HERCULES: Studying long-term changes in Europe’s landscapes (original) (raw)
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2014
Main authors: Carole Crumley, Jan Kolen With contributions from: Gert Jan Burgers, Kim von Hackwitz, Peter Howard, Krista Karro, Maurice de Kleijn, Daniel Löwenborg, Niels van Manen, Hannes Palang, Anu Printsmann, Hans Renes, Henk Scholten, Paul Sinclair, Martti Veldi, Philip Verhagen. Executive summary The first deliverable of Work Package 2 (D 2.1) of the HERCULES project contains the outlines of a protocol for studying the long-term changes in cultural landscapes. It is intended as a first design of such a protocol, as it has to be tested and refined further in the process of conducting three regional case studies and inter-regional comparisons within the HERCULES project. The protocol defines an innovative methodological procedure for understanding the long-term development and transformation of cultural landscapes, drawing on recent insights from geography, landscape archaeology, (historical) ecology, anthropology and information science. The procedure will be informed by the definitions and the conceptual framework developed in HERCULES work package 1. The protocol text subsequently deals with the following topics and issues: 1. A short description of its main aim and its relationship to the work being done in other work packages of the HERCULES project (Section 1); 2. An overview of the major concepts and approaches in archaeological and historical landscape research in both North America and Europe and the major issues raised in landscape history over the past decades (Section 2). This also defines the necessity of developing an integrated approach to long-term changes in cultural landscapes (Section 3); 3. A set of premises for understanding long-term changes in cultural landscapes (Section 4), as well as a number of operational principles for translating these premises to concrete starting points, procedures, methods and techniques in individual or comparative landscape projects (section 5). These premises and operational principles are based on the methodological buildings blocks of the protocol: historical ecology, landscape biography and complex systems theory. 4. Starting points for integrating landscape history with the current theory and practice of geodesign (Section 6); 5. Design of an infrastructural facility for retrieving and linking archaeological, historical and ecological data and geo-information (SDI) to support the interdisciplinary study of landscape change (Section 7). 6. An exploration of concepts and techniques in dynamic modeling that can help better and more consistently understand the long-term processes that have been operating (or still are) in cultural landscapes, including outlines and examples of a comparative case study approach (Section 8).
2004
The Bjäre peninsula, situated in the north-west ofSkåne, has a rich cultural landscape marked by distinct Bronze Age monuments, enclosed field systems dating from the 19 century and various notable changes and consistencies in settlement pattern. This paper discusses the creation of the landscape and the relationships within it, the significance of the past to the modern landscape, the threats to the cultural landscape and the possible solutions and approaches to these solutions. The landscape of today The Bjäre peninsula is situated in the north-west of Skåne, the southernmost county of Sweden (fig. 16.1). In all the area consists of seven parishes and measures about 200km. About 14,000 BC the ice of the last Ice Age began melting and this area was one of the first parts of Scandinavia to be freed from the big ice-sheet. The enormous masses of ice had reshaped the area and these shapes have brought a special appearance to the region. In the north of the peninsula the old rock survi...
Journal of Cultural Heritage, 2021
The awareness that cultural heritage plays an influential role in shared identities and in both spatial and environmental development has significantly increased in recent years. International collaboration and treaties, such as the 'FARO-convention' in 2005 emphasize the importance of heritage in relation to aspects of human rights and demography. Furthermore, it is becoming increasingly clear that historical perspectives are essential for making well-informed choices regarding environmental challenges (e.g. spatial planning, sustainable development, climate adaptation). This increased awareness not only emphasizes the importance of cultural heritage for present-day challenges, but equally presents a new set of conditions and standards, and requires the development of new methodologies. Besides conservation, more than ever there is a need for cultural heritage to become contextualized and sustainably accessible. The organisational pinnacle of cultural-heritage conservation is world heritage: sites that are judged to contain a set of cultural and/or natural values which are of outstanding value to humanity. However, to what extent world heritage meets these newly set criteria is unknown. Nevertheless, these sites often reflect an eminent status, scientifically as well as economically (i.e. through tourism). Consequently, world heritage often enjoys interest from multiple stakeholders including governmental, scientific, public, and commercial parties, all of whom engage in contrasting activities and have different interests and needs. As a result the need for accessibility and integrated overviews of these sites is high but equally challenging. In this paper we will focus on the world-heritage site of Schokland (NL). This former island in the Dutch Zuiderzee both reflects outstanding historical and archaeological importance. We will show that the dynamics surrounding this site require tailormade conservation methodologies, which greatly depend on data integration. We present a new Historical Geographical Information System (HGIS) specifically designed to integrate cultural and geoscientific data and facilitate dynamic heritage management. Results show that such a system greatly adds to the contextualization and (digital) accessibility of the heritage site and is essential for substantiating conservation methodologies. Furthermore, it shows great research potential for diachronological reconstructions of dynamic-lowland development. The system facilitates multidisciplinary scientific analyses, integrated monitoring, and public outreach and shows great application potential for other (world-)heritage sites.
