The Need to Articulate Historic and Cultural Dimensions of Landscapes in Sustainable Environmental Planning—A Swedish Case Study

Abstract

Ignoring the historic and cultural dimensions of landscapes makes environmental planning unsustainable, which in the long run, will have a negative impact on both the environment and society. This paper examines the work and perceptions of practitioners with a focus on the role of historic and cultural landscape dimensions and their relation to the recent implementation of the ecosystem service framework in sustainable environmental planning. Semi-structured interviews with officials at local and regional planning levels in a Swedish case study showed that the historical landscape forms the basis for environmental work. Respondents expressed an integrated view of the landscape, and historic and cultural landscape dimensions were considered important in the initial planning process. However, several challenges existed later in the planning process and final decision-making, such as conceptual ambiguities, unclear policy and assignments, limited cross-sectorial coordination and lack of awareness, knowledge, resources and other priorities. The results also show that the respondents worked regularly with intangible landscape dimensions, which can be defined as cultural ecosystem services, but they do not label them as such. Furthermore, established knowledge and expertise of heritage planning was not activated in the implementation of the ecosystem service approach. We conclude that historic and cultural landscape dimensions are not ignored in practice, but there is a need to articulate these aspects more clearly in order to achieve sustainable environmental planning. There is also an unexplored opportunity to connect skills and create new forms of cross-sectorial collaboration between heritage planning and the ES approach.

Cultural Values of Landscapes in the Practical Work of Biosphere Reserves

“…This paper is part of an interdisciplinary research project with the aim of investigating the role of cultural heritage and the historic environment in sustainable landscape management [23,29,30]. The present paper draws upon data collected from a landscape survey, interviews, and documents.…”

“…Nevertheless, at the time of the interviews, the respondents expressed a great deal of uncertainty about how to work with the ecosystem service approach. Cultural ecosystem services were less known and were given less consideration than other ecosystem services [29].…”

Landscape structure of the territory of the nature monument of regional significance “YOlkinskie Rocks” (Sverdlovsk region, Russia)

“…Protected areas have serious social significance, which is expressed in maintaining the natural and ecological framework of the territory [3], which provides the possibility of the existence of a human living environment. Protected areas also have cultural significance, are unique or, conversely, the most typical natural complexes, that have determined the specifics of the mentality, traditions, customs and even religion of the indigenous population [4].…”

Critical Analysis of Policy Integration Degrees between Heritage Conservation and Spatial Planning in Amsterdam and Ballarat

“…Indeed, heritage listings and conservation areas are often among urban planning policies [6,39], as well as the identification, in national and local policies, of the role of heritage resources for development [37]. However, when observing it as a governance reform process, the inclusion of heritage in urban planning discussions often corresponds to the Nadin et al [7] information stage of policy integration [40], being frequently further undermined by other development goals [24]. Likewise, research indicates a gap between the broadness of attributes and values assessed by these heritage tools and those selected to be integrated into urban planning processes, often limited to conserving tangible attributes and implementing object-oriented approaches [23,[41][42][43][44].…”