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Cultural Landscapes in Transition: Balancing Heritage, Development, and Sustainability
2026-05-01 - Freitas, Isabel Vaz de; Silva, Fátima Matos
This Special Issue brings together contributions dedicated to understanding and enhancing cultural landscapes, the result of the continuous interaction between nature and human action over time. These landscapes represent an important historical and social legacy, reflecting processes of territorial occupation, cultural practices, and relations between communities and the environment. Building on the framework established by the 1972 World Heritage Convention and reinforced by the 2000 European Landscape Convention, the published works explore the role of landscapes—land, river and coastal—in quality of life, collective identity and cultural heritage. The Special Issue also seeks to analyse the challenges that urban growth, the transformation of the territory, and, in some cases, the abandonment of low-density areas pose to the preservation of these spaces. The articles address strategies and good practices to reconcile heritage conservation and contemporary development, highlighting the importance of territorial planning that is sensitive to the historical and cultural context. Sustainable approaches, including nature-based solutions, adaptive reuse, and integration of traditional techniques, are also discussed. Another central aspect is the role of local communities in building a shared vision for the future of cultural landscapes, promoting greater awareness of their value, and encouraging responsible development models. Taken together, this Special Issue deepens the debate on how to ensure that cultural landscapes continue to play a key role in building identities and adapting to contemporary challenges.
Cultural Landscapes in Transition: Balancing Heritage, Development, and Sustainability (Second Edition) [editorial]
2026-05-11 - Freitas, Isabel Vaz de; Silva, Fátima Matos
Cultural landscapes represent the "combined works of nature and man", illustrating human settlement and cultural development over time, influenced by both natural and cultural forces. These landscapes provide a legacy of history, showing how local communities have shaped their environments. Since the 1972 World Heritage Convention, cultural landscapes have been recognized within a historical and scientific context, with preservation- and conservation-embracing concepts such as belonging, uniqueness, meaning, and locality. These values highlight the importance of cultural landscapes in shaping identity and cultural heritage.
The 2000 Landscape Convention further emphasized the vital role that landscapes (including land, inland, water, and marine areas) play in individual and social well-being. It highlighted their contribution to enhancing the quality of life, reflecting cultural, scientific, aesthetic, and historical values. Cultural landscapes are irreplaceable assets of immense significance, yet balancing their preservation with modern development remains challenging. In rapidly urbanizing areas, development can be destructive, while low-density regions may face land abandonment.
Reconciling the needs of preservation with modern growth requires dialogue and the development of solutions that align economic growth with cultural integrity. Sustainable practices offer an effective pathway to harmonize these objectives, ensuring cultural heritage is respected while supporting necessary development. Such practices should integrate cultural landscapes into urban planning through designs that maintain the historical and cultural integrity of the area. Planning and designing natural and built landscapes must address climate change impacts and heritage site risks. The challenge ensures that modern development does not conflict with historical and cultural values. This requires thoughtful planning and design that respects heritage while integrating new functionalities and adaptive reuses.
Community engagement is key to creating a shared vision for development and raising awareness of the importance of preserving cultural landscapes. Incorporating green, nature-based solutions and traditional techniques is also essential for promoting sustainability and harmony. Additionally, regenerative and sustainable thinking, which emphasizes carrying capacity and risk identification, ensures long-term preservation. By adopting sustainable practices, it is possible to ensure cultural landscapes continue to shape identities for future generations while adapting to modern needs.
Sustainability in Cultural Heritage and Archaeology: Challenges, Practices and Futures [special issue]
2026-05-11 - Silva, Fátima Matos; Albuquerque, Helena
The interconnection between sustainability, cultural heritage, and archaeology has become increasingly significant in the context of contemporary global challenges. Archaeology, as a discipline that examines the long-term relationships between human societies and their environments, offers distinctive insights into sustainable practices, adaptation processes, and societal collapse. In parallel, cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible, constitutes a repository of knowledge, identity, and collective memory that requires careful preservation and responsible management for future generations.
In a context shaped by climate change, urban expansion, resource exploitation, and geopolitical tensions, archaeological sites and cultural heritage assets are particularly vulnerable. At the same time, they hold considerable potential to support more sustainable development pathways by contributing to education, fostering responsible tourism, and reinforcing the value of local communities. This Collection seeks to explore these intersections, highlighting innovative approaches, sustainable practices, and forward-looking perspectives.