The Forgotten Rural Landscapes of Central and Eastern Europe

Interactions between nature and man – the underlying forces in landscape – have over time caused diversity. Usually, geographers and landscape ecologists deal with spatial diversity; in this paper, we would like to also consider temporal diversity. We argue that Central and Eastern European landscapes (using the examples of Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia) are much more diverse in time (layers) than Western European ones. This difference requires the use of different indicators in order to measure and study landscapes and special problems, threats, and possibilities of management and future development – but most important is the consideration of different perceptions. We also show that this diversity reduces the readability of landscapes, creating miscommunication and a transformation of meanings. We further argue that the link between humans and landscape is lost in Central and Eastern European countries due to temporal diversity, and that this link will be created anew in a globalizing world. To overcome alienation, we need slightly different classifications/typologies for each country in this region, with the aim of a sound future management of cultural landscapes.