Conserving Cultural Landscapes ― Challenges and New Directions

New approaches to both cultural landscapes and historic urban landscapes increasingly recognize the need to guide future change, rather than simply protecting the fabric of the past. Challenging traditional notions of historic preservation, Conserving Cultural Landscapes takes a dynamic multifaceted approach to conservation. It builds on the premise that a successful approach to urban and cultural landscape conservation recognizes cultural as well as natural values, sustains traditional connections to place, and engages people in stewardship where they live and work. It brings together academics within the humanities and humanistic social sciences, conservation and preservation professionals, practitioners, and stakeholders to rethink the meaning and practice of cultural heritage conservation, encourage international cooperation, and stimulate collaborative research and scholarship.

Ken Taylor is Professor Emeritus in the Research School of Humanities & Arts at the Australian National University and Visiting Professor in the International Program in Architectural Heritage Management and Tourism, Faculty of Architecture at Silpakorn University, Thailand, and Tongji University, China. He has been a member of the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Cultural Landscapes since 2005. Recent publications include Managing Cultural Landscapes (Routledge, 2013) and New Cultural Landscapes (Routledge, 2013).

Archer St. Clair is Director of the Program in Cultural Heritage and Preservation Studies at Rutgers, University, USA. She is also a Professor in the Department of Art History, where her research and teaching center on late antiquity. She received her PhD from Princeton University and is active as an archaeologist, serving as Associate Director of the American Academy in Rome/Soprintendenza Archeologica di Roma Palatine East Excavation.

Nora J. Mitchell is Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Vermont, USA. She is active in international conservation of landscapes with ICOMOS, IUCN, and UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre. She is co-author/co-editor of World Heritage Papers 26, World Heritage Cultural Landscapes: A Handbook for Conservation and Management (2009) and The Protected Landscape Approach: Linking Nature, Culture and Community (2005). She worked for the U.S. National Park Service and was the founding director for the Conservation Study Institute and for the Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation.