ISCCL
ICOMOS-IFLA
WORLD RURAL LANDSCAPES A worldwide initiative for global conservation and management
Tools for a World Rural Landscape Atlas Raffaella Laviscio ABC Department, Politecnico di Milano World Rural Landscape Initiative (WRLi) Scientific and organizational secretariat Milan, November 5th
METHOD
WORLD RURAL LANDSCAPES A worldwide initiative for global conservation and management
One of the goals of WRL Initiative is the production of an ATLAS It is an ongoin process that aims to give a common framework to recognize the peculiarities of each rural landscape as a starting point for the development of protection and enhancement policy. It is structured in several steps that allows us the identification of general criteria for the classification of rural landscapes in order to focus on a method globally applicable. The steps are not necessarily consequential. The main steps of this process (ongoing) are: research and systematization of already available knowledge definition of the rural landscape types (classification) definition of the landscape description criteria Creation of the atlas (Regional overview and rural landscapes identification)
STEP1 COMPILING KNOWLEDGE
STEP2 CLASSIFICATION
STEP3
CHARACTERIZATION
STEP4 IDENTIFICATION
COMPILING KNOWLEDGE
WORLD RURAL LANDSCAPES A worldwide initiative for global conservation and management
STEP 1 COLLECTING AND COMPARING DIFFERENT APPROACHES at rural landscapes already known, at International Regional level, by compiling specific bibliography and website references: international research already published; geographic atlases; tourism guides; conference proceedings; international institutions’ websites; thematic articles in magazines.
At this first stage, the work has been focused on the European region to develop suggestions for other regional studies. The main rural landscape classifications at the European level have been compiled and compared, gathering studies where rural landscapes are regarded as cultural heritage.
COMPILING KNOWLEDGE
WORLD RURAL LANDSCAPES A worldwide initiative for global conservation and management
In particular the following have been analyzed: The Eucaland Project: European Culture expressed in Agricultural Landscapes (Pungetti G., Kruse A., 2010) • The first international European research applied to the agricultural landscape as cultural heritage. • Two years of work; • 40 institutions involved • 20 European countries • experts from different disciplines: agronomists, biologists, historians, planners, architects, geographers, archaeologists, sociologists.
Historical Rural Landscapes. For a National Register (Agnoletti M., 2011)
• •
It takes in consideration outstanding landscapes The landscpae description is based on the concepts of integrity, meaningfulness, vulnerability borrowed from UNESCO World Heritage Convention
Agricultural landscapes in Europe and their transformation (Meeus, Wijermans, Vroom, 1990) • a “holistic” view of the European agricultural landscape • based on a combination of factors: design/features, land cover, topography and agricultural practices.
Les grands types de structure agraire dans le monde (Lebeau, 1969) • One of the most important texts in geographical studies • Rural landscape as the result of the secular human effort to make its service plant and animal nature • Rural landscape as the expression of different ways of management, technical improvements, density of rural society, forms of ownership, economic changes, ……
The study of former research has brought to light: ↘main world rural landscapes types ↘general criteria for the rural landscapes description ↘possible tools for the structure of the atlas
CLASSIFICATION
WORLD RURAL LANDSCAPES A worldwide initiative for global conservation and management
Based on the study and comparison of former experience and taking into consideration the scale of applied research a simple and essential definition of rural landscape types
has been proposed based on large agrarian structures that can be specified at a Regional level. The classification includes: European agrarian structures (as Open fieldscapes, Enclosed fieldscapes, Mediterranean agrarian structures) Tropical agrarian structures (as Shifting cultivation, Tropical dry sedentary agriculture, Irrigated agriculture, Tropical plantations) Industrialized mechanized agriculture This is just a proposal referring to with the object of developing a more precise and updated classification at world level.
The World Regions involved in the project are working to specify their landscape types using this classification as a starting point.
