LANDSCAPE NEWS PUBLISHED BY THE SWEDISH NATIONAL HERITAGE BOARD Lapland ore mining landscapes Climate change means landscape change Kings of the landscape Sustainable landscape by smarter communications The European Landscape Convention offers a great opportunity to make a difference. Cultural heritage management with its historical knowledge can contribute to a better society that is more conscious about the future. On the way to the sustainable landscape it should be possible to unite production with biodiversity, cultural heritage and outdoor life. Welcome to the Swedish landscape! 52 Inger Liliequist director general of the swedish national heritage board PHOTO: BENGT A. LUNDBERG Landscape news is published by the Swedish National Heritage Board. Box 5405, S-114 84 Stockholm, Sweden Phone: +46 (0)8-5191 8000 www.raa.se editor in chef Nataliya Hulusjö Most of the articles are written by the Swedish National Heritage Board. External writers have participated for the Outside Insights. swedish national heritage board’s writers Kersti Berggren, Åsa Dahlin, Michael Frisk, Cissela Genetay, Leif Gren, Nataliya Hulusjö, Ulf Lindberg, Gert Magnusson, Jerker Moström, Håkan Slotte, Åsa Wall. outside insights writers Clara Diesen, Carl Herlin, Ingrid Sarlöv-Herlin, Environmental Objectives Council, Federation of Swedish Farmers, Swedish Board of Agriculture, Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, Swedish Forest Agency, Swedish Road Administration, The National Board of Housing, Building and Planning. cover Pål-Nils Nilsson, Håkan Slotte, Bengt A. Lundberg, Malte Danielsson/Johnér Bildbyrå ab, Rikard Sohlenius, Jerker Moström. layout Hedh & Franke print Elanders Falköping, 2009 isbn 978-91-7209-546-5 © The Swedish National Heritage Board 2009 Contents industriscape 4 Lapland ore mining landscapes – touched by people a long time ago cityscape 10 The little bend that never disappears climatescape 14 Climate change means landscape change energyscape 18 Kings of the landscape infrascape 22 Sustainable landscape by smarter communications historyscape 9 Health – a question of landscape 30 Culture reserves – important parts of the cultural landscape 35 The Nordic forest – as much “untouched” as anywhere else in Europe ­ 36 Landscape as a reflection of multicultural memories 38 Landscape and biocultural heritage docuscape 41 Snapshots of landscape artscape 42 Landscape and poetry 44 Landscape and paintings culinaryscape 47 I eat, therefore I create landscape 48 Tastes from the coast, the forest and the semi-open 16 42 44 landscape outside insight 13 Comprehensive planning – a tool to meet landscape changes? 21 Farmers produce landscape 26 The European Landscape Convention – a challenge for all of us 28 Objectives for a better environment 33 100 years of nature conservation 34 Toward a sustainable use of forests 39 Environment important for the development of the 42 18 3 countryside 40 Landscape research needs interdisciplinary teamwork industryscape KIRUNA, SWEDEN 4 Today’s key Swedish ore mining cities Kiruna and Malmberget are under profound transformation – the ground under them is cracking and collapsing. This process has been going on for many years, but now has become even more alarming. The problem is due to the mining method itself, and soil deformation is condemned to continue since the mining company recently announced its decision to go on with new main levels in both cities. At length, even more enormous and dramatic consequences on landscape, living environments and cultural heritage are to take place. By the Swedish National Heritage Board PHOTO: JAN NORRMAN Lapland ore mining landscapes Touched by people a long time ago PHOTO: BENGT A. LUNDBERG 5 oth mines are huge and situated in the very north of Sweden. In fact, Kiruna is the biggest underground iron ore mine in the world. Its new level is 1,365 metres beneath the earth’s surface. The mines are managed by the company lkab, owned by the Swedish state. Although threatened by the global economy, the mining industry is expanding. As a matter of fact, 2008 was a very successful year for lkab with huge profits from the high price of iron ore. Today Kiruna and ­ almberget are two M small cities with a high standard of living facing big existential problems. six thousand years of cultural heritage The cultural heritage in the region is much older than the ore mining communities. People have been living here for thousands of years – long before minerals were discovered. At the beginning of the 20th century, the exploitation of mines turned into one of the biggest projects in the history of the Swedish nation. After the construction of the railway in 1903, transportation to the ice-free harbour of Narvik in Norway became possible. An important industrial and social experiment took place. New technologies and internationally valuable ideas of city planning and architecture were tested. Many famous people came to participate in this big event, especially in Kiruna. Both Malmberget and Kiruna became “proud” small cities with a high standard of living. In Kiruna, there was even a tram for the workers and the settlements were carefully designed – both aesthetically and to suit the climate. Since the salaries were good, people from all over the country, but also from Norway and In fact, Kiruna is the biggest underground iron ore mine in the world Finland, arrived with the dream of a better life. Gradually, an ethnic and cultural mix was created. Today, the old people often talk about their childhood with rich music traditions, several cinemas and plenty of associations for culture and sport. But the history of these places also involves darker sides such as extensive damage to the landscape caused by the mining industry; something that, among other things, has deeply affected the Sami people and their reindeers. But it is important to mention that Kiruna is also a cosmically significant highly technological city. The Swedish Institute of Space Physics located here plays a major role in the field of space research; the Esrange Space Center monitors and controlls satellites. As a matter of fact, in 2006 the Esrange Space Center has been monitoring 24 international satellites per day. KIRUNA, SWEDEN 6 dealing with time pressure Kiruna and Malmberget are listed as cultural heritage environments of national interest. The municipalities and the county administration board agree on the importance to take care of the cultural heritage. In addition, the mining company lkab has recently declared the same. These two small municipalities are facing a whole heap of burning decisions and planning preparations. For many years, there has been a big and famous pit in the middle of Malmberget called Kaptensgropen. Caused by the mining industry, it has destroyed substantial part of the city, as well as many listed historical buildings. Some houses have recently been moved to a safer place as an experiment by lkab. Furthermore, a flexible fence has been installed around the parts of the town more at risk. PHOTO: BENGT A. LUNDBERG KIRUNA, SWEDEN PHOTO: BENGT A. LUNDBERG An important issue is how to attract people to stay. Dealing with this question means dealing with intangible values such as the sorrow of losing homes and significant public and private memorials. The disappearance of precious historical environments may negatively affect the social sustainability of the municipality. For this reason, the idea to relocate more buildings has Kiruna is an internationally important city for space research ­ and satellite monitoring. 7 been discussed in accordance with the current local planning programmes and cultural analyses. Even complex buildings, such as the famous city hall of Kiruna, are examined. Both cities want to maintain their cultural and historical values, but their problems are The idea of relocating several buildings, such as the famous city ­ hall of Kiruna, has been examined. many and the cost for solving them enormous. The economical and juridical situations are hard to grasp and make clear, even though lkab must compensate for much of the damage. In fact, legislation is not made for this kind of urgent situation. The Lapland ore mining cities are unique. They are globally connected high-tech industrial environments as well as ideal cities in a subarctic climate surrounded by a fabulous landscape, very special settlements and exciting local history. The challenge is to make an attractive international model for communities in transformation, a model that distinguishes the local cultural resources as essentials for the future. A challenge worth fighting for! • PHOTO: JAN EVE OLSSON KIRUNA, SWEDEN 8 historyscape PHOTO: HELGE KJELLIN “Every acre of this tiny, densely populated land of ours has been observed, considered, valued, reckoned, pondered over, owned, bought, sold, hedged – and there’s a dead man buried in every hedge, you know. He died of starvation, and his children too, because the common was enclosed, hedged taken from him … The past … is serious” FAY WELDON, “LETTER TO LAURA”, 1984 By the Swedish National Heritage Board Health Health is no longer only a medical phenomenon. Today we are more enthusiastic speaking about “well-being” – a concept that perceives health through a holistic point of view. Yesterday’s focus on human body and its diseases has turned into a passion to learn about the causes for our illnesses. As a result, a number of social areas have become relevant when doing research in the field of health. One example is health as an aspect of landscape. The political question concerning equal opportunities turns out to be a vital health issue. We witness ill-health when people’s possibilities to shape and control their own lives and existence are limited. The traditional point of view, when it comes to the question of health and landscape, is to study – a question of landscape untouched nature and rural landscape as a healthy contrast to stressful city environments. However, the author Fay Weldon in her novel “Letter to Laura” exposes a different aspect of the countryside – an enclosed, secluded and prized land. By pursuing the objective for parity, other dimensions of landscape and health