Heritage: landscapes
PART I – WHAT IS A LANDSCAPE
1. Definitions
1.1 Etymology:
• Old English: The word comes from land (territory, ground) + -scape (shape, view,
scene).
• It refers to both physical landforms and the way humans perceive, use, and
represent them.
• The modern form landscape (in English) comes from the Dutch word
“landschap”, introduced in the late 16th century by Dutch painters ->
describing paintings of rural scenery. The Dutch suDix –schap relates
to scheppen (to create) or schop (a shovel) — highlighting land-making,
reclamation, or design.
• Hence, from its origins, landscape has always been about shaping land through
human action.
1.2 Formal definitions:
a) The UNESCO World Heritage Convention (1972)
First introduced the term “cultural landscape” in 1992.
It oBicially recognised that landscapes are “combined works of nature and
humankind” — expressing the long and intimate relationship between people and
their environment. This was the first legal document to protect landscapes as part of
world heritage.
Three Types of Cultural Landscapes
Designed Landscapes
• Intentionally designed by humans.
• Often aesthetic, religious, or symbolic.
• Example: Medici gardens.
Organically Evolved Landscapes
• Shaped by long-term interaction between society and nature.
• Show adaptation over time.
o Relict (fossil): no longer evolving, traces remain.
§ Example: Nord-Pas-de-Calais mining sites.
o Continuing: still in use and evolving.
§ Example: Champagne region.
, Associative Cultural Landscapes
• Valued for cultural, spiritual, or symbolic meaning.
• Physical traces may be limited.
• Example: Uluru-Kata Tjuta.
b) European Landscape Convention (ELC)
Origins
• Created by the Council of Europe.
• Landscape work started in the 1960s.
• Drafted in 1999, adopted in 2000 (Florence).
• Entered into force in 2004.
• Renamed Council of Europe Landscape Convention in 2021.
Philosophy
"Landscape" means an area, as perceived by people, whose character is the result of
the action and interaction of natural and/or human factors
This means that a landscape is always:
• Physical (shaped by geology, soils, water, vegetation)
• Cultural (shaped by land use, settlement, infrastructure, agriculture)
• Historical (containing relics of past activities)
• Perceived (experienced diBerently by diBerent individuals and disciplines)
Key Definitions
• Landscape: area perceived by people, shaped by natural and human
interaction.
• Landscape policy: principles for protection, management, planning.
• Landscape quality objective: public aspirations for their surroundings.
• Landscape protection: conserving heritage values.
• Landscape management: guiding sustainable change.
• Landscape planning: forward-looking enhancement or restoration.
Landscape is a shared social and political space, not just scenery.
Aims and Commitments
• Promote protection, management, and planning.
• Encourage international cooperation.
Member states must:
• Recognise landscape as heritage and identity.
• Ensure public participation.
• Integrate landscape into planning and sectoral policies.
, • Support education and awareness.
• Identify landscapes, set quality objectives, and implement policy.
1.3 Conclusions UNESCO and ELC
Landscape is holistic, relative, and dynamic:
• Holistic: combines natural, cultural, and social elements.
• Relative: meaning depends on perception and values.
• Dynamic: constantly changing through time and human action.
All Landscapes Matter
• Every landscape has value, not only exceptional or protected ones.
• Includes everyday, urban, rural, and degraded landscapes.
• Landscapes matter because:
o People live in them.
o They create identity, belonging, and collective memory.
o They record culture and human–world relationships.
Landscape is about people, their actions, and their culture, not only nature or beauty.
1.4 Dictionary definitions:
• Antrop (2017):
o In UK-English: mainly scenery, often linked to Dutch meaning “painted
scene.”
o In US-English: more like “region” (from German Landschaft = territory).
• Merriam-Webster (1995):
o A picture representing a view of natural inland scenery.
o The landforms of a region in the aggregate, or land seen from one point.
2 Discussing a landscape (Antrop 2017)
Land and Landscape:
• Landscapes are shaped by natural processes and human activities.