CHARATERIZATION
WORLD RURAL LANDSCAPES A worldwide initiative for global conservation and management
STEP 2 DESCRIPTION CRITERIA The existing classifications often develop mainly socio-economic, ecological, shape aspects. The European Landscape Convention (Florence, 2000) emphasizes the PERCEPTIVE DIMENSION as well. Therefore it is necessary to identify reading criteria that underline an interdisciplinary approach, an evaluation of the many components of the rural landscape and the relationships among them that constitute
RURAL LANDSCAPE AS A SYSTEM Starting again from the analyzed studies, a set of criteria has been obtained that are essential for the description of rural landscapes as cultural heritage and these are: a spatial criterion that pertains to forms shaped by humans expressed in the rural habitat and in the agrarian morphology;
a social criterion that pertains to features impacted by economic and behavioural factors; an environmental criterion that pertains to environmental characteristics and rural processes dictated by them;
a historical criterion that pertains to the changes over time of agricultural landscape; a sensory criterion that pertains to the aspects perceived by the senses (visual, olfactory, sound perception); a symbolic/cultural criterion that pertains to the interpretation and meanings attributed by the population.
CHARATERIZATION
WORLD RURAL LANDSCAPES A worldwide initiative for global conservation and management
SPATIAL CRITERION (forms shaped by humans ) Agrarian morphology • • • •
size and the shape of the plots or fields regularity and repetition of shapes shape given to the ground to make cultivation possible Spatial organization; disposition of the fields in relation to farm roads, forests, grasslands, irrigation systems.
Rural settlement • •
• •
habitat patterns (nuclear village, dispersed settlement) relation with the morphology of the land (alignment to the contour lines, parallel or perpendicular distribution to the lines of maximum slope ...) typology of the buildings materials
CHARATERIZATION
WORLD RURAL LANDSCAPES A worldwide initiative for global conservation and management
SOCIAL CRITERION
ENVIRONMENTAL CRITERION
(features impacted by economic and behavioural factors)
(environmental characteristics and rural processes dictated by them)
Agrarian structure • • • • •
agrarian practices cultivation techniques economic systems property ownership/tenancy Rural policies
Crop/livestock system • • •
type of crop tree and arable crop association Climate, sun exposure, altitude
CHARATERIZATION
WORLD RURAL LANDSCAPES A worldwide initiative for global conservation and management
HISTORICAL CRITERION (changes over time of rural landscape)
Historical value • • •
shapes and material permanence crops permanence agrarian practices permanence
CHARATERIZATION
WORLD RURAL LANDSCAPES A worldwide initiative for global conservation and management
SENSORY CRITERION (the aspects perceived by the senses ) • • • • •
Landscape variety Colours Visual changes with seasons Sounds related to the handling of agricultural machinery, wind, water, insects, birdsong, animal noises Perfume/odor.
CHARATERIZATION
WORLD RURAL LANDSCAPES A worldwide initiative for global conservation and management
SYMBOLIC/CULTURAL CRITERION (interpretation and meanings attributed by people) • • •
Customs and traditions Sentient landscape forms Literature and film references.
SOME REMARKS
WORLD RURAL LANDSCAPES A worldwide initiative for global conservation and management
The first application of the criteria adopted to different regions of the world leads to two main considerations: ďƒźon one hand, the basis of the recognition of different types of agricultural landscapes remains a reading of the natural characteristics, related to the physical geography; natural resources provide the basis, the raw material for the development and configuration of the cultural landscape; ďƒźat the same time the contribution of history and aspects relating to social and sensory perception allow a more comprehensive and characteristic understanding of rural landscapes.
It is recognized that if the natural aspects can also be repeated from one Region to another, the intangible aspects are the ones that actually determine the identity of a people and express themselves in the shapes of the landscape.
FUTURE STEPS
WORLD RURAL LANDSCAPES A worldwide initiative for global conservation and management
FUTURE STEPS From this awareness the future steps of the project, cannot fail starting from a process of people involvement. (Convention for the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage, Unesco, 2003; Recommendation on the historic urban landscape, Unesco, 2011). Landscape as cultural heritage is a people undertaking
• Communities • decisionmakers • professionals and managers • farmers • students • Experts • …….
Landscape, as cultural heritage, is a people’s undertaking. We recognize individual and collective responsibility towards cultural heritage.
The conservation of cultural heritage and its sustainable use increase the quality of life.
communities, decision-makers, farmers, experts, citizens,… Each category of the population is able to identify key values, develop visions that reflect their diversity, establish objectives, develop actions to transform the landscape The future developments of the research will clarify the most appropriate tools to start these process.
Therefore a public participation to the process of definition and identification of rural landscapes is very important