Political Landscape

Politics is central to the way in which landscapes are understood, represented and governed. However, this topic has received remarkably limited attention to-date in landscape research. This project developed Nordic academic capacity in landscape politics and identified an agenda for future research on this topic.

This was achieved through the organisation of two workshops (in Sweden and Denmark) and a number of related activities. The workshops drew on expertise from disciplines that have a long tradition of substantive engagement with theories of, and analytical perspectives on, politics and power.

Case studies were also a central part of the workshops. We visited the site of Sweden’s largest forest fire in modern history and explored how connections between human and landscape identities had altered. For the workshop in Denmark, we focused on questions of inclusion and exclusion (of people, values, viewpoints, etc.) in the urban landscape of Copenhagen.

The outcomes of the project were disseminated via a dedicated web-site, the organisation of a conference session, through the development of a PhD course, and the publication of one journal and one popular science article.

Project participants

Matthew Cashmore, Professor, Department of Urban and Regional Planning (BYREG), NMBU - Norwegian University of Life Sciences

Andreas Aagaard Christensen, Lecturer, Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen

Shelley Egoz, Professor, School of Landscape Architecture, NMBU - Norwegian University of Life Sciences

Lone Søderkvist Kristensen, Senior Lecturer, Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen

Melissa Anna Murphy, Postdoctor, Institutt for by- og regionplanlegging, NMBU - Norwegian University of Life Sciences