Landscape geographies: Interdisciplinary landscape research and a new framework to apply landscape as method (original) (raw)

The landscape concept’s disciplinary ambiguity and its broad range of definitions have resulted in the term’s unruly reputation. More recent scholarship, however, suggests that the term’s interdisciplinary application challenges its contentious origins, creates new pathways for co-creation, and encourages more direct interventions in informing policy. I therefore suggest there is a growing realm of landscape geographies, exploring alternative ways of knowing and being in landscapes across broader spatial, temporal, and ontological scales. Given that it can be difficult to navigate the complicated matrix of landscape definitions, theories, and methodologies, I position landscape as a method and introduce a new model of landscape analysis that includes three overlapping approaches to investigate a landscape’s material, symbolic, and affective dimensions. I conclude that embracing a wider spectrum of landscape geographies will help to elevate a more diverse range of voices, inspiring interdisciplinary conversations that contend with landscape futures in a rapidly changing world.