WDM Lecture 1: Europe, the continent of cheese

12 January 17:30 – 18.30 (CET)
Europe, the continent of cheese. For how long?
by Bas Pedroli (Wageningen University)

Discussant: Maura Farrell (NUI Galway)

Europe’s cultural history is a major element in European identity as reflected in its landscapes. European landscapes represent profound and continuous cultural histories. Already in early prehistory communities significantly changed their environment e.g. by animal breeding, arable crops and extraction of iron and precious metals. The Romans brought about big changes in the landscape, standardising holdings, building a military road network, serious deforestation, novel cropping systems and farming estates.
What is European in this history is that the diversity, grounded in an extreme bio- physical diversity, survived to a large extent, e.g. in languages, local markets, traditions, local regulations, communal legislation. After agriculture started developing in the Middle East and Asia Minor, long before our era, gradually also the entire map of European landscapes was defined by the influence of agricultural communities and by the associated settlement forms. Indeed, permanent grassland and the associated grazing livestock constitute unique features of the historical European rural landscape. Europe can be characterised as the continent of cheese! And, to produce cheese, grazing land, cropland, scattered trees and woodland were indispensable, almost everywhere.
The typical farm type to manage this array of functions was the mixed family farm, which dominated European agriculture for several centuries. Many variations of this system still exist. Today they all struggle to survive under current market pressures, but they still contribute to the diversity of the European landscape. However, without a vision on future development of land use, the mosaic of Europe’s unique landscape will gradually vanish like the colours of a worn carpet. This lecture will discuss the continuity of this landscape, based on the opportunities of a community-oriented landscape management, in search of new, suitable colours for the future landscape.

Participation is free. To attend the online lecture please register HERE

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the lecture on Zoom.

Bibliography

• Galan, J., Bourgeau, F. & Pedroli, B. (2020): “A multidimensional model for the Vernacular: Linking disciplines and connecting the vernacular landscape to sustainability challenges.” Sustainability 12, 6347; doi:10.3390/su12166347
• Pedroli, B. (2019): “Natural Heritage Management, or is it Cultural Heritage after all? Towards new commons and sharing interests in the landscape”. Ex Novo Journal of Archaeology 4: 13-22.
• Primdahl, J., Pinto-Correia, T. & Pedroli, B. (2019): “European Landscapes in Transition: implications for policy integration and landscape governance”. EuroChoices, 18 (3): 18-23. doi: 10.1111/1746-692X.12211
• Angelstam, P., Elbakidze, M., Axelsson, M.R., Khoroshev, A., Pedroli, B., Tysiachniouk, M., & Zabubenin E. (2019): “Model Forests in Russia as landscape approach: demonstration projects or initiatives for learning towards sustainable forest management?” Forest Policy & Economics 101: 96-110. doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2019.01.005.
• Van der Sluis, T., Pedroli, B., Frederiksen, P., Kristensen, S.B.P., Busck, A.G., Pavlis, V. and Cosor, G.L. (2019): “The impact of European landscape transitions on the provision of landscape services: an explorative study using six cases of rural land change” Landscape Ecology 34(2), 307-323. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10980-018-0765-2
• Metzger, M.J., Lindner, M., & Pedroli, B. (2018): “Towards a roadmap for sustainable land use in Europe”. Regional Environmental Change 18(3), 707-713. doi:10.1007/s10113-018-1285-y
• Frederiksen, P., T. van der Sluis, A. Vadineanu, T.S. Terkenli, V. Gaube, A. Gravsholt Busck, J.P. Vesterager, N. Geamana, D.E. Schistou, B. Pedroli (2017): “Misfits and compliance patterns in the transposition and implementation of the Habitats Directive—four cases”. Land Use Policy 62: 337-350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.12.010
• Pedroli, B., T. Pinto Correia & J. Primdahl (2016): “Challenges for a shared European countryside of uncertain future. Towards a modern community-based landscape perspective”. Landscape Research 41(4): 450-460. doi.org/10.1080/01426397.2016.1156072

Dr Bas Pedroli is a motivating project leader of interdisciplinary teams in land use, spatial planning, landscape, heritage and biodiversity research, regional and urban development and monitoring approaches. More specifically, he has experience with integrated land use planning and policy analysis, future studies, model forest studies, land use governance issues, nature conservation value assessment, biodiversity assessment, integrated floodplain management studies, including the associated institutional aspects of such topics. As an acknowledged expert in the area of land use planning and landscape assessment at international level, he is asked regularly for presiding scientific and land use planning workshops, and for key note addresses in conferences. He is engaged enthusiastically in supporting policies for landscape management and nature conservation planning from a sustainable development perspective, including the required participative and collaborative research approaches. He is initiator of several scientific networks, such as UNISCAPE, Landscape Europe and Petrarca, having a keen interest in providing underpinning of the philosophy of the European Landscape Convention.
Currently he is active in research and consultation on behalf of Just Landscape, and as an associate professor Spatial Planning at Wageningen University.