come to mind. The conception of landscape as a physical feature is changing. In accordance with the European Landscape Convention the landscape emerges as something that has been created, used, shaped, disputed and conquered. This perspective inspires the critical studies and the perception of landscape as a cultural contingent. Like the concept of heritage, the notion of landscape brings to mind ideas of belonging and ownership. According to this perspective the landscape becomes a reflection of the long history of social relationships as well as of cultural ideas and standards. It un­ expectedly poses the question concerning who is included or excluded. In this way, the cultural landscape becomes simultaneously the main focus of xenophobic ideas and prime attraction for tourism; it is both “roots” and rest, equal spectacle of illness and manifestation of health. Health is now generally considered an issue of various political fields and research areas that enrich our awareness and understanding of the topic. It becomes a question of landscape and history as well as a medical and anatomical problem. • 9 cityscape The idea of imagining the town as a “landscape” allows the possibility of grasping its structure and experiencing the continuity rather than separate buildings and places. How old is this design? What is the connection between the design of the 1960s and the one of the turn of the century? Whose living conditions dominate in the public arenas and whose are not visible at all? By the Swedish National Heritage Board The little bend that never disappears he huge scale seems, in certain perspectives, scary. When the working class neighbourhoods were erected at the outskirts of our Swedish towns in the beginning of the 20th century, the upper class became intimidated. The buildings were too dark, too big and too many. However, the upper class knew that these types of residential buildings were necessary for their own convenience. PHOTO: KERSTI BERGGREN The industrial economy wouldn’t flourish enough as long as cities like Norrköping or Stockholm were in a constant state of dwelling shortages for manual workers. But it was scary when the manual workers’ buildings were grouped together in big blocks of brickbuildings, one after the other, covering entire neighbourhoods. Consequently, in the middle of the 20th century, when manual labour forces were no longer necessary to be kept close to the city centre, these structures were considered the very worst kind of residential buildings. The buildings were described as having no architectural value, deteriorated, offering completely worthless living conditions, etc. For decades the brick-houses were torn down – until a shift in thinking. When there were just a few of them left, and they were no longer residences for manual workers, the middle class’ opinion of these dwellings underwent a tremendous change. Suddenly, these buildings were the very icons of the “real” city that we all supposedly want to belong to. “PLANKAN”, STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN 10 living large for low-income families Let us make another historical parallel. In the early 1960s, in the midst of the western part of Södermalm in Stockholm, a residential block called “Plankan” was planned (and completed in 1968). Two smaller blocks were (in the spirit “PLANKAN”, STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN 11 PHOTO: KERSTI BERGGREN PHOTO: KERSTI BERGGREN “PLANKAN”, STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN streets, walkways and bridges take you another kilometre further crossing several inner courtyards and busy streets. For a few minutes you will walk along a small hilly park belonging to the parish church. The path, created during the 1960s, offers both quality of the countryside and urbanism. Whenever you wish you can leave the path and get yourself a cup of coffee or a beer. The path finally ends at the area’s primary school. When you reach the block of flats Plankan, you will notice that the path does not cross the inner courtyard in a straight line, it bends slightly to the left and leaves the block a little further down compared to where it enters. The bend is not a result of an innovative decision from the rational 1960s. It is what is left of a small hill (vanished long ago) that in the 18th century, when the street design was first laid out, forced the road engineer to pull the street to bend round the hill. When the new technique of blowing the hill up appeared some hundred years later, the blocks were firmly adjusted to the boundaries of the property but the bend of the street remained – for no visible reason. This is part of the story of the urban design. of the time) forged into one. Sheds and yards for small-scale informal industrial activities and craft – half-public, half-private surroundings – were replaced by 340 dwellings and a planted courtyard open to neighbouring blocks. Town planners in charge and the designing architect were some of the most well-known in Sweden. The block became one single property measuring 95 metres by 140 metres and a courtyard covering 8,625 square metres. Although brutal in its appearance, Plankan is a late representative of a fairly common residential ideal type in Stockholm, popular in the 1910s and 1920s – the “Big Block” , living large for low-income families. a walk to remember If you take a walk westwards in Södermalm, starting from Mariatorget, you will be able to take part in a rather unique experience; a more or less uninterrupted footpath crossing streets and residential blocks. The connecting path of 12 to preserve or redesign – this is the question But Plankan does not fit into today’s most common vision of how a “real” city should look. Even though the city has never been an exact image of its idea, this idea implements the thinking. The real-estate owner, the town-planners and the politicians have advanced plans to redesign Plankan. According to it, a circular and very private residential building will be placed in the magnificent inner courtyard of the block. One of many effects will be the disappearance of the public park. To be able to justify that, the political story of the mid 20th century starts all over again. Once again the conditions of the existing buildings are described in worst possible manner; and once again the happy inhabitants are portrayed as being wrong. So what is the conclusion to be drawn? It might be time to learn from our past mistakes and put an ear on what people has to say. • outside insight The concept of landscape, as defined in the European Landscape convention (ELC), challenges the Swedish political and administrative system. Sweden is divided into separate political and economic areas of interest: from governmental to municipal and local management levels. Related to landscape are the major sectors of environmental and nature protection, cultural heritage, transport, forestry, agriculture and fishery; each of them driven by its own legislation, policies and economical means of governance. But how can spatial planning play a role in implementing landscape convention? COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING A tool to meet landscape changes? Spatial planning, through the Swedish Planning and Building Act, is often accused of only dealing with urban landscapes as the juridical binding plans primarily cope with housing development. However, political changes have raised the importance of the guiding Comprehensive plan, which involves the entire municipal landscape and sustainable development. Through the comprehensive plan the municipality declares its long-term development and strategies for land and water resources – i.e. the landscape within its boundaries. Here, national and regional policies are linked to local ones, and solutions to spatial problems can be found in a broad perspective. The rapid development of wind power in Sweden is an example of how areas suitable for wind turbines can be identified and prioritized in the comprehensive plan. Planning for rural development in waterfronts is another recent task. areas for rural development in swedish waterfronts In order to keep the Swedish shores and waterfronts accessible to the public as well as to preserve the biodiversity near water, all Swedish waterfronts have been protected since 1974 through the Environmental Code. These regulations have been rather rigid and not regionally adopted. In 2009 new waterfront legislation was adopted. The municipalities are now responsible for protecting waterfronts and identifying areas near waterfronts suitable for rural development and exploitation in the comprehensive plan. This implies that Sweden’s 290 municipalities must start to think in terms of planning outside current settled areas; something that should be done by implementing a broader landscape perspective. Waterfronts are very interesting for building, but the attractiveness lies not only in the open view over a lake as much as in the surrounding landscape and its sustainability. Rural development also involves more than housing. It is time to think about countryside economy, small industries and businesses that really can support rural development in the long run. Wide criticism and scepticism as well as high political expectations have put the new waterfront legislation high up on the political agenda. planning is a learning process The strength of the comprehensive plan lies within the planning process. Hence, a plan developed in a broad and transparent process, involving several municipal politicians, administrations, organizations, local groups and citizens, has quite a large legitimacy in practice. The planning process is also a learning process where different interests meet and conflicts are managed. It is a suitable forum for discussing long-term landscape changes in both rural and urban development. The Swedish democratic spatial planning system is already suitable for dealing with landscape issues, but methods and approaches need to be developed. MORE INFORMATION about town and country planning, management of land and water resources, building and housing can be found on the website of the National Board