Mediterranean landscapes: on the ecological and cultural foundations essential to the process of landscape transformation

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to make an approach to the characteristics and values of Mediterranean landscapes, highlighting the ecological and cultural foundations linked with the concept of landscape, in order to express guiding strategies for landscape transformation. In this sense, we begin to understand the specificities that support the identity of Mediterranean landscapes, identifying its characteristics and challenges, and finish with the basis that should govern the process of landscape transformation. These are intrinsically linked with the concept of landscape - related with the values associated with natural and cultural components and with the people’s perception and the values they attribute to them – expressed through unity, diversity and complexity.