Cartografiar les percepcions socials: els paisatges tendencials

After the European Landscape Convention was signed in Florence in 2000, landscape perception is gaining increasing attention, both in scientific discussion and in empirical experience. In this field, maps claiming to be based on people’s landscape perception are often used to involve population in the governance of landscape change. After discussing some recent examples of mapping practices on landscape perception in Italy (community/parish maps; outstanding value maps; maps collecting best/worst landscape practices on the web), the authors present an experiment of mapping social perception, that they proposed a few years ago, as a geographical contribution in the frame of a landscape plan in Italy. Conceived with a markedly methodological and eminently operational focus, the mapping of social perceptions of the Valsana valley (Veneto region) seems a good starting point for reflecting on the possibility of using social perception in landscape planning through maps. The aim of the proposal was to explore “landscape conflicts”, i.e. conflicts between various images different people have of the same landscape. This is a typically geographical topic, particularly relevant in planning perspective: there is a cyclical relationship between people’s actions on the landscape and people’s perceptions of the landscape itself, influencing those same actions. Landscape change means not only change in the physical landscape, but also change in the image and imaginary of the area. Within this frame, the “tendency landscape” concept is proposed as a way to represent – conceptually, but even on a map – some of the forces driving landscape change. The study was developed in four stages. The first stage consisted in organizing oral and written sources about the valley (tourist maps, websites, tourist guides, the local press) collected during the fieldwork, on the web, and in the literature, to identify a collective image of the Valsana valley. The second stage consisted in a field work with direct observations of the landscape, collecting clues and evidences of landscape change running on. Minor items contrasting with the previous stage results were collected, geo-referenced, and placed on a map of the valley. They were ordered in logical groups, and considered as potential indicators of landscape conflicts. Where data sharing the same meaning were more dense, there the authors find a “tendency landscape”. In other words, a narrative sequence was used as a way to reconstruct and reveal hidden landscape process. In the third stage the map of “tendency landscapes” was submitted to stakeholders to be discussed, collectively modified and finally agreed. The final map was then officially included in the analytical part of the landscape plan. As a part of a planning process, a map of “tendency landscapes” may serve multiple functions. Firstly, it has a cognitive function, to the extent that it reveals dynamics that do not appear in other fields of survey, but are active driving forces of landscape transformation. Secondly, it may support decision-making, to the extent that tendency landscapes do not just represent a reading of the contingent situation, but also a dynamic scenario that stimulates projects and questions the opportunity to either endorse or limit the dynamics underway. Thirdly, the map may be a useful tool for public discussion while sharing readings and strategies. Sharing perception effectively potentially means agreeing on actions that change the landscape. The map of tendency landscapes is a tool for understanding, visualizing and eventually reconciling people’s divergent perceptions and conflicting actions on the landscape itself.