Projects / Programmes
Landscape as living environment
January 1, 2018
- December 31, 2027
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 5.08.00 |
Social sciences |
Urbanism |
|
| 4.05.00 |
Biotechnical sciences |
Landscape design |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| S240 |
Social sciences |
Town and country planning |
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 5.07 |
Social Sciences |
Social and economic geography |
| 4.01 |
Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences |
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries |
landscape, living environment, transdisciplinarity, policy evaluation, urban planning, landscape identity
Data for the last 5 years (citations for the last 10 years) on
April 24, 2024;
A3 for period
2018-2022
| Database |
Linked records |
Citations |
Pure citations |
Average pure citations |
| WoS |
46 |
393 |
345 |
7.5 |
| Scopus |
60 |
500 |
446 |
7.43 |
Researchers (12)
Organisations (1)
Abstract
Proposed research program is the continuation of 20-year research efforts of the research group, based on the fundamental premise that the landscape is a cultural phenomenon situated in the human environment. In the ongoing and planned period, the research reorients from the establishing of the basic concepts of the field to its fortification and progression into the transdisciplinary by the research on the cross-sectional topics. The conceptually-theoretical framework is the connection of the empirical (natural sciences and technology) and constructed (social sciences and humanities) image of the landscape, and at the applicative-methodological level the landscape is seen as a specific subject of communicative multi-levelled public governance. Key topics of the research will be the following: (1) Transformation of the relationships between the human agency and the landscape through time (from the agricultural production, through the industrial and energy landscapes to the consumption landscape), (2) Assessment of the human collective agency in space, especially of the public policy impacts on the landscape (local, national as well as the EU), and (3) The relationship between the open space and living quality of the residents, especially of the young and the elderly. The goals of the program are: to contribute to the theories and empirical findings on the said thematic fields, to contribute to the discussion on the (Slovenian) professional terminology in the landscape planning field, to develop and establish new methods with the emphasis on inclusion of perceptions and the needs of the users. The proposed research program is the only one that is addressing the landscape, and is doing so according to all aspects stated by European Landscape Convention: landscape identification and assessment (by fundamental research) and landscape preservation, management and planning (by applied research). The researchers are embedded into international research and academic networks, which enables efficient knowledge transfers and dissemination of research results. The continuous cooperation in applied projects for various public and private clients enables effective transfer of the research results into practice. Societal contribution of the results is in the improvement of the public governance and in the implementation of European and national policy targets in the field of environment and natural resources. The research results are also of the economic significance in the form of smaller external expenses for the investors, the state and the local communities, and in the form of bigger public benefit in the spatial developments. The societal contribution of the research group is also in the awareness of the professional and the general public of the importance of the cultural landscape and the quality of the open space, which is a long term guarantee for sustainable development of the society and an important part of public's national identity.
Significance for science
The research program is the only one that addresses the topics within the frame of landscape, and it is doing that from all possible angles that are envisioned by the European Landscape Convention; namely: landscape identification and assessment (as fundamental research) and landscape preservation, management and planning (as applied research). Other research activities in the field are distinctively connected to the client needs (public and private sector alike) and therefore do not engender the possibilities for critical reflection of existing and development of alternative theoretical concepts and development of new methods. Due to the fact that the program is executed within the Department of Landscape Architecture, BF, UL, it has a significant potential to be transferred from and into the pedagogical activities. That is why it is one of the priorities to go beyond the traditional dichotomy between the positivistic / natural sciences understanding through the empirical research methods on one side and the positivistic social sciences and humanities understanding with narrative construction through dialogue on the other. This kind of trans-disciplinary framing requires also the development of suitable methods, that enable synergies of scientific and other societal spheres like for example the arts, technology, and public political agency. By confronting other forms of rationality we critically reflect common validity of scientific rationality as such and are searching for new innovative solutions.
Significance for the country
In the time when majority is engaged in innovation as the new and predominant economic model, we have to retain production and develop new approaches and models for production-innovation chains. Only through retention of high quality of production processes in the landscape can we ensure a long-term development of Slovenia (example: maintaining and developing of the knowledge in production technology processes for the wood industry is the precondition for its competitiveness). Verification of the concepts, hypothesis and methods, that we are developing within the framework of the research program is only partially possible in abstract sense. These become truly sensible only through the concretization on actual examples. These can have very direct results in the sense of new solutions (e.g. design of spatial development for infrastructural facilities like hydro- or wind- electric plants) or more direct, e.g. implementation of new policy measures coordination procedures and placement of the spatial interventions into space and with this shorter administrative procedures and more functional spatial solutions (e.g. industrial and energy producing facilities). In the following period we will give special attention to the placement of facilities and infrastructure for use of renewable sources for energy production and search for synergistic possibilities with co-creation of characteristic landscapes in order to lessen the conflicts and setbacks of the development of this field. Contribution of the research has an economic impact that is at least in long term also financially measurable in the form of smaller extreme expenses for the investors, the state and the local communities and in the form of bigger public benefit of the spatial interventions.
Societal significance of the program for Slovenia is predominantly in the transference of the methodological suggestions into practice of spatial management. This is already integral to the research methodology. In this sense we expect as results the improvement of public policy assessment and the improvement of public management in the spatial sector. With this we would also achieve a bigger quality and implementation rate of the spatial policies and upgrade the planning and design practice in case of spatial interventions. In addition we contribute to the European policies (habitat directive, EU Strategy for biodiversity until 2020, Report of the committee Green Infrastructure – upgrading the Europe's natural capital, EU Environmental Policy) and national policies, like for example the Spatial Development Strategy of Slovenia.
In the field of health the research efforts will contribute to the greater awareness on the connection between the quality of designed public space and the lifestyle of the inhabitants (especially children and the elderly), which is a precondition for a good physical and mental health. Indirectly (and in test cases directly) the program will contribute to the environment that will support a healthier lifestyle.
Societal impact is also in the improvement of the understanding of the professional and general public about the value of the cultural landscape and quality of the open space which is in the long term the most important reassurance for sustainable development of the society and important part of its national identity.
With participation in different international networks and projects the program will facilitate the exchange of knowledge with abroad: promotion of Slovenia on the fields where we are most innovative (development of Territorial Impact Assessment, cross-sectional methods of policy assessment, empirical verification of connections between the environment and children activity) and transference of good case practices from abroad in other fields of research (spatial management, placement of facilities on renewable energy sources). The program is embedded into the activities of the network of schools for the landscape architecture ECLAS (e.g. LeNo
Most important scientific results
Interim report
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Interim report
