Paper short abstract:

Globalisation has tended to reinforce the detachment from the environmentand much needs to be done to compensate for this effect. But we musr firstly recognise the loss and grief and deal with it appropriately if we are to move forward with any confidence.

Paper long abstract:

Much of the research in Europe on the notion of landscape in nature tends to focus on the large diversity of cultural landscapes, currently losing their ties with the land-use systems that formed them. Reports show a large commitment to this decreasing diversity and appear characterised by a strong sense of loss and grief. Globalisation has tended to reinforce the detachment of people from their environment and much needs to be done to compensate for this effect. However how are we to move forward with confidence and consistency if this grief and loss is not recognised and dealt with appropiately. Land is a tangible, physical resource that can be worked, sold ,built upon and its importance is more functional than beautiful. However landscape is an intangible resource, whose definitive characteristic is its appearance ; landscape isviewed not worked. Land is personal ; Landscape is communal. How is this move from a tangible cultural heritage to an intangibleheritage perceived and dealt with ? There can be no agreement even about what to preserve or create, if there is no agreed upon reference images of landscape and land.