Bas Pedroli

From Hiking Through Farmland to Farming in a Leisure Landscape: Changing Social Perceptions of the European Landscape

The idea that landscape has been created by human activities on a biophysical basis allows for clear cause–effect reasoning. However, landscape planning and management practice learns that it is impossible to neglect the social perception of landscape, i.e. the ways people think about nature and landscape. It is the result of social research and human sciences of the last decade that a differentiation in views of nature and landscape can be identified in the different groups of social actors in the landscape. Case studies from France and the Netherlands show a marked change in values attributed to nature and landscape in the end of the last century. Social demand for landscape is growing and a shift from a functional image of nature and landscape to a more hedonistic image like the Arcadian and wilderness images has taken place. Comparing the Netherlands with France and rural with urban inhabitants, the influence of urbanisation is evident in this process. It is further shown that images of nature vary considerably between for example farmers, urban residents, hunters and conservationists. The way people perceive landscape seems determined by their functional ties with the landscape and the social praxis in which they encounter the landscape. It is concluded that the concept of landscape is nearer to the lifeworld of people than the abstract notions of nature and biodiversity. This implies a big challenge both for national and international landscape policies and for local landscape management initiatives to be developed, taking into due consideration both the material and immaterial nature of landscape.

Perspectives on Landscape Identity: A Conceptual Challenge

Abstract The concept of landscape identity is often referred to in landscape policy and planning. A clear definition of the concept is lacking however. This is problematic because the term ‘landscape identity’ can have many different meanings and thus easily lead to confusion. We define landscape identity as ‘the perceived uniqueness of a place’ and endeavour to describe the content of this definition more concisely. Within this context the paper introduces the framework of the Landscape Identity Circle for the various dimensions of landscape identity based on two axes: differentiation between spatial as opposed to existential identity, and differentiation between personal and cultural landscape identity. This framework is valuable in positioning research approaches and disciplines addressing landscape identity.

Landscape - what's in it? Trends in European landscape science and priority themes for concerted research

Reflecting on the other papers in this special issue, this synopsis characterises some essential trends in European Landscape Ecology, including the challenges it is facing in society. It describes the various perspectives on the ‘contents’ of landscape that are currently being practiced, and especially considers the notion of ‘environment’ as something intrinsic to human activity. Landscape classification and typology are discussed in their potential but limited use for landscape science. The specificity of the European approach appears to be related to the large diversity of cultural landscapes, currently losing their functional ties with the land-use systems that had formed them. European landscape research reports show a large commitment to this decreasing diversity, a dedication characterised by a strong sense of ‘loss and grief’. On the other hand, it is concluded that European landscape research has a specific niche with a clear focus on applied landscape studies explicitly including people’s perceptions and images, as well as the participation of the public and stakeholders. Since globalisation tends to reinforce the detachment of people from their environment; an increased effort is needed to compensate for this effect, and therefore the consideration of the various dimensions of the landscape is today more pertinent than ever. Meeting the challenges of present landscapes, in the face of new multifunctional demands in old diverse landscapes, requires more than before the combination of various perspectives and methods, and of various scales of application, in order to design innovative and adaptive paths for the future.

Environmental flows and its evaluation of restoration effect based on LEDESS model in Yellow River Delta wetlands

Due to freshwater supplement scarcity and heavy human activities, the fresh water wetland ecosystem in Yellow River Delta is facing disintegrated deterioration, and it is seriously affecting the health of the Yellow River ecosystem. This paper identifies the restoration objectives of wetland aiming to protect ecological and economic values and development as well as the water resources of the Yellow River. The hydraulic and groundwater coupling model and Landscape Ecological Decision and Evaluation Support System (LEDESS) of the Yellow River Delta were established to calculate environmental flows of degraded wetlands. LEDESS is a computer-based model developed and used to assess and evaluate the effects of land-use changes on nature. In this study, LEDESS is used to assess and evaluate the ecological effects and the restoration possibilities considering several environmental flows’ supplement scenarios. This included the changes of suitable habitat conditions and its ecological carrying capacities for indicator species, e.g., Red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis), Oriental stork (Ciconia boyciana), and Saunder’s gull (Larus relictus), and changing of ecological patterns. The results showed that replenishing fresh water to wetlands is one of the effective adaptive measures to mitigate wetland degradation and improve its habitat quality and carrying capacities. This study indicated that landscape ecology approach is not only considered as a good way to solve complex problems in ecosystem management but also can be used to decide on the environmental flows and assess its ecological effects in large-scale wetland rehabilitation. This integrated method could make environmental flows estimated and assessment more rational than the results of hydrologic methods. It could assist decision makers to “see” the ecological effects after water supplementing and so alleviate the contradictions between environmental flows and production water demands, and can facilitate the implementation of environmental flows in most countries with water resources shortage.

Challenges for a shared European countryside of uncertain future. Towards a modern community-based landscape perspective

Abstract This paper addresses current changes in the highly diverse European landscape, and the way these transitions are being treated in policy and landscape management in the fragmented, heterogeneous and dynamic context of today’s Europe. It appears that intersecting driving forces are increasing the complexity of European landscapes and causing polarising developments in agricultural land use, biodiversity conservation and cultural landscape management. On the one hand, multifunctional rural landscapes, especially in peri-urban regions, provide services and functions that serve the citizens in their demand for identity, support their sense of belonging and offer opportunities for recreation and involvement in practical landscape management. On the other hand, industrial agricultural production on increasingly large farms produces food, feed, fibre and energy to serve expanding international markets with rural liveability and accessibility as a minor issue. The intermediate areas of traditionally dominant small and family farms in Europe seem to be gradually declining in profitability. The paper discusses the potential of a governance approach that can cope with the requirement of optimising land-sharing conditions and community-based landscape development, while adapting to global market conditions.

