Changing landscapes, changing lives: how can narrative and biographical perspectives improve landscape decision making?

在过去的30年里，景观已经成为艺术和人文研究中的一个关键概念。我们现在意识到，景观既不是纯粹的自然景观，也不是完全由人类建造的，而是生态和文化过程之间复杂的、持续不断的相互作用的结果。然而，我们的理解仍然存在重大差距。这在一定程度上是由于人文科学和自然科学在方法论和方法上的差异。人文学者专注于文化影响，而科学家主要研究生态系统框架。在艺术和人文学科中，也存在理论驱动的研究传统，如现象学和景观历史学家的经验主义之间的分歧。这些不同的学术传统并不总是容易地映射到利益相关者(如自然资源保护者和那些寻求改善弱势群体和代表不足的群体获得景观机会的人)的经验和关切，或政策制定者的需求。克服这些困难是一项复杂的挑战，学者们一段时间以来一直在寻求通过景观研究小组的工作和AHRC以前的倡议，如景观和环境战略计划(2005-10年)，国际景观和环境战略计划(PI)参与。拟议的网络试图通过将对了解风景的传记和叙事方法感兴趣的学者聚集在一起，为这一持续努力作出贡献。近年来，这种方法在文化史、人文地理学、农村社会学以及文学、生活写作和文化研究中蓬勃发展。它引起了环境心理学家、人类学家和社会生态学家以及环境科学家等学者的关注。传记和叙事方法为学术汇聚和利益相关者参与提供了良好的机会，既涉及面向公众的保护和教育组织，如国家信托基金、新森林国家公园管理局和英国乡村生活博物馆(MERL)，也涉及旨在保护和改善进入乡村的活动组织，如英格兰国家公园和CPRE。拟议的网络有三个关键目标：(1)探索风景传记和叙事视角的跨学科潜力，从而(2)促进从事景观研究的学者之间的对话，跨越艺术和人文学科，(3)发展以研究为基础的概念、范例和模型，以便更好地制定景观决策。该提案属于澳大利亚人权委员会的战略优先基金景观决策：建立利用土地资产的新框架。在传记和叙事方法的总体范围内，它寻求利用五个研讨会，来自广泛学科背景的领先景观研究学者以及来自保护、公共参与和活动组织的非学术利益相关者参与，以审查正在进行的研究，并确定潜在的新议程和研究方法。在网络日程接近尾声时，将计划在MERL举行一次国际会议，展示专题讨论会所产生的工作，并开辟进一步的询问、辩论和合作途径。网络将建立一个网站，提供研究论文摘要、专题讨论会报告、讨论论坛和相关资源的链接。将创建一个博客。一篇关于传记和叙事方法如何有助于景观决策的文章将发表在一份被推荐的期刊上，并将发表研讨会的论文集。PI和CI还将编辑一期关于对风景的传记和叙事理解的期刊特刊，著名摄影师和网络参与者英格丽德·波拉德将在Merl创建一个围绕网络主题的干预/展览。

Over the last 30 years, landscape has become a key concept in arts & humanities research. We now realize that landscapes are neither purely natural nor entirely human constructs but emerge as a result of a complex, ongoing interplay between ecological and cultural processes. Yet there remain significant gaps in our understanding. These are partly due to differences of methodology and approach between the humanities and sciences. Humanities scholars focus on cultural influences whilst scientists work mainly with an ecosystems framework. There are also divergences within the arts & humanities between theory-driven research traditions, such as phenomenology, and the empiricism of landscape historians. These divergent scholarly traditions do not always map easily onto the experiences and concerns of stakeholders (such as conservationists and those seeking to improve access to the landscape for disadvantaged and underrepresented groups), or the needs of policy makers.Overcoming these difficulties is a complex challenge that scholars have been seeking to address for some time, through the work of the Landscape Research Group and previous AHRC initiatives such as the Landscape and Environment Strategic Programme (2005-10), in which the PI participated. The proposed Network seeks to contribute to this ongoing effort by bringing together scholars interested in biographical and narrative approaches to understanding landscape. This approach has flourished in recent years in cultural history, human geography, rural sociology and literary, life-writing and cultural studies. It has drawn attention from scholars such as environmental psychologists, anthropologists and social ecologists, and environmental scientists. Biographical and narrative methods offer promising opportunities for academic convergence and stakeholder engagement, both in relation to public-facing conservation and education organisations like the National Trust, the New Forest National Park Authority and the Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) and for campaigning organisations aiming to protect and improve access to the countryside such as National Parks England and CPRE.The proposed network has three key aims: (1) to explore the interdisciplinary potential of biographical and narrative perspectives on landscape and hence (2) to promote dialogue between scholars working on landscape across the arts and humanities, and social/natural scientists and between scholars and landscape stakeholders with a view to (3) developing research-based concepts, paradigms and models that can inform better landscape decision making.The proposal sits within the AHRC's Strategic Priorities Fund Landscape Decisions: Towards a New Framework for Using Land Assets. Within the overall remit of biographical and narrative approaches, it seeks to use five symposia, featuring leading landscape studies scholars from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds and non-academic stakeholders from conservation, public engagement and campaigning organisations to review on-going research and identify potential new agendas and research methods. Towards the end of the Network's schedule, plans will be made to hold an international conference at MERL to showcase the work generated by the symposia and to open up further avenues of enquiry, debate and collaboration.The Network will establish a website featuring summaries of research papers, reports of the symposia, a discussion forum and links to related resources. A blog will be created. An article on how biographical and narrative approaches can contribute to landscape decision making will be published in a refereed journal and a collection of papers from the symposia will be published. The PI and CI will also edit a journal special issue on biographical and narrative understandings of landscape and celebrated photographer and network participant Ingrid Pollard will create an intervention/exhibition around the network's themes at MERL.