21st Century Challenges facing Cultural Landscapes

Through stories of diverse landscapes from around the world, this book captures human cultures and their land use practices in the environments they inhabit. The chapters cover topics from heritage in the 21st Century, appreciating and safeguarding values while facing challenges wrought by change.

This title will lead readers through fascinating stories of landscapes and people. We learn of the physical and spiritual structure of rice terraces of the Honghe Mountains in China maintained by following a 1300 year sustainable practice of water allocation, while the colonial tea plantations of the Sri Lankan highlands are managed by Indian Tamils who now seek tourism as a means of additional income. Sustainable agricultural methods in the USA are being introduced to prevent landscape loss while in Australia a challenge confronting family farms is progressing to rural industrialisation. Challenges are further outlined in the mythical story of Finland's Saint Henrik pilgrimage and in the intangible Ui-won gardens of Korea. The huge challenge for Japan's landscapes is the legacy from fierce natural 21st Century disasters while in Australia's Dampier Archipelago, an avoidable yet brutal development on a unique Aboriginal rock sculptured landscape highlights serious concerns about heritage governance. These remarkable stories of landscapes and their management are inseparable from the communities that inhabit them. This book was originally published as a special issue of Landscape Research.

Juliet Ramsay has a background in landscape architecture and has worked in private practice and for the Australian Government's Heritage Division specialising in heritage landscapes. In retirement she has been active as an advisory member of ICOMOS-IFLA Committee on Cultural Landscapes and convenes a landscape advocacy group.

Ken Taylor is Emeritus Professor of Landscape Architecture, University of Canberra; Adjunct Professor Landscape, Centre for Heritage & Museum Studies, The Australian National University; Visiting Professor, International Program Architectural Heritage Management & Tourism, Silpakorn University, Bangkok; Advisory Member ICOMOS-IFLA Committee on Cultural Landscapes; Associate Editor, Landscape Research. Previous publications include Managing Cultural Landscapes (2012) and A contemporary guide to cultural mapping. An ASEAN-Australia perspective (2013).