Exploring Tangible and Intangible Heritage and its Resilience as a Basis to Understand the Cultural Landscapes of Saxon Communities in Southern Transylvania (Romania)

Ileana Pătru-Stupariu, Marioara Pascu and Matthias Bürgi
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Ileana Pătru-Stupariu: Department of Regional Geography and Environment, Faculty of Geography, University of Bucharest, Bd. N. Bălcescu, 1, 010041 Bucharest, Romania
Marioara Pascu: Faculty of Geography, Doctoral School Simion Mehedinti, University of Bucharest Bd. N. Bălcescu, 1, 010041 Bucharest, Romania
Matthias Bürgi: WSL Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, Research Unit Land Change Science, Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 11, 1-18

Abstract: Landscape researchers tend to reduce the diversity of tangible heritage to physical aspects of cultural landscapes, from the wealth of intangible heritage they focus on land-use practices which have a direct and visible impact on the landscape. We suggest a comprehensive assessment of both tangible and intangible heritage, in order to more accurately assess the interconnection of local identity and the shaping of cultural landscapes. As an example, we looked at Saxon culture and cultural landscapes in southern Transylvania (Romania), where we assessed features of tangible and intangible cultural heritage, identified their resilience and the driving forces of their change. Our analysis, based on 74 interviews with residents in ten villages in southern Transylvania, showed a high resilience of tangible heritage and a low resilience of intangible heritage. A major factor responsible for changes in the Saxon heritage was a decline in the population at the end of the Cold War, due to migration, driven by political and economic factors. We conclude by discussing the specific merits of such an analysis for integrated landscape management.

Keywords: cultural landscape; tangible and intangible heritage; resilience; driving forces; Saxon population; Transylvania (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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