of Housing, Building and Planning www.boverket.se 13 PHOTO: ULRIKA ÅKERLUND climatescape PHOTO: KJELL MOHLIN Gudrun was Sweden’s biggest storm in the past 100 years. It caused personal hardship and dramatic changes in the landscape of Småland. Climate change means landscape change The various impact of global warming is not easy to foresee. The reason is that its magnitude, characters and outcome differ from region to region. But one thing is for sure: when a climate changes, a landscape does too. By the Swedish National Heritage Board armer and moister climate results in such physical changes as extreme downpours, flooding, landslides and heavy storms. In 2005 – perhaps as a premonition – the biggest storm in the past 100 years hit Sweden with tremendous force. Besides the human tragedies, it caused dramatic and sudden changes in the landscape. More than 75,000,000 m3 of trees were blown down in an area of approximately 130,000 hectares. But many changes will not be seen immediately. Apart from the sudden disasters, there are other important phenomena to be expected, 14 PHOTO: CARL CURMAN GRÄNNA, SWEDEN such as long term vegetation transformations and changing conditions for land use and agriculture. At long last, new species will take hold of the landscape while others will disappear due to changing habitats. policies – bigger factor than climate change Even though the direct impact on landscape may be dramatic, there will also be significant The demand for reduced energy consumption will heavily influence the way people live, eat and travel. 15 PHOTO: PÅL-NILS NILSSON STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN The energy forest is one modern resource for energy. Here a group of scientists is investigating how it will affect the landscape in Sigtuna, Sweden. 16 PHOTO: LEIF GREN indirect influences. They will not be caused by the changing climate but by policies aiming to create a society that is more sustainable, climate neutral and climate-proof. The execution of these policies implies structural changes in landscape. Energy forests, energy crops, wind, sun and hydropower are already replacing coal and oil. The energy recovery that has, for a long time, taken place deep under the ground is now moving above the earth’s surface. As a consequence, a crowded landscape may be discovered, where both food and energy compete for the same territory. The demand for reduced energy consumption will heavily influence the way people live, eat and travel. It will pose challenges to design new infrastructures and urban environments. Finally, these spatial structures and energy systems will create a different energyscape. We cannot predict the future but we can prepare for its change. visions for the future and lessons from the past We cannot predict the future but we can prepare for the change by looking at previous major shifts of energy systems. The introduction of fossil fuel resulted in the most significant transformation of the global landscape in history of man. The environment around us is a reflection of the idea about the infinite energy supply coming from fossil resources. Unfortunately, this “fossil fuel landscape” turned out to be far from sustainable one. The future landscape, like the past and the present one, will be the result of both intentional and accidental changes. We cannot undo global warming but we can reduce the further heating and its effects. In this way, we will convert the unplanned changes into calculated ones. If there is one positive thing about the climate change, it would be the increasing awareness of the interdependencies between our behavior, choices and actions and the state of the global environment. It is time to make modern visions: for the climate but also for the future landscape. Let us design this approaching renewable energy system on the foundation of landscape! • 17 18 PHOTO: HÅKAN SLOTTE energyscape Wind power is a renewable energy source that gives a new image to the landscape. With their size and the permanent movement of their rotor blades they have simply become “kings of the landscape”. Their raison d’être? To harness the strong winds high above the ground. By the Swedish National Heritage Board Kings of the landscape indmills are a new type of industrial architecture that is very different from the other elements in the landscape. With their size and the per­ manent movement of their rotor blades they have simply become “kings of the landscape” . That is why it is critical to evaluate and pay attention to the localization and the shape of windmill parks. The land needed for a windmill is often small which helps to avoid the areas with high scientific and sentimental values such as old monuments and rare habitats. On the other hand, the technical development is extremely quick, and the results are larger and taller windmills that reach the strong winds above the trees in the forests. The fact that new roads have to be made in order to reach the sites results in a negative consequence. concerning wind power. In accordance to this, 30 TWh of the annual electricity may come from windmills by the year 2020. Responsible for the realisation of this objective are the municipalities due to their planning monopolies. The majority of them are now making the final preparations in order to reserve space for windmill parks – both on land and in water. With the help of “Comprehensive plans” the municipalities are not only trying to meet the national objective, but even the increasing interest for wind energy production from windmill companies and landowners. At the same time the Swedish Energy Agency has the responsibility to appoint the areas of national interest for production of wind energy. year 2020 – an important milestone The Swedish Parliament has recently made a decision about a national planning objective emotions on the way to windmills With the construction of windmills a new landscape will emerge. People often feel strong ties to the landscape and the sentiments they experience can be individual or collective. Landscapes with collective emotional values are easiest to 19 RÖK RUNESTONE, SWEDEN identify, for example in tourist brochures. But still it is important to go deeper when searching for meaning. According to the Swedish planning tradition the collective value of a place is more precious than the individual emotional interests. The reason for this is the belief that common values are more important in the long term. When planning for windmills it is good to start with landscape analysis. In this case attention has to be paid to the quantitative and measurable values as well as to the qualitative and imperceptible characteristics. Landscapes are highly significant for people’s identity and daily life. That is why it is essential to respect the democratic principles and allow different opinions about how the landscape 20 should look. These democratic practices can be found in some of the municipalities’ planning processes. swedish planning tradition It is important to mention that in Sweden the concept “landscape as scenery” has obtained a very strong position in both planning tradition and legislation. In contrast, the idea of landscape introduced by the European Landscape Convention is hidden in the Swedish notion “environment” . In view of this, the convention gives hope for revitalization of the national planning process by moving from the old narrow-minded perception to the multi-dimensional one. • PHOTO: BENGT A. LUNDBERG outside insight The Swedish “right of public access” to the landscape is a part of our tradition. This privilege, which can be found very deep in our souls, is almost completely unique in Europe. Farmers produce landscape It is important to remember that the landscape, to which citizens are given free access, is a product of agriculture. Many of the values we want to preserve are created by farmers after centuries of active use. It is therefore evident that the landscape is an instrument for invention and production; and because of this, ownership and right to use the land are extremely important to agriculturalists. Public appreciation of landscapes as common goods justifies the primary aim of current European agriculture policy. Because of this new conception of landscape, farmers are compensated for their work cultivating pastures and meadows. not come from warmer and more unstable weather. In the short term, the main question is about what is produced in the soil and how it affects the landscape. Crops can be used in two ways: directly for energy or to produce new crops specialised in energy production. Today, some of the “typical” landscapes include Salix, canary grass and fast growing trees. All these “new” crops change the landscape because they are harvested at unusual times and restrict the landscape. In this way, the crops will break the traditional ways of farming and the countryside will undergo a change that can be perceived as negative. As farmers, we know from experience that the landscape has and will change over time. These transformations most often occur over a long time period. What we are facing now is that everything is happing much faster and therefore the changes are much more dramatic. MORE INFORMATION about farmers and landscape can be found on the official website of the Federation of Swedish Farmers www.lrf.se PHOTO: BENGT A. LUNDBERG broader and more open approach As farmers, we believe that we can help to move the debate toward a broader and more open approach concerning human impact on the environment. According to the classic environmental position, the human force is, by definition, negative – the main thesis here is of “man observing nature and life” . In contrast, the farmer point of view is about a positive human impact and man participating in nature and life. climate change revolutionizes the landscape One of the major driving forces for changes in landscape is climate change. However, the primary direct effects do 21 infrascape Sustainable landscape by It is obvious that bridges, harbours and railway stations carry many fascinating traces about visions, style ideals and technical conditions from the past. At the same time present-day