An English Life in Landscape: Watching Landscape Research Over Half a Century

Abstract From a largely autobiographical perspective, the development of the European concept of landscape is considered through the last fifty years, focussed on the gap between the environmental idea which has progressively become more ecological, so the landscape idea has become much more cultural. When they work together, there can be outstanding results, as demonstrated in the European Landscape Award. However, what seemed to be an unsteady progress towards a common understanding of cultural landscape can still receive dramatic shocks. The Pandemic is one such shock which has just begun to be absorbed into landscape thinking, and now the cosy concept of national and regional landscape identities is shattered yet again, by invasion, immigration and displacement.