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1183 | | Landscape and change in marginal regions | Walter Leimgruber (1); Stanko Pelc (2)

Landscape has been a central theme in geography for centuries, albeit with varying interpretations of the word, but it always has a spatial connotation. Although at first glance it looks as if  it is an objective term, it has in fact a very subjective component: landscape is perceived by humans and assigned (aesthetic) qualities that will eventually also enter politics. This emerges, for example, in the discussions about wind parks, photovoltaic parks or dams. The sheer necessity of such structures for modern energy supply and the energy transition has to be weighed against the concept of ‘beautiful landscape.’ As with all geographical spaces, inequalities exist-  socially, economically, politically and environmentally – creating landscapes characterised by either privilege or marginalisation. Our interest in this session is in the latter – namely how people and places in landscapes ‘marginal’ to the mainstream cope and respond in an era of change.
The transformation of landscape is therefore an interesting and insightful topic to understand human values and actions. Marginal regions are often left behind in development processes and considered of little interest for investment to improve their situation. However, demarginalization requires the will to go beyond lip service and entails also certain (financial) risks.
This session wants to shed light on the potential of landscape changes in marginal regions. Paper presentation in English and French 

Walter Leimgruber (1); Stanko Pelc (2)
(1) Iniverfsity of Fribourg/ Switzerland, (2) University of Primorska, Koper, Slovenia

 
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