Landscape notions among greek engineering students: Exploring landscape perceptions, knowledge and participation

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to explore and critically analyze the basic notions of landscape and their change through time, among Greek engineering students, from all academically formative years of their undergraduate studies, at the Technical University of Crete. Specifically, it probes into their perspectives vis-à-vis the landscape at large and their everyday-life landscapes in particular, regarding their landscape perceptions, behavior, and education. This study takes place in two stages (2012 and 2017) and is placed in the context of continued scientific investigation into the interrelationships of various “publics” with various types of landscapes and landscape development ideas, perceptions, and preferences—and specifically those professionals-in-the-making who are bound to become key future agents in Greek landscape stewardship. Our aims serve the European Landscape Convention’s purposes of landscape research, education, and awareness-raising; they also cater to the need for geographically targeted place-specific application of the European Landscape Convention (ELC). Our findings reaffirm widely and long-held landscape notions, emphasizing the natural, the visual, and the aesthetic in landscape perception and conceptualization, but also point to landscape education deficiencies in the Greek educational system. These constitute significant findings in the context of the country’s efforts to lay out the blueprints for its future landscapes, by contributing to Greek lay landscape awareness and conscience building, but especially by informing future landscape-related professionals.