1 The conservation of cultural heritage for sustainable development Summary During the past few decades, there has been a swift re- newal of methods and techniques applied in archaeolo- gy. These new approaches are no longer restricted to the frame of an excavation but can concern micro-re- gional, if not, with satellite images, large regional spaces. Gaining access to new means has stepwise affected the consideration of archaeological sites as existing within an overall network of sites, integrated with the general surroundings and the landscape as a whole. The new strategies have been developed to preserve cultural landscapes as an expression of European heritage, to improve understanding of the areas concerned by their inhabitants, to convert the landscape heritage into a comprehensible and informative resource for visitors. The key management tool for these inherited landscapes are Cultural Parks. They are conceived as open spaces of variable sizes, structured on a geo-historical space and around a specific theme from a central reference: an ar- chaeological area, a site, or a regional complex. Cultural Parks are becoming the most effective means of de- fending and promoting historical landscapes. They are also helping to create a high standard of cultural tourism. The Cultural Park of the Biterrois in Béziers, France, the Pella-Dion-Vergina triangle in Greece and the Karthaia Project in the Cyclades are presented as examples of protection, unification, and enhancement of the histori- cal and natural environment in the large areas of consid- erable archaeological interest. Introduction During the past few decades, there has been a swift renewal of methods and techniques applied in archae- ology. Archaeologists and historians have worked alongside various specialists, and their efforts have had a substantial influence upon problem definition, data processing and the interpretation of the relation- ships between past societies and their environments. Likewise, researchers have been becoming more and more aware of the necessity of preserving and pro- tecting cultural possessions, both movable and im- movable. The development of new methods and non-destruc- tive techniques has led to new approaches. This holds true for remote sensing, teledetection or aerial survey, geophysics involving the use of electric or magnetic techniques (radar, G.P.S.), geochemicals etc. The use of non-destructive techniques has gone with the de- velopment of the surface sampling of artefacts, in- stead of excavating that brings risk of destroying the site (TREMENT, 2000). More recently, important discussions have arisen con- cerning the best methods of managing and bringing to prominence the qualities of excavations and archaeo- logical data, as well as highlighting generally the entire historical and cultural heritage of a city or even an en- tire region. From this perspective, the huge growth in information and communication sciences has paral- leled the turn that museology has taken, in terms of striving to present cultural data to larger and larger au- diences, in places which are no longer accessible only to specialists (KAPLAN, 1994). Archaeology and the material remains of the past play a part in everybody’s life, whether it is in a daily and ‘in- nocent’ manner, or related to the increasing urbanisa- tion of suburban and rural areas. Thus, both citizens and authorities confront new problems created by the lack of connection between the requirements of a growth, which is seldom under control, and the new interest in the preservation of the past, in its whole comprehensive meaning (LEECH, 1999). The idea that cultural remains in the landscape are in- teresting and relevant has developed rapidly in recent years, but with little consensus. However, there is gen- eral agreement that we need to consider the natural and human components as an integrated whole. In most European countries, legislation concerning the protection of cultural heritage has a very long history, but mostly in the protection and preservation of single historic monuments. In recent years, several countries have taken landscape preservation into account, from a perspective that corresponds to that of the European Convention of Landscape (SANCHEZ-PALENCIA, 2002). The renewal of methods and techniques Cooperation between various disciplines is responsi- ble, to a large extent, for the adoption of new tools, as well as for the widening of thematic horizons concern- ing archaeo-historical perspectives. This has been con- firmed by our workshop, during which we had re- course to applied sciences in the reading and preserv- ing material vestiges of the past, from Egyptian antiq- uity to religious monuments from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The goal of this renewal is twofold: firstly, to better understand cultural heritage, and, secondly, to make Cultural landscapes: new strategies of preservation Monique CLAVEL-LEVEQUE*, Panagiotis DOUKELLIS* and Georges TIROLOGOS