High Nature Value farmland identification from satellite imagery, a comparison of two methodological approaches

While the identification of High Nature Value (HNV) farmland is possible using the different types of spatial information categories available at European scale, most data used is still too coarse and therefore only provides an approximate estimate of the presence of HNV farmland. This paper describes two promising methods using remote sensing – one for HNV farmland identification and one for change detection within HNV farmland. The performance of the two methods is demonstrated by detailed results for two case studies – the Netherlands for the HNV farmland identification, and Bulgaria for change detection within HNV farmland. An estimation of the presence of HNV farmland or of HNV farmland change can well be based on high-resolution satellite imagery, but the classification method must be adapted to regional characteristics such as field size and type of landscape. The temporal variability and bio-climatological characteristics across Europe do not allow for a simple European classification of HNV farmland. Also comparison between years is complicated because of the large impact of seasonal variation in the land cover expression and the complexity of the HNV farmland definitions. Although HNV farmland detection methods are promising, remote sensing alone does not yet provide the appropriate tools for adequate monitoring.

Editorial: Living Landscape: The European Landscape Convention in Research Perspective

This special issue reports some of the highlights of the conference Living Landscape – The European Landscape Convention in Research Perspective, organised jointly by UNISCAPE and Landscape Europe ...

Towards a roadmap for sustainable land use in Europe

European land use and land management has entered a critical decision space, a limited time window to plan for—and move towards—a sustainable use of the land (Rounsevell et al. 2012; EEA 2017). This complex challenge to better manage Europe’s natural capital will require improved governance (Adger et al. 2003; European Commission 2011), supportive policy and planning (Hodge 2016; Borrass et al. 2017), innovative technologies and business models (Rantala et al. 2018) and societal support for the required changes (Latour 2017). It is therefore imperative to explore alternative visions—i.e. positive descriptions of a desired future (Rounsevell and Metzger 2010; Van Zeijts et al. 2017)—to understand what this sustainable land use future could look like and to evaluate the pathways that can lead us to these visions (Rounsevell et al. 2012). This special issue presents nine papers resulting from the European Union (EU) funded Visions on Land Use Transitions in Europe (VOLANTE) project (http://www. volante-project.eu). These papers provide a better understanding of observed and future land use change in Europe (Levers et al. 2018; Stürck et al. 2018; LotzeCampen et al. 2018; Helming and Tabeau 2018), societal visions for desired sustainable land use (Perez-Soba et al. 2018; Metzger et al. 2018; Valluri-Nitsch et al. 2018) and possible pathways towards these desired futures (Verkerk et al. 2018; Brown et al. 2018). Together, the insights presented in this special issue provide a basis for roadmap towards sustainable land use in Europe.

Landscape - what's in it? European landscape research at a turning point - Preface

This special issue aims to present a critical overview of landscape approaches in European landscape science. The authors for this issue were selectively invited on the basis of geographical and visionary representation. We had requested them to invite co-authors from other institutions, preferably from other countries. This would encourage to take distance of one’s own traditional point of view. We are very glad that many of them have accepted this challenge and the extra work required, and that they really invested in this unusual co-operation. This makes this special issue to a unique document, allowing also conclusions to be drawn on the future research agenda, going beyond normal recommendations for further research. As a matter of fact such an undertaking implies that the papers tend to be more descriptive than usual, but the normal reviewing procedure has been followed. The resulting seven papers cover a wide range of theoretical approaches, empirical and practical considerations, and together give an interesting representation of the European approach to understanding and managing landscapes. The last, eighth paper presents a synopsis of the viewpoints expressed in the issue. This special issue is the result of a joint effort initiated during the symposium organised by LAND-

Resilience and the Cultural Landscape: Understanding and Managing Change in Human-shaped Environments

from the US, Germany, China, Sweden, Denmark and Austria. The 16 chapters highlight the special qualities of wildscapes and how these can contribute to a more sustainable urban environment that embraces experiential values such as recreation, thrill, sense of beauty and fascination for nature. The more theoretical chapters deal with our relationship with nature and environmental awareness, the legacy of urban decay landscapes in Detroit and other places (Woodward), the importance of a natural history approach in helping us understand the evolution of urban wild vegetation (Gobster), the need for places where children can be wild (Ward Thompson), the value of playing in industrial (and dangerous) ruins (Edensor et al.) and the reasons why wildscapes in literature play such an important role in children’s fantasy (Mugford). The case study section covers examples from small to large scale and from spaces with hard surfaces to areas with wild growing vegetation. That variety is exemplified by studies that discuss the enhancement of ruderal perennials in a Sheffield park (Tylecote and Dunnett), the restoration of industrial wasteland following opencast coal mining in Germany (de Waal and de Wit) and how a squatter movement in the early 1970s ‘Free Town of Christiania’ in Copenhagen has resulted in a new type of urban common (Hellström), with lessons for wider practice. The final section, ‘Implications for wildscape practice’, addresses issues such as the vulnerability of ambiguous concepts within planning (Qviström), and how different practices, including public participation, can evolve to better engage with the social and environmental contexts of wild landscapes (Sheridan). A concluding chapter by Jorgensen and Lička shows, by the use of examples from Vienna, how urban wild spaces can inform and inspire low intervention approaches to planning and design of urban environment, where ‘local identity’ is not imposed on the sites. This book enriches the reader’s understanding of landscapes beyond the notions of wild or cultured, urban or rural, and can be recommended to everyone.