DOI

https://doi.org/10.7275/y1c4-zs22

Organizer/Presenter/author Information // Informations sur l'organisateur / le présentateur / auteurs

Maya N. Ishizawa, University of TsukubaFollow

Biographical Information // Informations biographiques

Maya Ishizawa coordinates the activities of UNESCO Chair on Nature-Culture Linkages in Heritage Conservation as a visiting lecturer at the University of Tsukuba, Japan. She graduated as an architect from the Universidad Ricardo Palma, in Lima, Peru. After earning a Master of Media and Governance from Keio University, in Japan, she completed a Ph.D. in Heritage Studies at BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, in Germany focused on the conservation of cultural landscapes. Currently engaged in the training of cultural and natural heritage practitioners in Asia and the Pacific, she looks at developing a comprehensive approach to heritage conservation.

Keywords

Cultural Landscapes, Rural Heritage, NatureCulture, CultureNature, entangled and inseparable

Abstract // Résumé

The Capacity Building Workshops on Nature-Culture Linkages in Heritage Conservation (CBWNCL), held at the University of Tsukuba in Japan, gather Asia-Pacific heritage professionals with the aim of creating a platform of mutual-learning and exchange between the culture and nature sectors. In the first workshop on Agricultural Landscapes, from 14 case studies, 5 showed natural protected areas in tense relations with their rural landscape surroundings. However, these agricultural landscapes are essential for protecting natural values, as they form part of their larger ecosystems. In the second workshop on Sacred Landscapes, from 16 case studies, 5 case studies were also agricultural landscapes, and 8 case studies featured natural protected areas which embody spiritual values for their surrounding rural communities. In the third workshop on Disasters and Resilience, from 15 case studies, 7 presented the struggles faced by rural communities in the conservation of their natural environment and their cultural practices in a context of increasing disasters.

By looking at the Japanese experience, we learned from the concepts of Satoyama and Satoumi, that the protection of nature can be interlinked with the maintenance of agricultural landscapes, that the continuity of spiritual practices is essential for identity and community cohesion, and that the maintenance of cultural practices represent community’s strength for post-disaster recovery. These lessons demonstrated that resilience lies in people and their community networks -beyond human, and underpinned on their natural and cultural heritage (both tangible and intangible)-, and that the stronger these networks are, and the more autonomy and decision-making power is recognized at local level, the higher level of resilience a landscape would show. This finding, however, raises concern, as these landscapes are facing pressures not only from urban development, but mostly from depopulation due to migration and ageing communities, processes that are eroding these networks and consequently, rural landscape resilience.

Bibliographic References // Références Bibliographiques

Ishizawa, Maya (2018). “Cultural Landscapes Link to Nature. Learning from Satoyama and Satoumi”, Built Heritage Vol. 2 No 4, Special Issue, 7-19.

Ishizawa, Maya, Inaba, Nobuko and Yoshida, Masahito, eds. (2018). “Proceedings of the Second Capacity Building Workshop on Nature-Culture Linkages in Heritage Conservation in Asia and the Pacific 2017, September 15-26, 2017, Tsukuba, Japan. Sacred Landscapes”, Journal of World Heritage Studies, University of Tsukuba, Special Issue 2018.

Ishizawa, Maya, Inaba, Nobuko and Yoshida, Masahito, eds. (2017). “Proceedings of the First Capacity Building Workshop on Nature-Culture Linkages in Heritage Conservation in Asia and the Pacific 2016, September 18-30, 2016, Tsukuba, Japan. Agricultural Landscapes”, Journal of World Heritage Studies, University of Tsukuba, Special Issue 2017.

Ishizawa, Maya, Inaba, Nobuko and Yoshida, Masahito (2017). “Building Capacities in Asia and the Pacific. The experience of the UNESCO Chair on Nature-Culture Linkages in Heritage Conservation at the University of Tsukuba, Japan”, George Wright Forum, Vol 34, No 2, 154-167.

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Panel 3 Paper 3.2: Nature, agriculture and rural resilience: Interdependencies between natural protected areas and rural landscapes in Satoyama/Satoumi in Japan

The Capacity Building Workshops on Nature-Culture Linkages in Heritage Conservation (CBWNCL), held at the University of Tsukuba in Japan, gather Asia-Pacific heritage professionals with the aim of creating a platform of mutual-learning and exchange between the culture and nature sectors. In the first workshop on Agricultural Landscapes, from 14 case studies, 5 showed natural protected areas in tense relations with their rural landscape surroundings. However, these agricultural landscapes are essential for protecting natural values, as they form part of their larger ecosystems. In the second workshop on Sacred Landscapes, from 16 case studies, 5 case studies were also agricultural landscapes, and 8 case studies featured natural protected areas which embody spiritual values for their surrounding rural communities. In the third workshop on Disasters and Resilience, from 15 case studies, 7 presented the struggles faced by rural communities in the conservation of their natural environment and their cultural practices in a context of increasing disasters.

By looking at the Japanese experience, we learned from the concepts of Satoyama and Satoumi, that the protection of nature can be interlinked with the maintenance of agricultural landscapes, that the continuity of spiritual practices is essential for identity and community cohesion, and that the maintenance of cultural practices represent community’s strength for post-disaster recovery. These lessons demonstrated that resilience lies in people and their community networks -beyond human, and underpinned on their natural and cultural heritage (both tangible and intangible)-, and that the stronger these networks are, and the more autonomy and decision-making power is recognized at local level, the higher level of resilience a landscape would show. This finding, however, raises concern, as these landscapes are facing pressures not only from urban development, but mostly from depopulation due to migration and ageing communities, processes that are eroding these networks and consequently, rural landscape resilience.

 

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