travel and transport are the source of adverse effects on the climate and people’s health but also on landscape and cultural heritage. By the Swedish National Heritage Board hroughout history travel and transport of goods can be seen to have had major influence on both landscapes and constructed environments. In one way or another, many cities were once connected to important commercial routes and strategic places that were crucial to defend. Shipping, railway and other modes of transportation have facilitated the exchange of knowledge and new ideas. Hence, it follows that travel and transport, in the past and today, are significant driving forces behind the creation of what we perceive as cultural heritage. the environmental trends are clearly negative The level of greenhouse gas emissions, especially from transport by trucks and lorries, is rising. And the health of increasing numbers of people is negatively affected by noise, particles and other emissions produced by traffic. The landscape has become fragmented by a progressively more fine-meshed network of roads and railways which turns into obstacles for people, animals and plants, keeping them from moving freely and breaking the functional and symbolic structures in the landscape. Even the establishment and development of constructed areas 22 The planning of the future transport infrastructure should focus on the changeover towards sustainable society. PHOTO: PÅL-NILS NILSSON smarter communication PHOTO: PÅL-NILS NILSSON GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN 23 LYSEKIL, SWEDEN PHOTO: CARL CURMAN is closely related to the transport infrastructure. Examples are the large-scale shopping malls and supermarkets that tend to collocate with important bypasses or junctions. This in turn strengthens the trend toward increasing dependency on cars, contributing to the augmentation of traffic. Consequently, city centres become impoverished being short of commerce and other industrial activities. Altogether this affects the conditions for preserving, managing and developing the landscape and the cultural heritage. If our goal is to establish a sustainable management of the landscape we must reduce the adverse effects caused by travel and transport. The planning of future transport infrastructure must focus even more on the changeover toward a sustainable society. This means that the 24 Swedish environmental quality objectives have to be seen as being at least as important as the transport policy objectives in order to break the present negative trend. Society can not continue to invest in outdated transport solutions; quite the opposite, it must strive to develop other modes of transport that are capable of meeting the urgent environmental issues of today and tomorrow. it’s time to start taking measures The development of transport infrastructure can, for instance, be better integrated with the planning of domestic areas, service and commerce. It can even search for other solutions than new roads and railways. One example could be limiting the demand for transport via SANDÖ BRIDGE, SWEDEN PHOTO: BENGT A. LUNDBERG taxes and fees. It is also important that the infrastructure supports sustainable settlement patterns by being well-connected and effectively served by public transport. Good co-ordination among all planning aspects – of infrastructure, houses, services, etc. – improves the preconditions for reaching a sustainable management of landscape and heritage. Today economic impact assessments are commonly used to evaluate the profitability of different transport alternatives. Still, it is important to develop these methods in order to calculate environmental profits also regarding qualitative values related to the landscape. Landscape, natural and cultural environments are collective resources with a substantial economic value for individual health and well- being but also for tourism. As long as these values are not included in the profitability calculation there is a risk that “one-eyed-investments” in infrastructure will devaluate the “growth value” of landscape and cultural heritage. The European Landscape Convention indicates that planning must give greater attention to how the public values and uses landscape. It is important to take this into account directly in the early phases of planning in order to allow public participation. The convention also underlines that environmental impact assessments have to be improved in a way that more attention is placed on the landscape as a whole. Such impact assessments also need to be better integrated in policies, plans and programmes that directly or indirectly affect the landscape. • Shipping, railway, cars and other modes of transport have had an important role for the exchange of knowledge and new ideas. 25 26 PHOTO: TRONS outside insight Many countries in Europe have ratified the Europeran Landscape Convention (ELC). As of now, Sweden has signed the convention, and in general has investigated the implications and consequences of ratification. It is likely that Sweden will ratify the ELC within the near future. THE EUROPEAN LANDSCAPE CONVENTION A challenge for all of us etal sectors; conflicts that often can be resolved. However, solutions are made more difficult by the lack of fora where representatives for various demands upon the environment can gather to find direction about how our landscape shall be administered and developed. It would be positive from this point on to work in a context where the elc is a basis for the efforts we undertake to influence our landscape, both in the form of new investments and improved adaptation of existing roads to the surrounding landscape. The elc places requirements upon being able to read the landscape so that important values are preserved while new values are added. To make demands upon the landscape should also mean placing requirements on our will and knowledge to understand the implications of certain measures and their consequences. The future will require an arena for an all-encompassing discussion about how landscapes shall be utilised. The Swedish Road Administration is positive towards an active participation in this work in the future. MORE INFORMATION Lena Erixon, Managing Director of the Swedish Road Administration www.vv.se 27 PHOTO: CHRISTIAN BADENFELT/KONCEPTVERKET Ratification day will start a new chapter in Swedish landscape politics. The elc will mean that politicians and administrators will have to seriously come to terms with issues concerning landscape. Goals will have to be set and basic data for planning will have to be worked out. To secure the involvement of the general public, the work must take place not only on national, but on regional and local level as well. The Environmental Objectives Council’s evaluation of environmental policy shows that many landscape related objectives are not reached. There is therefore good reason to re-assess policy direction. The achievement of a landscape convention means the opportunity to raise awareness from a focus on protecting certain solitary landscape attributes to distinguishing the landscape as a cohesive unit. Seeing historical, ecological, social, hydrological, topographical, geomorphological and functional zones and interfaces is often like seeing an overlapping quilt. It means widening one’s view from a single cairn, natural relics and grazing meadows to historical landscapes, ecological corridors and landscape rooms. conflicts can be solved The Swedish Road Administration operates throughout the entire country and is extremely knowledgeable about the landscapes, both urban and rural, that we work in. Our activities sometimes lead to conflicts with other soci- outside insight Sweden has a rich variety of landscapes from farmlands in the south to pristine mountains in the north. Protection and sustainable management of valuable natural and cultural heritages are guided by the Swedish environmental quality objectives. Objectives for a better environment Sweden has set 16 objectives describing qualities of the environment that should be achieved in order to give future generations clean air, healthy environments and rich opportunities to enjoy the landscape. The responsibility of meeting those challenges is shared among different stakeholders in society. Much has already been achieved by valuable contributions from public agencies, businesses, environmental organisations and individuals. But still, more efforts are needed as the ambitiously worded objectives are hard to reach. However, the last decade has seen an encouraging trend with more meadow and pasture land under management. both positive and negative trends The natural and cultural heritages of Swedish forests continue to be eroded, when resources are intensively exploited. At the same time, some basic factors for biodiversity are improving, such as areas of mature forest. The values of the agricultural landscape are dependent on the land being farmed and on the countryside being an attractive place to live and work. Today some parts are threatened by scrub encroachment, while other are intensively cultivated. need for further measures A wide range of measures are needed to promote sound land use planning as well as improved consideration in agriculture, forestry and fisheries. Furthermore, it is important to take into account protection and conservation of environments in addition to restoration and re-creation of habitats and cultural heritage. Efforts to combat climate change are also crucial since it will put new or more severe strains on ecosystems and landscapes, especially in Swedish mountain environments. With continued work on both national and international levels, coordinated activities are intended to ensure the character and quality of Swedish landscapes. MORE INFORMATION about the way towards the objectives can be found on the Environmental Objectives Portal – www.miljomal.se. Nature protection efforts in Sweden have been intense and 2009 is celebrated as the ‘Year of Nature’ to mark that it has been 100 years since Sweden’s – and Europe’s – first national parks were established. But still, protection must be stepped up further if the environmental objectives