Alpine pastures, chestnut groves, field barns, carp ponds, and terraced fields are reminders of the ingenuity with which generations before us harnessed local resources to produce food and secure their livelihoods. The interplay of natural and cultural characteristics has created great diversity, which will disappear without cultivation and conscious care. How we engage with the landscape raises many questions.
What do traditional agricultural landscapes, which are under great pressure, mean to us today? How much do we value their maintenance, and how can we develop them further without letting them become empty backdrops devoid of meaning? Settlement areas and cultural landscapes are inextricably linked, and both the conditions of agricultural production and our human perception of the environment are constantly changing. Landscapes shaped by human hands, along with the associated buildings, always reflect the possibilities and needs of their time.