• Land is individual and owned; landscape is collective and shared.
• Landscapes combine physical features with cultural and symbolic values.
Landscape is Holistic:
• A landscape is an interconnected system of nature and human activity.
• All elements are interdependent.
• Perception influences management and protection.
Landscape is Perceived:
• Landscapes are not neutral.
• Meaning depends on culture, memory, and viewpoint.
• Landscape exists as physical reality and mental/cultural construct.
Landscape is Dynamic:
, • Landscapes are constantly changing through natural and human processes.
• They function as palimpsests with visible layers of time.
• Global and local processes interact.
Landscape as Heritage:
• Landscapes are cultural archives.
• They preserve memory, values, and practices.
• Protection ensures continuity between past, present, and future.
3 Landscape as tension (Wylie 2007)
Distance vs. Proximity:
• Distance (detached spectator)
o Landscape seen as scenery from afar.
o Implies separation between observer and landscape.
o Landscape is observed and represented.
• Proximity (non-detached spectator)
o Landscape is lived in, not looked at from outside.
o No separation between body and landscape.
o Landscape shapes experience and identity.
Example: Cézanne’s Mont Sainte-Victoire → one place, multiple lived perceptions.
Observation vs. Inhabitation:
• Observation -> Sauer
o Landscape as an object of study.
o Measured, mapped, analysed.
o Observer remains outside the landscape.
• Inhabitation -> Tilley
o Landscape as a world of everyday life.
o Focus on lived experience and practice.
o Criticism of “observation-only” → it ignores the perspective of inhabitants.
o Researcher is within the landscape.
Key question: Detached observation or non-detached living — or both?
Eye vs. Land:
• Landscape has a double meaning:
o Land: physical, measurable terrain.
o Eye: landscape as image and representation.
o “That portion of land or scenery which the eye can view at once.”
• Combines objective reality and subjective perception.
• Meaning varies across cultures.
Example: Maps vs tourist images → same land, diBerent readings.
PART I – WHAT IS A LANDSCAPE
1. Definitions
1.1 Etymology:
• Old English: The word comes from land (territory, ground) + -scape (shape, view,
scene).
• It refers to both physical landforms and the way humans perceive, use, and
represent them.
• The modern form landscape (in English) comes from the Dutch word
“landschap”, introduced in the late 16th century by Dutch painters ->
describing paintings of rural scenery. The Dutch suDix –schap relates
to scheppen (to create) or schop (a shovel) — highlighting land-making,
reclamation, or design.
• Hence, from its origins, landscape has always been about shaping land through
human action.
1.2 Formal definitions:
a) The UNESCO World Heritage Convention (1972)
First introduced the term “cultural landscape” in 1992.
It oBicially recognised that landscapes are “combined works of nature and
humankind” — expressing the long and intimate relationship between people and
their environment. This was the first legal document to protect landscapes as part of
world heritage.
Three Types of Cultural Landscapes
Designed Landscapes
• Intentionally designed by humans.
• Often aesthetic, religious, or symbolic.
• Example: Medici gardens.
Organically Evolved Landscapes
• Shaped by long-term interaction between society and nature.
• Show adaptation over time.
o Relict (fossil): no longer evolving, traces remain.
§ Example: Nord-Pas-de-Calais mining sites.
o Continuing: still in use and evolving.
§ Example: Champagne region.
, Associative Cultural Landscapes
• Valued for cultural, spiritual, or symbolic meaning.
• Physical traces may be limited.
• Example: Uluru-Kata Tjuta.
b) European Landscape Convention (ELC)
Origins
• Created by the Council of Europe.
• Landscape work started in the 1960s.
• Drafted in 1999, adopted in 2000 (Florence).
• Entered into force in 2004.
• Renamed Council of Europe Landscape Convention in 2021.