2014
Cultural landscapes are closely linked to human well-being, but they are undergoing rapid and fundamental change, often leading to the loss of landscape values. Understanding the societal transformation underlying these landscape changes, as well as the ecological and societal outcomes of cultural landscape transformations across scales are prime challenges for landscape research. Nevertheless, so far, a common understanding of cultural landscapes is missing, which has inhibited the design of effective policies to safeguard cultural landscape values. Based on the foci of the Program on Ecosystem Change and Society (PECS), we propose a framework to manage and integrate the different understandings of cultural landscapes. Six major dimensions of landscapes emerged from recent progress in landscape research that we propose to consider when studying landscape change in relation to societal transformations: (1) social-ecological linkages in landscapes, (2) landscape structure and land us...
D3.2 Compiled timelines of cultural landscape change for the study landscapes
2015
Work package (WP) 3 aim is to reconstruct and assess the short-term past changes and dynamics of cultural landscapes, using case study approach. As a more detailed analysis can be carried out in smaller spatial scale, Study Municipalities (SM) were distinguished within Study Landscapes (SL). The aim of this deliverable is to present the results of the task of “Compiled timelines of cultural landscape change (CTCLC)” based on land use / land cover (LULC) change analysis of maps and aerial images since mid-19th century from scales 1:10,000 – 1:50,000 digitised and generalised to 1:50,000 level. The variety of available maps, scales and level of detail for each SM in different natural, physical, political, social and cultural environment is enormous and does not justify cross-SM comparisons on LULC level. Still, some individual conclusions for CTCLC for specific SM can be drawn: 1. Estonia: SL – Vooremaa and Kodavere, SM – Alatskivi and Peipsiääre. Constant struggle with amelioration has reduced the area of wetlands remarkably promoting forest in a marginalised area where otherwise the landscape has been quite stable: massive forest with mosaic village landscapes. 2. Greece: SL – Lesvos, SM – Gera. The most remarkable change from 1960 to 2012 has been the decline of agriculture whereas the grassland and shrubs, especially wooded grasslands and shrubs taking over based on mapping categories. Also the forest and built-up areas are increasing as is the road network. Probably the processes of modernisation and tourist influx have had impact on abandoning agriculture, which in turn may negatively affect tourism industry that is in search for traditional olive landscapes. 3. Switzerland: SL – Obersimmental, SM – Lenk. With the glaciers melting away bare natural rock area grows slowly. No agriculture. Built-up area grows slowly. Grassland and shrubs are decreasing and forest increasing, both fragmented. Linear infrastructures have been modernised from main roads, railways to cable cars. It seems to be a rather natural landscape with forest overgrowth. 4. Spain: SL – Sierra de Guadarrama foothills, SM – Colmenar Viejo. 1946 seems to be the crucial year, agriculture was in large amounts substituted with grasslands and shrubs; forest almost clear cut. Built-up area and quarries spread as it is situated NW from Madrid. The landscape is criss-crossed with infrastructures: highways, railways and channels. A peri-urban landscape that is in constant change. 5. Sweden: SL – Uppland, SM – Börje. Changes in the vicinity of Uppsala city do not seem radical at all. Scattered mosaic land use seems to have found its peri-urban equilibrium, if this is a possibility. Typical mature polarisation is slowly under way: more monolithic fields appear and grasslands and shrubs are taking over – perhaps as the urban way of life creeps into the countryside leaving fields aside, or more ecoaware attitudes have emerged. CTCLC based on LULC change analysis is not landscape, thus this outcome will serve as a basis for “objective” background against which comparison of other methods (e.g. oral history interviews (OHI), major events and driving forces (DF) analysis, public participatory GIS (PP-GIS), terrestrial photos etc.) can be done forming Landscape change trajectories (LCT) as case study approach. The mapping exercise results will be uploaded to Knowledge Hub (KH).
