Paper short abstract:

Participatory rural governance implies a broadening of actors involved in the management of rural amenities. At the example of LEADER projects which aim at the reconstruction of cultural landscapes, the epistemological conflifts are highlighted and opportunities for Anthropologists delineated.

Paper long abstract:

Within participatory rural development policies such as the EU programme LEADER, a horizontal broadening of actors involved in arenas of rural development is taking place. Among other objectives, such programmes aim at the valorisation of places and landscapes in processes of heritagisation by reinvigorating bio-cultural heritage, i.e. traditional (ecological) knowledges, land-tenure customs, land use systems and practices.

The presentation draws on empirical material from two LEADER projects in the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which aim at the reconstruction of historical cultural landscape elements with the participation of local residents. It explores the epistemological and ontological tensions, which arise by involving residents in landscape management. While nature conservation and institutional landscape management operate at the level of 'species' and 'habitats' and draw on ecological (quantitative) criteria in order to measure the value of landscapes (as 'ecosystems'), lay actors base their value judgements on aesthetic-emotional perceptions and the fulfilment of symbolic needs (e.g. as landscapes of (be-)longing).

The presentation argues for strengthening the role of cultural/social anthropologists and geographers in the management of historical cultural landscapes. Firstly, they can clarify how different ways of contriving 'nature' constitute different objects of concern. Secondly, they can mediate between divergent and conflicting knowledge regimes. Thirdly, in so doing, they can contribute to the construction of multifunctional landscapes, which are not only ecologically functional but als meet aesthetic-symbolical needs as landscapes of (be-)longing.