Eva Cudlínová

Problems of agriculture and landscape management as perceived by farmers of the Šumava Mountains (Czech Republic)

Abstract The role agriculture plays in our economy is changing. The former preference for production is being replaced by a preference for the production of landscape. The landscape we live in has been created by rural tradition. It is the kind of landscape we perceive as pleasant; it is also highly appreciated from the ecological and aesthetic points of view. The problem facing us is how we should preserve the character of the rural landscape, which is closely connected with agricultural activity, under conditions of decreasing agricultural production. This question is extremely important in marginal areas whose economy is based on agriculture. Declining agricultural production in these areas results not only in social changes but also in changes in the landscape patterns of environmentally valuable areas. One possible solution to this problem is a policy of landscape management. This has been tried out in the Czech Republic, by implementing new types of subsidies in agricultural policy, to encourage sustainable landscape management. Our article seeks to reveal the shortcomings in the functioning of these ecological subsidies in marginal areas. Our qualitative analysis is based on interviews with farmers in Sumava Mountains to ascertain their opinions and experience with ecological subsidies as a new form of state support. The main reason that the ecological subsidies are failing appears to be because they ignore the social factor: the recipient of the subsidy. Most of the subsidies are awarded to businessmen (‘new experts’) who have no ties with the landscape or with its values and management. We conclude that the landscape cannot be managed from outside. We need a living countryside with farmers — recipients of subsidies and the real creators of the landscape. The social situation in the countryside must be taken into account in a broader context.

Stakeholder perceptions of the impacts of rural funding scenarios on mountain landscapes across Europe

This article examines how alternative rural funding scenarios might influence the pattern of functional land types in mountain areas. The study aims were to explore the use of stakeholders to predict landscape change and to provide a future policy context for other papers in the Carbomont program. EU rural funding policies could have a strong influence on land use and landscapes in mountain areas. At eight sites across Europe, groups of local stakeholders were asked to compare the possible effects of three contrasting funding scenarios over an imagined period of 20 years on (1) the importance of the main land-use sectors; (2) the areas of the main land functional land types; and (3) the management of individual land types. Stakeholders also listed their interests in the area to help define the perspective of the group. The protocols used were ranking and scoring procedures that permitted quantification of changes and of the degree of consensus within the group. The scenarios were (1) continuation of current rural funding (status quo), (2) rapid reduction of farm income support (reduce support), and (3) increasing rural diversification funding (diversification). The eight countries sampled included five established EU members (UK, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain), two new accession members (Czeck Republic and Slovakia), and Switzerland. There were predicted to be widespread reductions in the importance of the agricultural sector across Europe and increases in the transport, built environment, and tourism sectors. In general, the status quo scenario was perceived to be unsatisfactory in various respects, reduce support was worse, but diversification offered opportunities for conservation and development of mountain communities and land use. Changes in the areas of land types would mainly involve loss of arable and grazing land and increases in scrub, and settlements. Some elements of the landscape such as most forests, mountain tops, and wetlands would, however, be little affected by any of the scenarios.

Changing Landscapes, Changing Landscape's Story

This article reports on the early stages of a collaborative European Union (EU)-funded research project investigating changing European landscapes and the role that sustainable tourism can play in maintaining their distinctive cultural features. In this paper we refer especially to the use of ‘storylines’ to shed light on the meanings and shared histories inscribed in cultural landscapes, and the need for these to be understood by scientists and policy makers. Skilful reading of a landscape enables its distinctive ‘story’ to be told. However, this is a story that evolves over time, and many traditional landscape stories, deriving from the production activities of the local population, now need to be reinterpreted. In our narrative framework, landscapes and people form a partnership to reveal a story of changing communities, changing land use and changing landscapes. The narrative approach has found many applications in ethnology, sociology, philosophy, art and rural sociology (see, for example, Bauman, 1994; Liblich et al., 1997; Znaniecki & Thomas, 1996), although it is rare in the natural sciences.

Any Lesson from the History of Sustainable Development

Any Lesson from the History of Sustainable Development? Have we still got time for sustainability and reasonable application of ideas of sustainable development? It has been just over twenty years since the Brundtland Commission Report but, taken as an axiological term; sustainable development resonates with older historical horizons. At the heart of a long running history we are beginning to articulate more or less sustaining relationships between man and nature. We have described the (human) needs in the environmental, economic and social dimension of sustainable development to show some amazing shift in perception of sustainable development from local to global level. We are convinced that historical lesson of sustainable development shows there is no more time for sustainability, but time for SOStainability. Our proposed S-O-S in SOStainability means Save Our Sustainability! SOStainability represents the need to end the compromise between economic development and natural life supporting systems.