relevant to landscapes are to be achieved. Illustration: AB Typoform 28 PHOTO: MALTE DANIELSSON/JOHNÉR BILDBYRÅ AB 29 PERSHYTTAN, VÄSTMANLAND, SWEDEN 30 historyscape “The whole is more than the sum of its parts” said Aristotle a long time ago. These ancient words can be used to describe the cultural landscape as well. By definition, it comprises environments shaped by man throughout the ages. It includes objects, buildings and remains of time long since as well as stories, traditions and other intangible values left by previous generations. By the Swedish National Heritage Board Culture reserves – important parts of the cultural landscape en years ago the Swedish Environ­ mental Code came into force introducing the possibility of protecting areas of great historical value as culture reserves. So far 34 culture reserves have been established – from Tornedalen by the land border with Finland in the north, to the forest regions of Skåne in the south. of events are maintained. This implies that visitors can, through their own experiences, better understand and learn about the development towards the contemporary society. Even if most of the culture reserves are agricultural, they significantly differ from each other. There are larger and smaller estates, villages and various kinds of solitary farms. Some are situated in areas with rich soils and longgrowing seasons, while others are located where the farming and climate conditions are harsh. the culture reserves are living organisms The culture reserves comprise complex structures where the soil, buildings, remains and traces altogether form valuable historical landscapes. Among these are farms, parks and gardens, work and industrial estates as well as settings that derive from fishery, military defense or the Sami culture. In the culture reserves, the environments and the ongoing activities that reflect different historical periods and courses accessibility – a key issue It is very important that the culture reserves are accessible for the public. This applies to physical ease of access as well as to comprehensive information. The culture reserves comprise a complexity of ongoing activities as well as dwellings for people, animals and plants. They are open for 31 PHOTO: JONAS SKOGSBERG everybody, but the degree of accessibility varies. Most of them include private buildings and land with homes, working sites and plantations which must be respected by the visitors. Considering the experience values vis-à-vis the historic environment, it is important to mention that parking lots and other similar facilities are sometimes slightly placed aside which might limit access. The culture reserves are evenly distributed throughout the country. Many of them are close to cities and easy to get to, while some are much harder to reach. The largest part is offering meals and accommodations but also other arrangements such as guides, courses, exhibitions, plays and concerts. • MÅRTAGÅRDEN, HALLAND, SWEDEN A SAMPLE OF SWEDISH CULTURE RESERVES 1 1. Aatoklimpoe/Atoklimpen  A reserve in the bare mountain region, near the Norwegian border. It comprises an extensive landscape mildly shaped by activities and beliefs tied to the Sami culture. 2. Marieberg  A sawmills society by Ångermanälven, one of the larger rivers in Norrland. The reserve offers possibilities to study the development of wood industry as well as the social conditions for worker families over a period of 100 years. 3. Lillhärjåbygget  One still active farm in a roadless land just below the bare mountain region. This culture reserve is quite large and consists of a homestead as well as a summer farm surrounded by sparsely-growing forests and marshlands. Some sheep, a couple of horses in service and about a dozen cattle of a certain breed well adjusted to the conditions graze the land. 4. Lingnåre  With its remains of dwellings, cultivations and burials from the Viking age this reserve offers great possibilities to trace the development of agriculture and land use. 5. Råshult  Proud owner of an 18th century landscape with pasture and gardens reestablished according to the notes of the internationally famous Swedish scientist Carl von Linné (Carl Linnaeus). 2 3 4 5 6 6. Örnanäs  A great place to experience and compare the old traditionally worked forest and the modern afforestation with regard to appearance, biological diversity and sustainability. 32 PHOTO: BENGT A. LUNDBERG outside insight This year we celebrate 100 years of Swedish National Parks, environmental protection and nature conservation. Nature conservation has developed on the basis of Sweden’s characteristic features, including its large size and low population density. “Allemansrätten” or “the right of public access to private land” also does much to explain the course taken by nature conservation. PHOTO: GÖRAN BLOM 100 years of nature conservation The national parks were founded to allow scientific studies of untouched nature and in the interests of tourism. In the first half of the 20th century environmental protection bore little relationship to other developments in society, but this was to change in the 1960s. A new nature conservation act was passed in 1964; the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency was founded in 1967. A consequence of Allemansrätten is that the restrictions in protected areas are fairly moderate. Walking and camping are permitted virtually everywhere. Hunting and fishing are seldom subject to more stringent regulations than elsewhere in the country. Restrictions are tailor-made for each area; only activities that are harmful to the protected subject or area are prohibited. Swedish nature conservation is maintained by use of numerous instruments, particularly those provided by the Environment Code. Statutory protection is supplemented with voluntary commitments made by the forestry industry, as well as economic support given to farmers managing valuable parts of our rural heritage such as hay meadows and wooded pastures. outdoor exhibitions are built in some areas. In the future more areas will be made accessible to the disabled. MORE INFORMATION The celebration of the century of nature conservation includes many exciting events around the country. Do you want to read more? Please, visit www.naturensar.se. nature conservation – a matter of public health Hence, it is a sign of the time that the Government is now placing such emphasis on the value of nature conservation for outdoor recreation. Nature conservation also has a major role in the Government’s policy to improve public health. The Government’s aim is that nature conservation should be carried out for the benefit of the people, and that it must be made easy to enjoy nature protection areas. National parks and nature reserves are made more accessible by ensuring that there are signposts to the areas, car parks, toilets, clear information and hiking trails. Cabins and PHOTO: GÖRAN BLOM 33 outside insight Forests cover 67 per cent of Sweden’s land territory and play a significant role. The main intention is to achieve a long-lasting and sustainable use of the forests. Besides the economical goal, there are other important objectives to reach, such as preservation of biological diversity, cultural heritage and social values. All this is reflected in the Swedish Forest Agency’s vision “Forest for the benefit of all”. Toward a sustainable use of forests Today, the development of the Swedish landscape is influenced by two major driving forces: production process and environment. Swedish forestry contributes to the reduction of CO2 emissions by producing bio-energy from raw forest material instead of using fossil resources. Forest production is subject to continual rationalisations and growing efficiency due to international competition and requirements for profitability along with politics, science and technology. At the same time, the environmental awareness, in large sense, is increasing. The radical transformation of forest utilisation in Sweden over the last decades has affected the landscape negatively. As a consequence, a new forest policy came into force in 1994. It stated that environment and production are equally important. the forest’s natural and cultural values. Landscape is the result of a constant interaction between natural conditions and man’s manipulation of them. It is dynamic, not static. As a result, the historical dimension of landscape is crucial. It is difficult to understand today’s landscape and define proper objectives and appropriate actions for the future if we do not know how resources and land have been used before. Croft ruins and ancient cairns are some testimony of man’s presence. By using landscape analysis we can find out why these remains have been existing and in which way they have influenced the landscape. This knowledge is used for management plans but also as information for visitors. The landscape perspective is also central for the preservation of biological diversity. Species live in biotopes or on substrates. Besides, birds, insects and animals often depend on several biotopes or landscapes to survive. The Swedish landscape is a mosaic of biotopes. across large areas. Most Swedes prefer easily accessible and varied landscapes, rich on natural and cultural values. But it is a huge challenge to create such a forest landscape because there are many stakeholders involved: forestry companies, governmental agencies and land proprietors. Today’s method for regeneration of production forest by using monocultures with the same age transforms the landscape into a more monotonous place. In southern Sweden, the landscape has been successively and extensively transformed by planting spruce forest in soil more suitable for pine. However, several measures have been taken to accomplish just the opposite. The Swedish Forest Agency is working for increasing the territory with broadleaved forest and to maintain valuable biotopes and cultural values. In northern Sweden, large areas are reserved as a formally protected forest in order to preserve biological diversity. landscape – the obvious starting point Landscape has always been important to people for their surviving. For this