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Quality and Value of the Landscape

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What makes us like certain landscapes better than others? We examine which landscape features are important to people. This helps to maintain the quality of the landscape despite its constant change.

Landscapes are characterised by elements and features such as open spaces and green spaces or typical regional settlement and management forms. People perceive these and evaluate them; the (perceived) landscape quality results from this. We look into how people perceive the landscape and what elements and features are important to them. Because landscapes are constantly changing, the following questions arise: how do landscape features change? What are the consequences for landscape quality? How can important landscape features and landscape quality be maintained in the long term? Our research provides answers to such questions and thus provides the decision-making basis for landscape policy.

Values and Performance of Landscapes

The values of landscapes are closely linked to their features. There are many of these, as landscapes have ecological, aesthetic, cultural, economic and emotional values. Identifying and evaluating these makes up a significant part of the WSL's landscape research. For example, we examine how nature and landscape can be economically assessed and what factors influence the aesthetic value of living spaces and landscapes.

The value of landscapes for people and society can be expressed through landscape benefits. These include, for example, local recreation and leisure, protection from natural hazards, and the production of renewable energies. For various spatial levels, we look at which benefits landscapes provide to the community. To this end, we are developing methods for mapping out benefits and predicting future spatial distributions, for example local recreation and leisure. Our research has made it easier to integrate this into practical spatial planning.

Topics

Economic valuation

We measure and evaluate the impact of nature and landscapes on society and how economic activities affect nature and environment.

Wilderness and overgrowth

Wilderness and overgrowth are topics regularly re-emerging in public debate. We evaluate the attitudes of the public toward these issues.

Further information

News

19.03.2019

Private or community gardens in metropolitan areas have great social significance and are a haven for biodiversity.

07.03.2019

Switzerland possesses large undeveloped landscapes – the lion's share of which is located in high alpine regions – according to a WSL analysis.

23.01.2019

Felix Kienast is the new President of the Forum Landscape, Alps, Parks, which is part of the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT).

Projects

Expertenumfrage "Herausforderungen Landschaft"

10 Jahre nach der Ersterhebung werden erneut Expertinnen und Experten in der Schweiz dazu befragt, was Ihrer Meinung nach die künftigen Herausforderungen der Landschaftsentwicklung darstellen.

Effect of contact with nature during childhood on environmental attitudes, ecological behavior and environmental citizenship behavior

The project will assess the impact of a multitude of different settings on EA and EB/Environmental Citizenship Behavior by comparing children's and adults' self-report.

Nightscapes 2019

Wir untersuchen die relativen Auswirkungen verschiedener spektraler LED-Strassenleuchten und bedarfsorientierter Beleuchtungssysteme auf acht Insekten- und Fledermaus-Artengruppen.

Mal dell'inchiostro del castagno

Lo scopo di questo progetto è quello di determinare l'effetto dei cambiamanti climatici sulla diffusione e l'incidenza del mal dell''inchiostro del castagno al sud delle Alpi della Svizzera.

What is Sustainable Intensification?

Sustainable Intensification of agriculture (SI) is advocated by both, scientists and policy makers, as a solution for the dilemma between the need to increase agricultural production and the need to reduce the environmental burden which intensification historically entailed.

CLIMASTEPPE - Solutions for climate-smart land use in the dry steppes of Russia

In the CLIMASTEPPE project, we will investigate with partners from Russia, Germany, Slovakia how to optimise the land use of Russian steppe under changing climate conditions.

Lebensraumkarte Schweiz

Im Projekt werden bereits vorhandene und in Entstehung befindliche Geodatensätze für ihr Potential zur Erstellung einer Lebensraumkarte (nach Delarze, Gonseth, Eggenberg & Vust 2015) für die Schweiz evaluiert. Ein erste Prototyp wird erstellt.

Filling the land use gap

Mapping grassland management intensity in Switzerland with high spatial and temporal resolution satellite imagery

ESPON Alps 2050

The ESPON Alps 2050 project develops a vision and common spatial perspectives for the Alpine area to strengthen territorial cooperation among Alpine countries towards more effective sustainable development.

Conceptual evaluation of the Swiss landscape monitoring program 2018-2020

What are the qualities of the Swiss landscape? How do people assess the state of the landscape? These are the kinds of questions being taken up by the Landscape Monitoring program (LABES) launched in 2008. This project evaluates the program for relevance and use of up-front technology.

ENERGYSCAPE

This project focuses thus on assessing public judgments of the landscape effects stimulated by a mix of renewable energy systems in Swiss landscapes.

Spatial planning and cropland protection

Deep agricultural soils are a vital resource. Spatial planning must protect them. The project examines the various instruments of European countries.

