Context Cultural landscapes evolve over time. However, the rate and direction of change might not be in line with societal needs and more information on the forces driving these changes are therefore needed. Objectives Filling the gap between single case studies and meta-analyses, we present a comparative study of landscape changes and their driving forces based in six regions across Europe conducted using a consistent method. Methods A LULC analysis based on historical and contemporary maps from the nineteenth and twentieth century was combined with oral history interviews to learn more about perceived landscape changes, and remembered driving forces. Land cover and landscape changes were analysed regarding change, conversions and processes. For all case study areas, narratives on mapped land cover change, perceived landscape changes and driving forces were compiled. Results Despite a very high diversity in extent, direction and rates of change, a few dominant processes and widespread factors driving the changes could be identified in the six case study areas, i.e. access and infrastructure, political shifts, labor market, 123Landscape Ecol (2017) 32:2097-2112 DOI 10.1007 technological innovations, and for the more recent period climate change. Conclusions Grasping peoples' perception supplements the analyses of mapped land use and land cover changes and allows to address perceived landscape changes. The list of driving forces determined to be most relevant shows clear limits in predictability: Whereas changes triggered by infrastructural developments might be comparatively easy to model, political developments cannot be foreseen but might, nevertheless, leave major marks in the landscape.

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Decoding a landscape as a palimpsest, a document overwritten again and again over the passage of time enables us to comprehend a landscape as a multilayered phenomenon, integrating past and present functions, ideologies and physical contexts (photography Mimi Urbanc).Razpoznavanje pokrajine kot palimpsest, kot dokument, sestavljen iz zapisov iz razli~nih obdobij omogo~a razumevanje pokrajine kot slojevit pojav, ki zdru`uje pretekle ter sedanje funkcije, ideologije in naravne danosti (fotografija Mimi Urbanc). IZVLE^EK: ^lanek prikazuje pokrajine kot naravni, zgodovinski, dru`beni in kulturni pojav, predvsem pa kot pomemben del ~lovekovega okolja. Teoreti~nemu delu, kjer predstavljamo pokrajinske spremembe, sledijo {tirje primeri iz Srednje in Vzhodne Evrope, s katerimi dokazujemo, da je dojemanje pokrajin v 20. stoletju nazadovalo. Skupaj z urbanizacijo, globalizacijo in drugimi dru`benimi procesi so hitro spreminjajo~e se dru`benoekonomske ureditve povzro~ile pretrganje vezi med ~lovekom in pokrajino: menjave oblasti vplivajo na predruga~enje dru`benih vrednot in zato se pokrajinske prvine razkrajajo, slabijo ali izginjajo, pokrajine pa posledi~no dobivajo novo ali le druga~no, preoblikovano podobo, vlogo in pomen. Vsaka sprememba v pokrajini zahteva svoj ~as, da se umesti, vendar neprestano spreminjanje meril, kaj je vredno in cenjeno, bega ljudi in ima otipljive posledice: depopulacijo, opu{~anje dejavnosti, divja odlagali{~a smeti, neustrezno infrastrukturo, regionalno neskladen arhitekturni razvoj itd. Zastavlja se vpra{anje, ali sodoben razvoj, turizma na primer, izbolj{uje odnos ljudi do pokrajine.KLJU^NE BESEDE: Srednja in Vzhodna Evropa, pokrajina, pokrajinske spremembe, dojemanje pokrajine, odtujitev.Prispevek je prispel v uredni{tvo 15. novembra 2004.