reason, the landscape perspective is the usual starting point for planning and maintenance of forest production as well as for preservation or restoration of 34 the future forest – a monotonous place? Events like Sunday walks, hunting, berry picking, etc. involve people moving PHOTO: BENGT A. LUNDBERG MORE INFORMATION The Swedish Forest Agency is working with several projects concerning landscape ecology and landscape perspective (www.skogsstyrelsen.se). historyscape A Swedish forest with two layers of history. The small house in the middle is a farmstead for shepherds keeping cattle for forest pasture in the early 20th century and before. The surrounding clear-cut forest is typical of land use after the 1950s. Härjedalen, Sweden. Cattle were the main source for wealth in Scandinavia for thousands of years. For the Sami people in the far north the primary domestic animals were not cows but reindeers. Dalsland, Sweden. More than five per cent of Scandinavian forests are protected for nature conservation, such as this cottage from 1860­ in Örnbo, Västerbotten county. The settlement has been protected since 1993. The Nordic forest – as much “untouched” as anywhere else in Europe Many Europeans visualise the Nordic forest as nature in the raw. In fact, there are very few forests here that can be called virgin and not affected by man. By the Swedish National Heritage Board In most forest areas there are two historical layers of land use. The first one is old and characterised by pasture or pre-industrial use as charcoal production. The second layer was introduced in the middle of the 19th century and consists of modern and highly mechanised forestry with clear cuttings. For six thousand years, until the early 19th century, most people in Scandinavia were farmers. However, their main source of wealth was not cultivated fields but cattle. The boundaries between agriculture land and forests were not fixed because pastures were normally in the forests. In the middle of 19th century the old forests with different species of trees “died”; and modern forestry with monocultures of spruce or pine was born. Since prehistory, the ecosystem of the Nordic forest has been changed by man. But today, the human impact is much stronger. • 35 PHOTO: JAN NORRMAN, MÅRTEN SJÖBECK, ULF LINDBERG historyscape Landscape as a reflection of multicultural memories Today’s landscape carries memories and traces of people who lived a long time ago, under completely different political and social conditions. According to the stereotypical image, the Swedish ethnical landscape is a homogeneous one. But in truth, it is easy to prove the opposite. There is much historical evidence for the existence of a complex society here, as in the rest of Europe. By the Swedish National Heritage Board Ritamäki is a croft in Värmland showing traces of the Finnish traditional way of living. The Finns came here in the 16th century and preserved their traditions until 1960s. Sweden has always been a complex state and there is much evidence of different cultures living side by side over the centuries. This can be easily proved by the number of place names in Finnish or Sami officially recognised today. The old Swedish communities were mixed societies of people with different backgrounds, where meetings between cultures were ­ simply meetings between individuals. Among the important ethnic groups were the Sami, Finns, Germans, Estonians, and French. Swedish was the common bridge, aiming to facilitate the communication between all of them. In 2009, we remember that there have been 200 years since Sweden and Finland divided. In 1809, modern Sweden was born and Finland laid the first stone of its independence that became a fact in 1917. Both states used the language as a base to build their nations. As a result, there is an important Finnish minority in Sweden and a significant Swedish minority in Finland. Today, there are five recognised national minorities in Sweden: Jews, Roma, Sami, Swedish Finns and Tornedalers. • PHOTO: PÅL-NILS NILSSON 36 PHOTO: RIKARD SOHLENIUS, NATALIYA HULUSJÖ, JAN NORRMAN Sami people in northern Sweden use the mountains for reindeer herding. There are around 250,000 reindeers in the country, ­ all of them domestic. Many songs and books have been inspired by the Sami landscape. In the Middle Ages most of the Swedish towns had a large German population. The fact that there were so many Germans in Stockholm resulted in building the church of St Gertrud in Gamla stan (the Old City). ­ Leufsta ironwork in the county of Uppland had in the 17th and 18th centuries a large group of Walloon workers and the forge was constructed according to the Walloon tradition. The Walloons have had a great impact on the Swedish industry during the last 300 years. 37 historyscape Landscape and biological heritage Every part of the European landscape has a history. It is a “public secret” that farmland and forest plantation are shaped by man. However, other parts of the landscape also keep traces of human influence. Some of this evidence is very old as that left by prehistorical people in deep forests, by the seashores and high mountains. This is called biological heritage. By the Swedish National Heritage Board Biological heritage has many faces. Sometimes its appearance is clearly physical, for example as meadows, pastures, animals or plants. But it also can express itself through immaterial aspects as in stories or place names. This heritage is often very fragile and depends on man because much is deliberately used and shaped by people. Pasture land, for instance, can be cleared of forests and different measures can be made to promote useful types of grass. ­ But not only desired species can benefit from how we use the landscape – many weeds, insects, birds and snakes benefit from artificial biotopes and would ­ disappear if the land use changes. • An individual tree can be considered biological heritage when it is selected for specific qualities. Täby church, Sweden. Wild species become biological heritage through manipulation such as pollarding of branches for leaf fodder. Täby church, Sweden. Species become biological heritage when their distribution is manipulated, for example when broad-leafed species are kept in one place and spruce in another. Skåne, Sweden. In the long run complete biotopes are converted into biological heritage – here the main purpose is to feed the horse, but at the same time may types of weeds, birds and insects unintentionally benefit from the biotope. Västergötland, Sweden. 38 PHOTO: LEIF GREN outside insight The countryside is an important priority for the entire European Union. According to the Swedish Rural Development Programme, the main goal is to achieve sustainable economical, environmental and social development. Environment important for the development of the countryside The Swedish Rural Development Programme is the answer to the requirement of the European Union for setting out a national programme for the period 2007–2013. It specifies what funding would be spent and on which measures, in order to fulfill the common Rural Development Policy. The total budget is approximately 35 billion Swedish crowns: half from the Swedish government and another half from the European Union. By using different measures, such as support, compensation, method development and networking, business and employment are stimulated with the intention to increase growth and competitiveness in the countryside. All measures have to be implemented locally and with a respect for the environment. develop and maintain the cultivation landscape by using environmentalfriendly methods. This is something that helps fulfill the environmental objectives. According to the national Rural Development Programme, when a farmer performs an environmental service, he or she receives economical payment called environmental compensation. Care and maintenance of valuable cultural heritage are good examples of environmental services. port entrepreneurs and increase the competitiveness as well as to improve the quality of life in the countryside. Investments, for instance, for production of local and organic food have been seen as an important stimulation for new companies. At the same time, such investments have also been helpful in strengthening already existing businesses. The actual situation shows that new goods or services, such as biofuel and tourism, aid the development of new companies. MORE INFORMATION about the Swedish Rural Development Program can be found on www.sjv.se support for new companies The remaining 25 per cent of the total amount of money for the rural development of Sweden is used to sup- special commitment to the environment The Swedish government has decided to pay special attention to the environment. As a consequence, the national Rural Development Programme focuses on the fulfillment of the environmental objectives. The last fact can be seen in the amount of money that has been put aside for green purposes, namely 75 per cent of the whole budget. In Sweden we believe that farmers and other land proprietors are doing a service to society because they PHOTO: CALLUNA AB 39 outside insight Sweden has a wide variety of landscape types. It has a sparsely populated north but a relatively denselyoccupied south. There are large mountain areas with light vegetation; a vast extent of conifer forests and a rich wildlife; mixed forest and deciduous woodland and varied small-scale agriculture combined with forest land. Landscape research needs interdisciplinary teamwork Rich intensive-cultivation occupies the agricultural plains. There are many lakes; and a long indented coastline with dense archipelagos, where holiday homes, boating and fishing are common pastimes. There are big cities with ever-growing urban fringe zones and many thriving smaller towns linked by an extended road network. But there are also depopulating rural settlements and individual farmsteads. This diversity is a challenge as well as a boon for landscape research, manPHOTO: INGRID SARLÖV HERLIN agement and policy, especially as it exists alongside many of the issues that face several other European countries. Amongst the most