Persistence in cultural landscapes: a pan-European analysis
Regional Environmental Change, 2017
Persistence in landscapes is determined by land cover types that remain unchanged over a certain period of time. Mapping and analyzing landscape persistence brings a new view to landscape-ecological research. Insights on processes, factors, or driving forces stabilizing landscapes can contribute to protect and manage valuable landscapes in a rapidly changing world. We analyzed and compared landscape persistence in Europe (EU27 plus Switzerland), as well as in six case studies using historical maps which were harmonized regarding their thematic, spatial, and temporal resolution. The spatial resolution was adjusted to the resolution of the least detailed case study map. To get a thematically harmonized map set, the legend classes were assigned to a common map legend. For enabling a thorough comparison, a persistence index has been developed, taking onto account differences in size of the study regions and in timing of the available historical maps. The persistence index is expressed in number of years that would be needed for the complete transformation of the land cover in a considered area if the transformation would occur at the same rate as it occurred in the considered time period. For the whole area of Europe, the persistence index is 198 years. However, change is not happening uniformly across Europe: the persistence hotspots are located in the Alps, north and south Italy, north Ireland, Sweden, south Finland, Romania, and UK where the persistence index is higher than 500 years. There is a variation between the persistence of different land cover types as well. Natural rocks, quarries, and beaches are fully persistent. Settlements and forests are highly persistent. Least persistent are grasslands and croplands, except olive groves.
Context Maintaining functional green infrastruc-tures (GIs) require evidence-based knowledge about historic and current states and trends of representative land cover types. Objectives We address: (1) the long-term loss and transformation of potential natural forest vegetation; (2) the effects of site productivity on permanent forest loss and emergence of traditional cultural landscapes; (3) the current management intensity; and (4) the social-ecological contexts conducive to GI maintenance . Methods We selected 16 case study regions, each with a local hotspot landscape, ranging from intact forest landscapes, via contiguous and fragmented forest covers, to severe forest loss. Quantitative open access data were used to estimate (i) the historic change and (ii) transformation of land covers, and (iii) compare the forest canopy loss from 2000 to 2018. Qualitative narratives about each hotspot landscape were analysed for similarities (iv). Results While the potential natural forest vegetation cover in the 16 case study regions had a mean of 86%, historically it has been reduced to 34%. Higher site productivity coincided with transformation to non-forest land covers. The mean annual forest canopy loss for 2000-2018 ranged from 0.01 to 1.08%. The 16 case studies represented five distinct social-ecological contexts (1) radical transformation of landscapes, (2) abuse of protected area concepts, (3) ancient cultural landscapes (4) multi-functional forests, and (5) intensive even-aged forest management, of which 1 and 4 was most common. Conclusions GIs encompass both forest naturalness and traditional cultural landscapes. Our review of Pan-European regions and landscapes revealed similarities in seemingly different contexts, which can support knowledge production and learning about how to sustain GIs.
Sustainable use of biological di-versity in socio- …, 2010
Cultural landscapes are the result of the historical transformation of natural ecosystems through farming, the adoption of successive management practices in areas selected for certain land uses, and the development of structures to increase the efficiency of the agricultural and forestry production system. The result is a patchy pattern of combined cultural and natural elements with varied forms, sizes and textures, an anthropic ecosystem of biotic and abiotic components, including human populations, and a set of intangibles, ...