Meet Cultural Stewards of Stunning Landscapes and Gardens
Gardens and landscapes transcend cultural boundaries and are "cultural universals”. Cultural universals are behaviors or ways of life that are common to all societies, regardless of how they are practiced or their place in a particular group.
There are two distinct ways to experience our natural physical surroundings: gardens and landscapes. While landscapes may or may not have been influenced by human activity, gardens are a beautiful arrangement of nature.
Did you know that the Netherlands is where the term "landscape" first appeared? It is derived from the word "landschap" (country paintings) in Dutch.
A geographical region that has been influenced by human activity and interactions between people and their surroundings is known as a cultural landscape. The way that a society's ideas, values, and practices impact the physical environment through aspects like agriculture, architecture, land use, and design is reflected in these landscapes, which can vary in size from a vast agricultural region to a tiny neighborhood.
Tangible and intangible aspects of human activity, such as physical structures like roads and buildings, land use patterns like urban layouts or agricultural fields, and intangible elements like language on signs, are all part of a cultural landscape. These mark the earth with the human imprint, demonstrating how a society's values and beliefs have influenced its surroundings over time.
UNESCO acknowledges a variety of unique cultural landscapes that are also a part of our global history and collective identity. Cultural landscapes bear witness to humankind's inventiveness, social progress, and spiritual and imaginative life.
Gardens are man-made areas created for the purpose of cultivating plants, and can include a mix of organic species like trees, bushes, and flowers, and non-living architectural elements like walks, water features, and statues. Features of a garden include a variety of plant life, a purposeful design that strikes a balance between beauty and practicality, and the incorporation of physical elements like walls, fences, and structures that serve as limits, support, or adornment.
Since the beginning of time, gardens have been a part of the human experience. The Garden of Eden is undoubtedly a part of the human mind as a whole. Originally, gardens were just intended to be enclosed areas, mostly to keep animals out. West Asia was where gardening first appeared, followed by Greece and other European countries. Egyptian tombs from the 16th century B.C. exhibit ornamental gardening.
It should come as no surprise that man's relationship with the land is associated with numerous traditions. Terrestrial traditions honor our human connection to the world, whether it is through the ancient practice of beekeeping in the Slovenian hinterlands, the cutting of peat in the Scottish Highlands, or the care of an Azorean garden that was established nearly a quarter of a millennium ago.
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