pressing topics for landscape researchers in Sweden today are the increasing fragmentation of landscapes, the decline in the cultural and natural values of forested and agricultural areas, the escalation in badly-planned urban fringe areas, the growing demand for renewable energy sources, and the urge to create resilient and sustainable cities. landscape studies since 18th century Landscape studies in Sweden date back to the time of the Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist Carl von Linné who not only laid the foundations for the modern nomenclature for species, but also recorded his observations on landscape and everyday rural life during the 18th century. By the end of the 19th century, natural scientific approaches to landscape studies such as geology, botany and zoology had particularly strong positions at Swedish universities, and around 1900, several geography departments were also established. An increasing awareness that long-established rural lifestyles were disappearing triggered the movements for preservation of objects and buildings that belonged to a vanishing past and protection of areas that represented historic ways of land use or outstanding wildlife qualities. During the 20th century, as elsewhere in Europe, an increasing specialisation of academic disciplines occurred. Some researchers, such as geographers at Stockholm University, challenged this, however, and have been working for a more holistic understanding of the natural and cultural processes and dynamics of landscapes. One of the best-known Swedish landscape researchers in modern time was probably Professor Torsten Hägerstrand (1916–2004) of Lund University, who in his time-geography emphasised the temporal factor in spatial human activities. landscape research at swedish university of agricultural sciences At the Swedish University of Agri­ cultural Sciences (slu), landscape research is currently carried out at different departments from the north to the south. Among the studied fields are forestry landscape planning, landscape 40 docuscape ecology and wildlife studies; habitat and biodiversity studies; agricultural history; rural development studies and environmental impact assessment. Training in landscape architecture and connected research on management, planning and design of landscape are performed in parallel at Ultuna near Uppsala and at Alnarp near Malmö. In the past two decades major research and PhD projects have covered themes such as the role of landscape for human health and well-being, the management of urban vegetation, human perceptions of landscape; garden and landscape history, garden design, urban landscape design, children’s environment, road planning, the dynamics of peri-urban landscapes and the impact of agricultural policies on landscape. Today, further development of methods for various forms of landscape characterisation, participation, description, analysis and assessment is becoming an increasingly important theme, triggered by the need to plan for the growing pressures for wind power, road development, adaptation to climate change, stronger calls for democratic participation in landscape policy and by Sweden’s ongoing preparation for the ratification of the European Landscape Convention. Interdisciplinary teamwork is needed to achieve this, in order to identify and understand the complex and intertwined characteristics of landscapes. Such work, involving researchers from many different disciplines, has started to take place at the department of Landscape Architecture, slu, Alnarp. This group will hopefully continue to expand to embrace an even broader network of landscape researchers, policy-makers and users. MORE INFORMATION Ingrid Sarlöv Herlin, Department of Landscape Architecture, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp and Department of Landscape, University of Sheffield. PHOTO: JERKER MOSTRÖM Snapshots of landscape Landscape is a living organism – it breathes, transforms and sometimes dies. That is why it is essential to observe the processes and pay attention to the changes that are taking place there. By the Swedish National Heritage Board An important tool for environmental monitoring is the programme called nils (National Inventory of the Landscape in Sweden). It was launched by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and operated by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. The main purpose with the programme is to follow the condition and transformation of the landscape as well as to improve the knowledge about the impact these changes have on biodiversity. The method used within nils consists of a nationwide random sample of approximately 600 “landscape squares” measuring 5×5 km. Every fifth year, infrared aerial photos for each square are manufactured and interpreted in order to detect changes of a larger scale such as landscape patterns and structures. However, the use of aerial photos has to be combined with field inventories to gather data of such features that only can be seen from the ground, for example different species or small structures. time for cultural monitoring nils has yielded valuable information about the natural qualities of the environment. Now it is time to include the cultural values to the programme. Methods for observing the condition and changes in ancient sites and monuments as well as other cultural traces and buildings have already been developed by the Swedish National Heritage Board. • ILLUSTRATION: SWEDISH UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES 41 that of wishes that was plowed down look-out basket suspended over the fields as I peered out the view held promise but the clouds were gathering they always do that maybe one should harness the clouds force them into different trajectories were it that one could the sunflowers went for tiny walks each day around themselves they wish upon unlikely creatures swim amidst their stalks they dream and what dreams they have (this is but a grain of a much bigger whole) do you recall? when the fields were circular: rotated about their own axis rotated about the farmer´s shoulders naked oats black oats poppies barley undulating in the rain the sky can be mild above the fields a compass rose under this tree directing us into the field as onto the ocean moonlit a sea of marching sunflowers stop here to listen these are seeds falling wish you were here 42 artscape the landscape is resounding with smells twigs and sprigs aflame, the moist air and the flames at the edge of the field a furrow of fire, earth, water, air; the recollections of hands – and fire. stepping this way and that an armload full of falling twigs – I am of assistance a grain is the earth in the universe, and in a corner of the field: letting go of the firewood, into the fire, mind wanders the migratory birds retain your gestures behind their eyes the boot is sucked down in those places that are too wet I possess no difference – in an instant there are no borders Each plant corresponds to a star. We draw lines between the stars across the sky. So that we may find our way. We give the stars names. We do not possess them. We draw lines in the soil. We establish borders. We plant our crops. We were to cultivate the celestial bodies. We approached, we explored, sketching out the sky and we penetrated the earth, into the continent. Turning around. The hurricane oblivious of its name cannot be recalled The poems are written by the Swedish poet Clara Diesen. They are from the book ”This is corner of a larger field” published by the Swedish National Heritage Board. Illustration by Jonas Rahm. 43 artscape Pictures are laconic but worth more than a thousand words. How convenient for the modern person, always in hurry to seize the day and grab the future! With a compact camera he or she quickly becomes an artist; but the glory is not the purpose, only the pleasure to publish a “masterpiece” on Facebook. However, during the 19th century art had another raison d’être: to strengthen the national state. Among the most popular scenes to paint were different landscapes showing glorious history and common cultural identity. Art and cultural heritage had a lot in common. Today, the old paintings are displayed in museums and people from all over the world come with the intention to grasp a piece of the past or just a piece of immortality. But how can the old ideals still be alive and rule over our perception of the landscape? By the Swedish National Heritage Board 44 left: Richard Bergh (1858–1919), Nordisk sommarkväll (Nordic summer evening) 1899–1900. Göteborg museum of art. right: Gustaf Fjæstad (1868–1948), Vinterafton vid en älv (Winter afternoon beside a river) 1907. National museum. bottom: Prins Eugen (1865–1947), Molnet (The cloud) 1896. Waldemarsudde. 45 Eugène Jansson (1862–1915), Riddarfjärden i Stockholm (Riddarfjärden in Stockholm) 1898. National museum. 46 culinaryscape I EAT, THEREFORE I CREATE LANDSCAPES By the Swedish National Heritage Board There are no easy answers for what is good or bad consumption. However, more knowledge and the willingness to pay full price for products are needed if we want to have fine food together with sustainable environment. PHOTO: LEIF GREN In many countries there is a policy for healthy and safe food but also strategies for land use such as agriculture and forestry. One might think that the political monitoring with planning, legislation and economical support systems, such as the European Common Agriculture Policy, is the most important power of maintaining a good environment in the countryside. Quite the opposite, the reality is much more complicated. As a matter of fact, we, the customers, have absolute power. We have the power to choose what to buy and what to throw away. And we have the power to choose who to vote for. How many people realise that there is a connection between landscape and food? ­ Everything we eat or drink has an origin from somewhere in the world. A hundred years ago, when food and beverages were produced locally, it was easy to see the correlation. But not today. Let us investigate the classic meal “French fries, hamburger and salad” . It is quite probable that the potatoes come from southern Sweden, the beef from Argentina and the salad from Spain. But sometimes it is more difficult to track the origins of our meals. For example, chicken produced in a local farm can have been grown with soy from Brazil. 