes are needed. The extended discussion session at the latter part of the symposium highlighted some critical and unaddressed research questions which remained a pending agenda for future research.

Farmers’ management strategies and land use in an agropastoral landscape: roquefort cheese production rules as a driver of change

Cultural landscapes in Europe provide a wide range of food products and fulfil social and environmental functions. In order to maintain agricultural practices that contribute to maintaining the biological and cultural value of semi-natural landscapes, agri-environmental schemes are being implemented in many western European countries. In the mountains of southern Europe a major issue is the encroachment of shrubs and trees through natural forest succession following agro-pastoral extensification. In this paper we analyse trends in land use strategies of sheep breeders in response to milk pricing and in relation to various within-farm mechanisms. We show that changes in production rules within the Roquefort cheese protected geographical indication have caused farmers to develop an alternative land use strategy. In this alternative model, farmers now consider rangelands as a valuable resource. By increasing the use of rangelands for sheep grazing and alimentation, this new strategy provides a more effective control of shrub and tree encroachment. We suggest that this involuntary consequence of production and market decisions has been at least as important as agri-environmental schemes in leading ewes’ milk producers to make changes in their land use strategy.

Assessing village authenticity with satellite images: a method to identify intact cultural landscapes in Europe.

The village with its characteristic zones of different land use from the center to the periphery is a basic unit of Europe's cultural landscapes. However, loss of the authentic pre-industrial village structure characterized by a fine-grained structure of arable land and wooded grasslands is a threat to both cultural heritage and biodiversity in many rural landscapes. Therefore, it is important that the extent and rate of change of such authentic villages in a landscape can be monitored. We studied to what extent loss of authenticity with increasing time after abandonment can be assessed by quantitative analysis and visual interpretation of satellite images. The study was carried out in the Bieszczady Mountains, SE Poland in 1999. Using Landsat Thematic Mapper data from 1998, both the grain size of landscape elements (size of fields) and land-cover composition (encroachment of shrub and forest) were quantitatively described 6 type villages representing different stages of deterioration of the authentic village structure. Historical maps were used to delineate the border of the villages and the former extension of forest and open land was measured. The present land use and the degree of abandonment expressed as grain size and forest encroachment were mapped using satellite data. Deterioration occurred along 2 transformation paths: abandonment and ultimately becoming forest, or intensified agriculture, respectively. To validate these results we classified 22 other villages in a 1000 km2 area by visual interpretation of the original satellite images into 1 of 4 types. We then collected historical data on human population changes over the past six decades. The classification of village authenticity was clearly related to the rate of human population decline. We address the importance of validating and applying this approach for rapid assessment of the authenticity of cultural landscapes in European regions being subject to ongoing as well as expected future change, related to expansion of the European Union. Finally, we argue that the village represents a scale at which integration of natural and social sciences is possible.

Assessing Village Authenticity with Satellite Images: A Method to Identify Intact Cultural Landscapes in Europe

Assessing Village Authenticity with Satellite Images: A Method to Identify Intact Cultural Landscapes in Europe

Landscape Planning for Biological Diversity in Europe

The European landscape reflects its agricultural legacy, but agriculture is losing its dominant position in the rural economy. The rural landscapes of Europe are in a process of polarization between intensive land use and naturalistic areas. In addition to this process, fragmentation of the landscape is also taking place. Regional distinctiveness is disappearing due to the impact of globalization on food production. If regional differences are not maintained and protected then the cultural landscapes of Europe and their biological diversity will decline and only remnants will remain. It is argued that regional differences can only be maintained through conscious environmental and ecological planning. Concepts for this, such as ecostabilization and ecological networks, have been developed in many European countries. The role of the landscape planner should be one of integrating knowledge and functions by designing new functions in existing landscapes and new landscapes with regional character.

Homogenisation and fragmentation of the European landscape: ecological consequences and solutions

The rural landscapes of Europe are in both a homogenisation and a fragmentations process. Regional differences are disappearing due to the dominating equalising impact of the worldwide market. If regional differences are not maintained and protected then the cultural landscapes of Europe and their biological diversity will decline and only remnants will remain. Models on agricultural management and data on landscape changes from all Europe confirm this. Regional differences have to be maintained through conscious environmental and ecological planning. Concepts for this have been developed in all countries in Europe, such as the ecostabilisation concept and the concept of ecological networks. Nature management by farmers is more and more accepted. Landscape planners should be aware of their changing role from designer towards negotiator with the actors in the landscape with different landscape functions and planning tasks in mind.