Vegetation height model NFI

For Switzerland, a national vegetation elevation model was calculated and updated on an ongoing basis. The ADS80 images routinely captured by swisstopo form the basis for the image matching workflow for deriving a 3D model of the landscape.

Countrywide Tree Type Mapping from Remote Sensing Surveys

Regularly updated information on the state, change and distribution of tree types (broadleaved and coniferous tree) is essential for forest related studies. The first data set consists of ADS80 aerial imagery. The follow-up product is currently being optimized using Sentinel satellite data.

Assessing tree stem structures using terrestrial LiDAR

The objective of this project is to develop an approach for assessing the ecological value of a tree stem using terrestrial laser scanning (TLS).

SImulating REcreationists’ MOvements

Wir entwickeln ein Agenten basiertes Modell zur Simulation der linearen Fortbewegung zu und in Naherholungsgebieten in suburbanen Gemeinden. Das Modell berücksichtigt neben den Wegeigenschaften auch landschaftliche Qualitäten und die Bedürfnisse verschiedener Langsamverkehrsnutzer.

Klimaschutz durch Hochmoorschutz

Das Projekt «Klima- durch Hochmoorschutz – CO2-Kompensation durch Hochmoorrenaturierung in der Schweiz» soll auf den grossen Handlungsbedarf, der in der Schweiz im Hinblick auf Klimaschutzpotentiale durch Moorrenaturierung herrscht, reagieren.

STACCATO

STACCATO is a BiodivERsA project carried out in collaboration with 10 European Institutions and investigates direct effects of climate and land-use change on biodiversity, as well as indirect effects on ecosystem services.

Small urban gardens

The aim of this study is to explore which present or imagined organizational forms of urban gardens are best suited to our current society.

Recreational spaces

Daily life stress can be a substantial detriment to human health and wellbeing. In comparing the stress-reduction capacities among different urban recreational spaces, this project aims at identifying the components of urban nature causing these health benefits.

Healthy Alps

Across the Alps, land-use is changing rapidly. The project investigates the consequences of this change for alpine agricultural landscape, focusing on ecosystem services, biodiversity, and effects on human health and wellbeing, as well as their possible interrelations.

INSPIRATION

The aim of INSPIRATION is to adopt a funder and end-user demand-driven approach to establish and promote the adoption of the knowledge creation, transfer and implementation agenda for land use, land-use changes and soil management in the light of current and future societal challenges.

Landscape-scale biodiversity

Biological diversity has a huge potential to preserve and support agricultural ecosystem services. This project analyses the impact of agricultural and environmental policies on biodiversity and ecosystem services of agricultural production systems.

Future prospects for renewable energy

The production of renewable energy is a landscape service of growing importance and great political relevance. However, the expansion of renewable energies is causing various conflicts with competing landscape services.

Analyzing the Contribution of Participatory Environmental Planning to Social Learning

The research project studies the role of social learning in the context of participatory negotiation processes based on the case study of a complex planning project in the field of natural hazard management and use of natural resources.

Landscape impacts of renewable energy production

The project aims to gain insight into the population's attitudes towards the impact of renewable energy production on landscape quality. Particularly, the role of connotations attached to respective landscape changes will be investigated.

WML - WaMos meets LFI

In Switzerland, there are two very different forest monitoring instruments: The National Forest Inventory NFI and the socio-cultural forest monitoring WaMos. The aim of the current project is to bridge physical and social aspects.

Strategies for better gardens

Urban gardens experience increasing social and ecological importance, yet, there are only few studies about it. This project investigates the value of urban gardening for social benefit, biodiversity and soil quality.

Local Growth Management

The implementation of local growth management measures seems to have reached its limits. Recent popular referendums at the national and cantonal levels have demonstrated the need for countermeasures.

Recovery from everyday demands and stress

In this project we analyse what people do in their leisure time to recover from daily demands and stress. The project aims at determining the ranking and (self reported) effectiveness of nature and forest visitis in terms of restoration, compared to other alternatives (e.g., TV, Cinema, etc.). The resuslt will be used to gain deeper understanding of the associations between stress, (mental) fatigue, and restoration.

Visitor Study at Wildernesspark Zürich

The aim of this project is to evaluate the Wildernesspark Zürich from the visitors' perspective. We are particularly interested in what visitors do during their stay and how they perceive the park. Moreover, we also analyse in how far people report feelings of restoration after their visit, and how this self-reported restoration is associated with environmental and psychological factors of the park visit.

Land use conflicts

Different spatial claims may lead to conflicts between different usages. Our project explores, how such land use conflicts emerge and how they can be resolved or avoided. Out of that, we derive strategies and measures for conflict management and we will develop a guideline for the praxis.

