Indicators for the Identification of Cultural Landscape Hotspots in Europe

Hotspots of traditional cultural landscapes in Europe can be found in locations which meet a specific set of characteristics. These characteristics were defined in a study based on literature review, content analysis and two case studies conducted in peripheral regions of Europe. The preconditions for hotspots of traditional cultural landscapes seem to be geographic, economic, infrastructural and political isolation, marginal agricultural land and often a population that differs from the surrounding national mainstream. These indicators are exemplified in two case studies. Based on field work carried out in Las Hurdes, in Spain, and Gyimes, in Romania, I argue that the factors that once enabled unique cultural landscapes to emerge are also those that nowadays help to preserve them as islands or hotspots in a globalized, and increasingly more uniform world. Finding and monitoring these traditional cultural landscape hotspots in Europe is the first prerequisite for systematically studying and eventually protecting them. But existing inventory, monitoring and policy approaches have not been designed and hence are not fully able to identify regions with traditional cultural landscapes. The indicators presented in this study can be used to identify such regions.