47 culinaryscape Tastes from the coast, the forest and the semi-open landscape This three-course meal includes some characteristic food that represents different landscapes. Similar to the great diversity of landscape types, the “typical” Swedish tastescape also shows a high variation. The long coastline provides Swedes a lot of fish on the menu, with herring as one of the most common staples throughout history. Today herring has even reached its way to the finer restaurants. The starter in this meal has a small hint of fried herring as a main component. Accompanying dill, horseradish and caraway are tastes strongly connected to Swedish cooking, but here they are used in new combinations to bring out exiting taste experiences. Roots, such as the beetroot, have a long tradition in the Scandinavian household. The dish is supposed to be light, just to give you an appetite! It should be served with a nice cold beer or with a cold aquavit (snaps). The main course comes from the plentiful forest. In forested areas, different kinds of game are common on the tables. I have been using wild boar, but you can also choose moose, venison or, for example, roe deer. Mushrooms and berries are classical ingredients of the typical food from forest regions. I decided to use forest mushrooms and blueberries: the last one not typically served with savory food, so this is a new experience. With the main course you can drink a Swedish porter or a hearty red wine, for instance the Nebbiolo grape. The third course, the pudding, is a tart with raspberries and hazelnuts, served with an apple jelly made from fresh apples. You can find these plants, used for thousands of years, on forest borders and semi-open areas such as smallscale pastoral landscapes. But today’s urban and peri-urban gardens give the same tastes to these fruits, berries and nuts. Enjoy your meal! Smaklig måltid! Carl Herlin PHOTO: INGRID SARLÖV HERLIN MORE INFORMATION Carl Herlin is educated in Culinary Arts and Meal Science at Campus Grythyttan, Örebro University. 48 WILD BOAR FRIED HERRING IN BATTER WITH HORSERADISH, DILL EMULSION AND CARAWAY SALT Dill emulsion 75 ml water 15 ml vinegar 1 tea spoon Dijon mustard 1 slice of bread for toasting 1 bunch of fresh dill 150 ml rapeseed oil Salt Blend the ingredients in a blender thoroughly but add oil gradually, and make it thick like mayonnaise. Add salt for flavour. Horseradish Peel and grate 1/4 of a horseradish root and save for later use. Pickled Beetroot 1 beetroot 1/2 dl white vinegar 1 tablespoon sugar 1/2 dl water Cook the beetroot without peeling until it is cooked but still has some firmness. Peel and dice into four large pieces. Add to the mix of water, sugar and vinegar half an hour before cooking. Caraway salt Flaky crystal salt Caraway seeds Toast the caraway seeds on a dry frying pan. Grind the lightly toasted seeds together with flaky salt in a mortar and pestle or grind lightly in a spice grinder. Fried Herring Batter 300 ml beer 250 ml flour Large quantity of rapeseed oil for frying 4 small fresh herring filets 4 small dill sprigs Whisk together beer and flour. Heat up a good amount of oil in a frying pan or deep fryer. Dip the herring filets in the batter mixture and add them to the hot oil. Fry until the batter has become golden brown. Drip some batter on the fish at the start of frying, collect it with a spatula, so all the batter is attached to a piece of fish. After frying, place the finished herring filet on kitchen/wax paper for drying of excess oil. Cut the herring filets in the middle lengthwise, resulting in two smaller fillets. Serving Arrange the herring on plates, each person receiving two pieces. Place a quarter of beetroot, without pickling brine on each plate. Sprinkle a little horseradish over each herring piece and place some dill emulsion on the side. Sprinkle over a little caraway salt over the plate. Add some dill sprigs for garnish. PHOTO: CARL HERLIN PHOTO: CARL HERLIN WILD BOAR, BRAISED AND GLAZED IN DARK BEER, BLUEBERRIES, ALMOND POTATOES AND FOREST MUSHROOMS 600 g good wild boar meat suitable for stewing (or any other good game meat) 2 tablespoons of butter 1 large, quartered and then sliced onion 1 sprig of thyme 1 carrot 0,75 dl dark beer, preferable Swedish Porter, if not available Stout Freshly crushed black pepper Flaky crystal sea salt 1 teaspoon molasses or brown sugar 1 tablespoon corn flour Water 1 large tablespoon of butter Set the oven temperature to 120°C. Cut the wild boar meat in portion-sized chunks. Fry in butter until it is very brown and thoroughly seared. Put aside. In a casserole, fry sliced onions in butter until brown and soft, add the fried meat, dark beer, carrot and thyme. Put the casserole in the oven covered with a lid, set in for a minimum of 4 hours, or overnight. When done, lower temperature to 80°C, pass the contents of the casserole through a sieve and preserve the meat and the liquid separately, tossing away the vegetables. Season the meat with salt and pepper. Put it in the oven at 80°C with a little more beer in the bottom of the casserole, this to keep it hot before serving. Meanwhile, reduce the braising liquid and add molasses, black pepper and salt as desired. Reduce until the sauce has a good flavor concentration; maybe add a bit more beer for flavor intensity. Dilute corn flour in little water and add the thickening to the pot. Bring the sauce to boil until it becomes a thick and nice glaze, whisk in the rest of the butter. 49 FRIED HERRING IN BATTER Blueberries 200 g of fresh or frozen blueberries 1 tablespoon sugar Add the sugar to the blueberries, wait at least 30 minutes and then remove excess liquid before serving. Forest Mushrooms 8 big forest mushrooms Butter Salt Clean the mushrooms and use only their caps. Fry the mushroom caps on both sides on low heat until excessive liquid has been vaporised and the mushrooms been seared thoroughly. Reheat before serving. Almond potatoes Boil almond potatoes with plenty of salt and keep warm before serving. Serving 4 sprigs of thyme Pour some sauce over each wild boar piece to glaze its surface and serve with potatoes, mushrooms and blueberries. Garnish with sprigs of thyme. TART WITH RASPBERRIES AND HAZELNUTS ACCOMPANIED BY APPLE JELLY Apple jelly 4–5 medium-sized green apples, preferable from ones garden Juice of one lemon 100 ml sugar 300 ml water 3 sheets of gelatin Put the sheets of gelatin in little water at least two minutes before. Peel and deseed apples, cook with lemon juice, sugar and water until you get soft compote. Mix in a blender and pass through a sieve – retaining approximately 300 ml of the mixture. Reheat the mixture and add the gelatin sheets, stir until they are dissolved. Then set aside in a cold place for a couple of hours until it becomes a firm jelly. Tart 4 medium-sized rectangular sheets of readymade puff pastry (one per person) Hazelnut crème 100 g hazelnuts, peeled and toasted 100 g confectioner’s sugar 75 g of butter 1 tablespoon corn flour 1 egg Blend hazelnuts thoroughly in a blender, until they become a “peanut butter”-like paste. Blend in sugar, butter and corn flour. Add the mixture to a bowl and add one egg while whisking. Finishing the tart 200 g fresh raspberries 50 g toasted, peeled and roughly chopped hazelnuts Place a big amount of hazelnut crème in the middle of the puff pastry sheet while leaving some space at the edge uncovered. Fold the pastry over this space and create and edge around the filling. Bake at 200°C for 10 minutes or until brown. Just after baking, gently push some air out of the puffed-up puff pastry and place raspberries on each tart. Place some toasted hazelnuts on top. Serve with apple jelly. PHOTO: CARL HERLIN Enjoy your meal! Smaklig måltid! TART WITH RASPBERRIES AND HAZELNUTS 50 PHOTO: JERKER MOSTRÖM The landscape is the arena where everything happens as well as the common habitat for people, animals and plants. It is an active resource for economical development and regional growth but also a dynamic archive for perspectives on our existence in time and place. We are used to towns, houses and homes changing their appearance, whereas the landscape is relatively constant. However, there is a reason to expect the opposite – important transformations will take place in the landscape and new landscapes will be shaped. Rapid changes in the landscape can be difficult to handle by heritage management. It is easier to say no to every change, claiming that heritage will be lost. But in the long run, it is important to take part in what is presently happening. Natural processes and human influences such as climate changes, infrastructure, agriculture and forestry have always had a great impact on the landscape. The history shows us that their influence can be positive as well as negative for the landscape. But the history also provides knowledge and imagination to develop the landscape. The European Landscape Convention offers a great opportunity to make a difference. Cultural heritage management with its historical knowledge can contribute to a better society that is more conscious about the future. On the way to the sustainable landscape it should be possible to unite production with biodiversity, cultural heritage and outdoor life. Welcome to the Swedish landscape! Inger Liliequist director general of the swedish national heritage board The Swedish National Heritage Board is the agency of the Swedish government that is responsible for heritage and historic environment issues. Our mission is to play a proactive and coordinating role in heritage promotion efforts as well as to ensure that the historic environment is preserved in the most effective possible manner. The Swedish National Heritage Board has been commissioned by the Swedish government to prepare a proposal for implementation of the European Landscape Convention. The Swedish National Heritage Board, Box 5405, S-114 84 Stockholm, Sweden Phone: +46 (0)8-5191 8000, www.raa.se isbn 978-91-7209-546-5