Conceptualisation and perception of the landscape and its changes in a transboundary area. A case study of the Southern German-French borderland

The interaction of human civilisation with nature is reflected in landscape that we consider as a model of totality, a micro-cosmos, providing us a perfect terrain to analyse and systematise knowledge on relationships of its elements. Since we consider humans as constitutive part of the landscape, the way of thinking of stakeholders is crucial in landscape formation. In this study, we present the perception of local professionals on the landscape character and landscape changes in a German-French transboundary area, in the southern section of the Upper Rhine Valley between Freiburg/Breisgau and Colmar. Broadening the knowledge about the common and different attitudes and motivations of local professionals helps transboundary cooperation in order to preserve the unique landscape qualities and avoid landscape degradation. The research was an inductive social study based on in-depth interviews. Respondents' narratives on present characteristics and changes of the landscapes have been analysed, compared and theorised by the grounded theory method. The assessment led first to the definition of seven interpretation axes, (ontological, epistemological, temporal, operative, causal, spatial, and personal), that gave a logical structure to order the information of the interviews and to describe the results. These dimensions also served as a red-thread for the formulation of thirteen concluding theories emerging from the assessment of the narratives. They answer the questions: What is landscape? How landscape characteristics can be captured? What happens, why, when and where in the landscape? The study revealed the similarities and differences of the attitudes, and the patterns of thoughts of German and French professionals. The study brings new insight in the field of transboundary landscape study while confirming existing results on the main topics of landscape changes and driving forces. The paper proves that future strategies have to deal with often-contradictory landscape concepts in neighbouring countries, while their understanding facilitates communication and helps harmonise goals in policies and management.