Suchergebnisse

Growing demand for outdoor recreation puts pressure on highly-frequented peri-urban areas. In the Netherlands, a more equal distribution of recreationists has been proposed by the Dutch government to relieve pressure on overcrowded recreation hotspots. Devising landscape planning strategies that redirect recreation flows requires reliable data on areas that people currently use and what areas would also be suitable for recreation. Such data may not be available for local planners. The objective of this study was therefore to analyse how different data gathering methods can support local recreation planning. For an empirical case study in the Netherlands, we compare data on current and potential use of landscapes for outdoor recreation through participatory mapping, free listing, quantitative photo ranking, and analysis of social media data. Based on maps produced from these different data we interviewed local planners to assess how applicable and relevant the different methods are for planning practice. Local planners indicated they had limited knowledge of and access to scientific methods and insights. Their assessment of different methods suggests that some methods are not yet applied for local planning, such as free listing or participatory mapping. These methods have potential to be used for evidence-based planning, because they require few resources to be implemented. Planners also indicated that using social media data would be interesting, but that the skills required to collect and analyse data are typically not currently in place. Our results show the potential and challenges for research methods to be integrated into local planning practice to distribute recreation flows more effectively.

Engagement with the natural environment and public enjoyment of access to farmland and woodland often takes the form of outdoor recreation. Numerous studies on landscape preferences of outdoor recreation have focused on individual characteristics and attitudes of recreation users. Although the importance of differences in user groups has been acknowledged, a clear distinction of archetypical user groups has not yet been made. This study presents spatial maps of landscapes' outdoor recreation potential throughout the EU based on the different landscape preferences of five archetypical outdoor recreation user groups. The resulting maps are based on spatial indicators for landscape characteristics identified through a literature review of landscape preferences and an expert workshop regarding the relative importance of those preferences. We find overlapping patterns of outdoor recreation potential for all user groups, as a result of similar preferences for elevation, cultural heritage and presence of specific flora and fauna. Areas with high recreation potential for multiple user groups are dominated by forest or mosaic land use and often concentrated in mountainous areas, showing the areas' multifunctional potential. The developed maps provide a synthesis of available information and data on the differential preferences and patterns for outdoor recreation in the EU. The differentiation of user groups enables stakeholders at different levels to develop sustainable landscape management strategies targeted at the demand for and supply of outdoor recreation opportunities.

AbstractPeri-urban areas support a broad range of multifunctional demands for public goods. In northwest Europe, peri-urban areas tend to overlap with intensive agricultural land, resulting in conflicts between agricultural use and the public good demands of residents. Sustainable intensification (SI) of agriculture might help reconcile agricultural and well-being goals, but it is unclear how the mix of actors in a peri-urban setting can trigger or restrain SI. In a Dutch case study, we explored how SI of agriculture can contribute to making peri-urban areas more sustainable, and which actors are key enabling factors for implementing SI. We used interviews, surveys, workshops, and empirical analysis to obtain insight into the stakeholder's vision of a sustainable future for the case study area, the farming system and actor network. We integrated these insights in a Bayesian Belief Network, where we linked the actor network to implementation of three SI measures (farm-level efficiency measures, small landscape elements, and direct sales), and used sensitivity analysis to model effects of support for implementation by different groups of actors. The case study has a dense stakeholder network, where, dependent on the SI measure, farmers are triggered by all actors to implement SI, or have a stronger role in uptake themselves. The sensitivity analysis suggested that the future preferred by the stakeholders requires broad support of all actors involved, with local actors without a formal role being essential for uptake. Overall, trade-offs among public goods are almost inevitable when taking up SI measures.