Urban Regeneration

One of the most challenging tasks for European urban areas is to deal with demographic, economic and physical contraction processes and to plan for the future of cities worth living in. The project aims at fostering knowledge on urban regeneration in Switzerland. strategies in Switzerland.

Acceptance of Acceptance of Protected Areas

Projects for the designation of large protected areas often encounter acceptance problems. This research and implementation project focuses on the difficulty of missing mutual acceptance by stakeholders.

Acceptance of Acceptance of Protected Areas

Conflicting landscape services

The objective of this study was to create a methodological framework to detect geographical hot-spots of conflicting landscape services before they erupt into land use conflicts.

Einstellungen Regionaler Naturpark Pfyn-Finges

Im Rahmen des Projekts zur Bildung eines Regionalen Naturparks „Pfyn-Finges“ wurde untersucht, wie die lokale Bevölkerung dem Parkprojekt gegenüber eingestellt ist.

AlpFUTUR

AlpFUTUR aims at identifying prospects regarding the use of the Swiss alpine pasturing area in the short and medium term (10 to 40 years).

RegioEx

Recreation is one of several services forests provide to society. The research project analyses the regional economic impact of the recreational use of forests.

BioScene: Reconciling biodiversity conservation

For centuries agriculture has played a multifunctional role in defining and sustaining mountain biodiversity in Europe through the management of habitats, species and landscapes. The overall aim of this project is to investigate the implications of agricultural restructuring and decline for biodiversity conservation in Europe’s mountain areas.

Outdoor-activities in nature and landscape

Outdoor-activities can have negative consequences on nature and landscape. A PhD student has analysed the motivation of outdoor-activists, their attitudes towards nature and landscape and their behaviour changing strategies.

Sturm Lothar

Der Sturm Lothar im Dezember 1999 hat die dreifache Jahresnutzung im Schweizer Wald zu Boden geworfen. Die ökonomische Analyse trägt dazu bei, die Entscheidungsgrundlagen für den Umgang mit Stürmen im Wald zu verbessern.

Biosphere reserves from people's view

Acceptance and success of biosphere reserves depend very much on the local population`s perception of and identification with the biosphere reserves. The objective of the study is to determine the attitudes of various social groups towards nature and nature protection.

Attitudes towards decaying forests

A major concern for landscape conservation strategies is the public attitude towards nature in general and towards efforts to let "nature return to the cultivated landscape". In this context the attitudes of national park visitors towards declining forest patches have been investigated.

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Contact

Prof. Dr. Felix Kienast

senior scientist

Land Change Science

Land-use systems

felix.kienast(at)wslto make life hard for spam bots.ch

+41 44 739 23 66+41 44 739 23 66

Birmensdorf

Dr. Marcel Hunziker

teamleader, senior scientist

Economics and Social Sciences

Social Sciences in Landscape Research

marcel.hunziker(at)wslto make life hard for spam bots.ch

+41 44 739 24 59+41 44 739 24 59

Birmensdorf

Publications

Welche Informationsquellen nutzt die Schweizer Naturschutzpraxis?

Unsere Ergebnisse aus der Umfrage zeigen, dass Fachleute im Naturschutz eine grosse Vielfalt an Informationsquellen nutzen. Der Bericht zeigt Handlungsmöglichkeiten auf, um den Austausch zwischen Wissenschaft und Praxis im Naturschutz effektiver zu gestalten.

WSL Berichte 62

2018

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Boch, S.; Bedolla, A.; Ecker, K.T.; Graf, U.; Küchler, H.; Küchler, M.; Holderegger, R.; Bergamini, A., 2019: Mean indicator values suggest decreasing habitat quality in Swiss dry grasslands and are robust to relocation error. Tuexenia, 39: 315-334.

Boeddinghaus, R.S.; Marhan, S.; Berner, D.; Boch, S.; Fischer, M.; Hölzel, N.; Kattge, J.; Klaus, V.H.; Kleinebecker, T.; Oelmann, Y.; Prati, D.; Schäfer, D.; Schöning, I.; Schrumpf, M.; Sorkau, E.; Kandeler, E.; Manning, P., 2019: Plant functional trait shifts explain concurrent changes in the structure and function of grassland soil microbial communities. Journal of Ecology, 107, 5: 2197-2210. doi: 10.1111/1365-2745.13182

Scheurer, T.; Agnoletti, M.; Bürgi, M.; Hribar, M.Š.; Urbanc, M., 2018: Exploring alpine landscapes as potential sites of the globally important agricultural heritage systems (GIAHS) programme. Mountain Research and Development, 38, 2: 172-174. doi: 10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-18-0047