Living heritage and sustainable landscapes in rural Europe: narratives of change and continuity in four Biosphere Reserves

Biosphere Reserves (BR) are regions designated by UNESCO and are cultural landscapes shaped by living heritages and communities. However, in Europe, the creation of sustainable BR landscapes has often neglected cultural heritage, and how it is contested and always in the making. This qualitative research focused on four rural European BRs in Czechia, Estonia, Norway and Scotland, working collaboratively with organisations of Třeboň, Nordhordland, Wester Ross and West Estonia Archipelago. We conducted 161 interviews to identify how people living and working in these regions understand and value cultural landscapes and heritage. Utilising ‘heritage-in-the-making’, we aim to support BRs to better manage the dynamic and changing nature of rural heritage in cultural landscapes. Our findings show how identities and heritage are constructed and negotiated in diverse cultural landscapes, drawing out commonalities and differences across the four cases. We evidence the ways in which rural heritage is situated amidst narratives of change and continuity in wider social, ecological and economic contexts. We argue that heritage-in-the-making must be part of sustainable landscape management in BRs, using collaborative processes to tackle contemporary and future sustainability challenges and avoid neglecting or romanticising rural regions.