All landscape is collaborative: re-mobilizing care and concern on a damaged planet

Abstract

This article looks at landscapes as ‘collaboratories’ in which the dynamic relationship between socio-ecological crisis and sociocultural transformation can be harnessed to shape a more sustainable future. The Anthropocene has dramatically changed scientific inquiry, from a demand to find responses to global environmental degradation to a straightforward acknowledgment of existential changes that have become inevitable. There is therefore a need for more interdisciplinary and public engagement that can enhance local and global capacity building, social innovation and resilience. This article presents the notion of ‘landscape collaboratoria’ as a theoretical strategy for doing so through engagement with landscapes. It advocates for the use of empirical data to conceptualize manifestations of heritage and biodiversity in landscapes as well as knowledge production about them. Drawing on illustrative examples, the text suggests a more integrative approach that views landscapes as ‘collaboratoria’ supporting both the preservation of heritage and the protection of biodiversity.

Keywords:

• anthropology
• biodiversity
• care
• collaboratoria
• heritage
• landscapes

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 I would like to thank Heidelberg University’s Flagship Initiative Transforming Cultural Heritage for its generous financial and administrative support that enabled me, together with Diamantis Panagiotopoulos and Fabienne Wallenwein, to organize the workshop ‘Negotiating Heritage in and beyond Academia’ in November 2020 at the Internationale Wissenschaftsforum Heidelberg (IWH). I would like to acknowledge and thank all workshop participants for their insightful presentations and stimulating discussions, which contributed so much to the preparation of this article. More information on this transdisciplinary initiative is accessible at https://www.asia-europe.uni-heidelberg.de/en/research/hcts-projects/heritage-landscapes.html

2 Again, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Diamantis Panagiotopoulos and Fabienne Wallenwein for many insightful discussions in the course of our collaborative work on landscapes. I would like to particularly acknowledge Fabienne Wallenwein and her contributions on the history of the landscape concept. Our exchanges have been extremely valuable in preparation of this section.