WG 1: Mining landscapes

The activity of extraction of metals has almost disappeared in Europe, and the landscapes that have been very strongly marked by these activities are abandoned today, and are gradually becoming displaced landscapes, without economic profitability. These landscapes induce negative connotations in the collective memory due to the adverse impact of the mining operations, and in particular because of their polluting and aggressive character. These sectors were sometimes exploited for centuries or even millennia.

Working Group 1 is using various research developments in Europe concerned with mining and metallurgical pre-industrial activities to create a European documentation database, by sampling significant mining areas. The planned result is a census of these areas and an evaluation of the physical remains, which will be useful as a description, for research and for evaluation. A balanced representation of the areas is sought (Mediterranean, Middle-Europe, Northern Europe) and there should be complementarity between them. Certain key subjects will be the lynchpins of these researches: control of water, deforestation, and pollution. The database will be the essential tool. Written sources will be incorporated into technical archives or texts, which will testify to both the changes and the continuities of old traditions.

From this scientific collaboration, proposals for management will be made, based on the historical development, in each region, of the mining and metallurgical activities and on their repercussions in the life of the region. The promotion of these sectors will make it possible to stimulate their study and to create a basis for the development of quality.

Link to the Home Page of Working Group 1

WG 2: Rural landscapes: landscape markers and the organisation of the land

Certain types of agriculture and of livestock-farming are in regression or have already disappeared - it is the case, for example, in the highlands of many parts of Europe. This situation, which accelerates the loss of resources and depopulation, produces multiple forms of deterioration in the rural areas. The lack of maintenance of the ditches, slopes or trackways that preserved the marking of the old "historical" structures, has caused new risks to appear, such as fires and erosion. This often involves elements scattered in space and in time, which constitute the traditional markers of the landscapes and the traces of them which must be read (boundary marks, fences, limitations, terraces, and regular land divisions).

These markers are the witnesses of the structuring of the rural landscapes and their dynamics. Their inventory in representative sampling regions should lead to an evaluation of the losses of heritage, and to an appreciation of valuable spaces and sites that it is essential to preserve and develop. The database is still the irreplaceable tool here, since it is able to articulate material evidence, literary references and local perceptions.

Previous research provides the basis to advance in this line, thanks to existing studies on the regular land divisions and ancient treaties of land surveying. A Regional European project, such as COST A27, allows documentary sources to be co-ordinated.

Link to the Home Page of Working Group 2

WG 3: Virtual landscapes and databases

This is a transverse and instrumental Working Group which co-ordinates the work of Working Groups 1 & 2 to standardise methods for research.

The group has the rôle of investigation and co-ordination between WG1 and WG2, to produce the necessary powerful tools and databases, which are essential for the utilisation of the results of research in the information society. To create and develop the databases in WG 1 and 2 will thus be considered a priority.

The virtual landscapes produced from the researches will be associated with the databases. A choice of landscape types will be made to show their current states, the relevant historical processes and their induced effects, which make it possible to present hypothetical reconstructions. The "digital phase" of virtual simulation must follow an epistemological creation of a landscape's mental model; landscape reconstruction is not purely an entertainment, but is a channel for communication based on deep research, observation and classification processes. Diachronic visibility from modern landscapes is not evident, but this is possible through the correct treatment of documents (cartography, remote sensing systems, archaeological or paleo-environmental data). Historic and present perceptions play an important role..

Link to the Home Page of Working Group 3

WG 4: Transversal Activities

This is a Working Group which provides services for Working Groups 1, 2 & 3 to standardise methods for research.

The services include Training Activities, Activities related to the network of cultural landscapes, and Web Services. The emphasis is on communication, providing links between the Members of the Action, and links to other web sites where detailed information such as databases, site descriptions, PowerPoint© presentations, and CDROMs can be found.

Link to the Home Page of Working Group 4

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Version: 4 24 February 2006 updated by John Wilcock