Human Culturescape

Future Spaces for Austria: 
A national scientific research programme

The audio book offers an acoustic map of sustainability for Austria and an overview of the diversity of the Austrian man-made landscapes, urban sprawl, emigration from regions economically disadvantaged, increasing traffic volume, competitive interest in using in scarcity of space, in combination with environmental challenges such as soil degradation and groundwater pollution, the rapid extinction of plant- and animal species point to the limits of land use.

How can the much acclaimed concept of sustainability be applied in certain regions?
180 Austrian scientists from more than 30 disciplines are searching for appropriate solution statements within the Austrian programme «man-made landscape». They all try to meet the challenge to elaborate a new scientific basis for new options for actions and interventions that would follow the principle of carefully handling with nature and with the human needs. Man-made landscape is understood as the result of individual and societal acting as well a cultural perception.

Questions:
What has societal welfare to do with biological diversity?
How are subsidies in agriculture mirrored in the appearance of landscape?
Are »slow« regions sustainable?
What do postcards tell about our perceptions of landscape?
How significant is landscape for the life quality of citizens?
Are landscapes that rich in structure better of for a future?
Which images of the landscape are guiding our acting?

We listen to numerous researchers in their direct quotes; the accompanying book gives the main statements in a condensed version, so that the spoken and written statements complement one another. The audio book reveals the most important principles of scientific environmental research in the service of a sustainable relationship between human and nature.