Beyond the models of marginality

Abstract The article focuses on a general analysis of two basic models for solving the problems of marginal areas: 1) linear economic models 2) non‐linear ecological models. Following an examination of both types of model, the paper identifies the main successes and failures accompanying their application. We are especially concerned with the methodology and nature of these models, and in doing so, with the phenomenon of cultural capital. Empirical data from the Sumava Mountains, the environmentally rich area along the south western boundary of the Czech Republic, are used as an example of the application of the two models. Understanding the relationship between the linear and non‐linear models in practice seems to ensure the successful solution of some problems in marginal areas.

Human sources of landscape stewardship: the re‐emergence of private farming in the Czech Republic

Abstract Historically, an important role informing the Czech cultural landscape was played by the strong middle class of farmers. The period of collectivization which occurred progressively between 1950 and 1989 meant liquidation of the rural community. Whereas in 1950 there were 1,404,225 private farmers, this number had decreased to only 2,000 in 1988. This paper focuses on the problems of stewardship and responsibility towards landscape associated with this social group, which recently has started a new period of growth. The research uses a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods. Dialogues with interviewees have enabled us to interpret stewardship and responsibility into a coherent story about the relationship between people and landscape. Similarities and differences have been related to variables such as farmers age and length of time in farming. The results show that patterns of stewardship and responsibility are not related to economic variables, but rather to common features of ‘timeless...

The potential role of small-scale private farmers in the ecological restoration of the Bohemian landscape

Abstract In Czechoslovakia the landscape suffered severe degradation during the period of socialism (1948–1989). Application of Western experiences in ecological restoration of the Czechoslovakian landscape is difficult due to the shortage of financial resources and the absence of a functioning market. One potentially valuable source of assistance is a group of small-scale private farmers. This group constitutes only 2% of agricultural workers in Czechoslovakia, but is significant for two reasons. First, they preserved a form of private ownership in an otherwise completely nationalized economy. Second, they maintained ways of husbandry that are close in character to practices of what is now called sustainable agriculture. Certain aspects of the thinking of these people — their ecological consciousness — predispose them for an ecological role in the landscape. This paper begins with a characterization of the ecological consciousness of the private farmers of Bohemia, drawing on interviews and questionnaires with members of farm families. It then considers the relevance of their way of thinking for ecological restoration in Bohemia in light of the current economic conditions.

Rural Development Policy in the Framework of the Knowledge-based Economy: Selective Impacts and Solutions in the Case of the Czech Republic

Rural development policy is facing a number of partial problems, for instance in terms of its contextual definition, and has an unclear position, particularly in connection with sectoral policies. This affects, among others, transport, environmental, and employment policy. The most important problem is related to the prevailing perception of rural development, with an emphasis on ‘agriculture’. This emphasis is particularly pronounced in the EU (see MahE et al., 1999; Lowe et al., 2002; Dwyer et al., 2007; Marsden and Sonnino, 2008). However, in the last two decades rural space has been significantly influenced by globalisation trends, information technology, reduction of transportation costs and the increase in importance of non-agricultural activities in rural areas (OECD, 2006a, p. 12). These influences have had multifarious impacts on rural areas.

Characteristic of the Czech Countryside Development Based on Local Population Activities and Attitudes

ABSTRACT Our paper tested the role of local population in development of rural municipalities. We focused especially on attitudes and general characteristics of people and tried to answer the question to which extent is the success of village development connected with the kind of people living there. In other words, determining the role of cultural and social capital in rural development. Presented results are based on work carried out by a research team within the three-year project entitled “Countryside as a Space for Living or just a Space for Surviving”, supported by the Czech Ministry of Agriculture 1 . We analyzed statistical data from a fifteen-year period (1995-2009). From the rural area with more than 6,000 villages that fit to OECD definition, villages from sub-urban zones were excluded, leaving an area with approximately 4,500 villages. We decided that demographic development would serve as a main indicator of village prosperity - the increasing number of population during our analyzed period. Four thousand villages were statistically divided into five groups in terms of growing or decreasing number of population due to a different level of combination of two factors - rate of population growth (crude rate of natural increase) and rate of migration (crude rate of net migration). One thousand respondents, from one hundred villages selected at random, were asked about their life conditions in their village. The results we gained partly confirm our hypothesis that the role of cultural capital is not negligible for determining the type of development.

Use of linear and non-linear approaches to solving the problems of marginal areas

This article presents a general comparative analysis of two kinds of approach - linear disciplinary and non-linear trans-disciplinary - used in the assessment of marginal areas. These approaches reflect different kinds of thinking about marginal areas more than describe specific modelling techniques. The analysis emphasises the key characteristics of each approach, as well as major advantages and disadvantages of each approachs application to define and resolve issues of planning in marginal areas. As a case example for contextualising our discussion of the two approaches, we use our experiences and data from the Sumava Mountains, an environmentally wealthy and sensitive area along the southern boundary of the Czech Republic. Understanding the particular nuances of linear and non-linear approaches in practice will help planners to develop successful solutions to problems in marginal areas.