Landscape and Urban Planning 70 (2005) 3–8 Rural Landscapes: past processes and future strategies Hannes Palang a,* , Staffan Helmfrid c , Marc Antrop b , Helen Alumäe a a Institute of Geography, University of Tartu, Vanemuise 46, 51014 Tartu, Estonia b Department of Geography, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 264 S8, Ghent, Belgium c Department of Human Geography, Stockholm University, S-10691 Stockholm, Sweden 1. Introduction This volume contains some of the papers presented at the 20th session of the Permanent Conference for the Study of the Rural Landscapes, held in Tartu and Otepää, Estonia, in August 2002. The conference fo- cused on four themes that are also reflected in this issue. First, the conference concentrated on the lessons of the past: how landscape change is a trigger for future strategies. Through the years and centuries landscapes have always been changing. As a consequence, the dynamics of cultural landscapes has always been an important issue in the study of landscape history. An important question is how this dynamical view on landscape history can be made operational in future strategies for the protection, management and de- velopment of cultural landscapes. What lessons can be learned from the past? Which conceptual models and scientific methods can be used to understand the long-term change of landscapes and how can they be applied in landscape management? Second, the language of the landscapes was dis- cussed. Who is involved in the landscape and how do they express it? How do local people perceive, understand and participate in the planning, care and maintenance of landscapes? What knowledge can we read from places and place names? What are the * Corresponding author. Tel.: +372-7-375087; fax: +372-737-5825. E-mail address: palang@ut.ee (H. Palang). ethics and the morals materialized in the landscape? Which are the symbols and meanings people use in the rural landscapes? Why some landscapes are called rural and some not? Who decides how landscapes evolve? Third, what is the role of nature in rural landscapes? How have the rural landscapes been formed and mod- ified? How can politics, sociology and historical ecol- ogy help to understand actual landscapes and solve the current problems? Finally, the future of the rural landscapes. The cur- rent socio-economic changes put an increasing pres- sure on the European rural landscapes. Processes such as marginalisation and urbanization, and tourism pose serious threats to the traditional landscapes we still know today. What is the possible outcome of these processes? What is the role of agriculture and cultural heritage protection in the future rural landscapes? How can historical geography contribute to management? One of the major aims of the conference was to help promoting interdisciplinarity in landscape stud- ies, mostly focusing on the interfaces between the past and the future and the human and the natural in the landscapes. The latter has also been the main focus while compiling this special issue. 2. From historical geography to landscape research More and more is recognized that cultural land- scapes are of great importance for the quality of life of 0169-2046/$20.00 © 2003 Published by Elsevier B.V. doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2003.10.001