Stig Roar Svenningsen

Landscape practise and key concepts for landscape sustainability

Conceptual frameworks which have seen man and nature as being an integrated whole were widespread before they became suppressed by developments within both capitalism and socialism. Therefore an idealistic use of such concepts in scientific work has often had limited practical value. At the same time, the practice behind such conceptual frameworks has survived in many land use systems, being a fundamental source of inspiration for the modern challenge of landscape sustainability. Here, the concept and practice of carrying capacity is used as an example. We provide a modern interpretation and relate it to an empirical study of sustainable tourism in eight protected areas and their regions in the Baltic. They are subject to large differences in human pressure. The political commitment to the related EU Natura 2000 networks has been taken as our point of departure for a more detailed analysis of accessibility and its related conflicts, and opportunities for a sustainable development of tourism in and around the protected areas. It is concluded that the concept of carrying capacity cannot meaningfully be used for sustainability studies at an abstract conceptual level, but proves its relevance through a detailed context specific analyses of visitor related conflicts.

New multifunctional hunting landscapes in Denmark

Between 1992 and 2008 subsidization of mandatory set aside land under the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) gave rise to the establishment of a characteristic type of multifunctional hunting landscapes in Denmark, primarily located on fallow land in tilled valley bottoms. A national survey of these landscapes in 2006 has been carried out and 1061 hunting areas have been identified nationwide. Subsidies relating to set aside land acted as a supplementary type of income, which supported the development of multifunctional land use on marginal soils where the income from hunting and subsidies in combination was a viable alternative to monofunctional rotational agriculture. Hunting landscapes developed as the consequence of landscape management strategies designed to comply with the requirements of the CAP while improving habitat conditions for wildlife and increasing income from hunting rental activities. Forty-seven percent of the hunting landscapes in 2006 were in rotational production in 2010 while 19% were used for other agricultural purposes and 34% were taken out of the subsidy regime and removed from the general agricultural register. In 2012, a total of 431 such areas ‒ 41% of the areas identified in 2006 ‒ were still used for hunting. The number and geographical distribution of the hunting landscapes seems closely related to the potential average hunting rent, the level of urbanisation and the occurrence of manorial estates with traditions for multifunctional land use as part of their economic strategy. Implications for the ongoing discussion on land use policy concerning land sharing vs. land sparing is discussed.

The potential of a digital, transdisciplinary approach to landscape change and urbanization around Copenhagen in the 20th century

ABSTRACT Urbanization has long been recognized as a major driver for landscape change in the vicinity of major cities and urban systems. Studies of the historical process of urbanization often rely on spatial data or statistics and rarely include detailed historical socio-economic data. This research note aims to emphasize the potential of using digitized cultural heritage data in landscape research. The focus is on how a digital transdisciplinary approach, combining an array of large historical data sets, can provide insights into the link between socio-economic factors and landscape changes at the property level. Using the case of a single farm on the outskirts of Copenhagen, we demonstrate how linked historical data can help reconstruct the urbanization process on a local scale and trace the driving forces of landscape change. The results also suggest that there is enormous potential for landscape research to utilize such historical data.

The emergence of an environmental cartography in Denmark

Within the history of cartography, relatively little attention has been devoted to the study of the growing body of maps and spatial data focusing on environmental issues. This is rather surprising, considering the importance of this type of cartography in the handling of the complex environmental problems of modern society. This paper analyses the development of thematic maps and spatial data focusing on the terrestrial environment of Danish landscapes. The paper is introduced with a review of the concept of environmental cartography, followed by a historical analysis of the development of environmental mapping in Denmark. Results suggest that there has been a change in the content and aim of environmental cartography in the twentieth century, from an initial focus on mapping potentials for land use improvement and optimization of the economic outputs from engagement with terrestrial ecosystems, to a focus on monitoring ecosystems and regulation of human intervention. Finally, the usefulness of the concept environmental cartography to frame analytical work dealing with the still increasing number of maps produced for environmental purposes within the history of cartography, is evaluated.