Philosophy
"Landscape" means an area, as perceived by people, whose character is the result of
the action and interaction of natural and/or human factors
This means that a landscape is always:
• Physical (shaped by geology, soils, water, vegetation)
• Cultural (shaped by land use, settlement, infrastructure, agriculture)
• Historical (containing relics of past activities)
• Perceived (experienced diBerently by diBerent individuals and disciplines)
Key Definitions
• Landscape: area perceived by people, shaped by natural and human
interaction.
• Landscape policy: principles for protection, management, planning.
• Landscape quality objective: public aspirations for their surroundings.
• Landscape protection: conserving heritage values.
• Landscape management: guiding sustainable change.
• Landscape planning: forward-looking enhancement or restoration.
Landscape is a shared social and political space, not just scenery.
Aims and Commitments
• Promote protection, management, and planning.
• Encourage international cooperation.
Member states must:
• Recognise landscape as heritage and identity.
• Ensure public participation.
• Integrate landscape into planning and sectoral policies.
, • Support education and awareness.
• Identify landscapes, set quality objectives, and implement policy.
1.3 Conclusions UNESCO and ELC
Landscape is holistic, relative, and dynamic:
• Holistic: combines natural, cultural, and social elements.
• Relative: meaning depends on perception and values.
• Dynamic: constantly changing through time and human action.
All Landscapes Matter
• Every landscape has value, not only exceptional or protected ones.
• Includes everyday, urban, rural, and degraded landscapes.
• Landscapes matter because:
o People live in them.
o They create identity, belonging, and collective memory.
o They record culture and human–world relationships.
Landscape is about people, their actions, and their culture, not only nature or beauty.
1.4 Dictionary definitions:
• Antrop (2017):
o In UK-English: mainly scenery, often linked to Dutch meaning “painted
scene.”
o In US-English: more like “region” (from German Landschaft = territory).
• Merriam-Webster (1995):
o A picture representing a view of natural inland scenery.
o The landforms of a region in the aggregate, or land seen from one point.
2 Discussing a landscape (Antrop 2017)
Land and Landscape:
• Landscapes are shaped by natural processes and human activities.
• Land is individual and owned; landscape is collective and shared.
• Landscapes combine physical features with cultural and symbolic values.
Landscape is Holistic:
• A landscape is an interconnected system of nature and human activity.
• All elements are interdependent.
• Perception influences management and protection.
Landscape is Perceived:
• Landscapes are not neutral.
• Meaning depends on culture, memory, and viewpoint.
• Landscape exists as physical reality and mental/cultural construct.
Landscape is Dynamic:
, • Landscapes are constantly changing through natural and human processes.
• They function as palimpsests with visible layers of time.
• Global and local processes interact.
Landscape as Heritage:
• Landscapes are cultural archives.
• They preserve memory, values, and practices.
• Protection ensures continuity between past, present, and future.
3 Landscape as tension (Wylie 2007)
Distance vs. Proximity:
• Distance (detached spectator)
o Landscape seen as scenery from afar.
o Implies separation between observer and landscape.
o Landscape is observed and represented.
• Proximity (non-detached spectator)
o Landscape is lived in, not looked at from outside.
o No separation between body and landscape.
o Landscape shapes experience and identity.
Example: Cézanne’s Mont Sainte-Victoire → one place, multiple lived perceptions.
Observation vs. Inhabitation:
• Observation -> Sauer
o Landscape as an object of study.
o Measured, mapped, analysed.
o Observer remains outside the landscape.
• Inhabitation -> Tilley
o Landscape as a world of everyday life.
o Focus on lived experience and practice.
o Criticism of “observation-only” → it ignores the perspective of inhabitants.
o Researcher is within the landscape.
Key question: Detached observation or non-detached living — or both?
Eye vs. Land:
• Landscape has a double meaning:
o Land: physical, measurable terrain.
o Eye: landscape as image and representation.
o “That portion of land or scenery which the eye can view at once.”
• Combines objective reality and subjective perception.
• Meaning varies across cultures.
Example: Maps vs tourist images → same land, diBerent readings.
