Trends in landscape research and landscape planning: implications for PhD students

Abstract

This chapter introduces the contents of the book through an analysis of current trends in landscape research and landscape planning and a discussion of the consequences of these trends for PhD students. Landscape research has become more and more applied and involves a broad variety of experts from various disciplines. Societal, political and intellectual changes have led to an increase in integrative landscape projects. Many of these projects involve PhD students in integrative landscape research. To gain an insight into the way PhD students cope with the challenges of integrative research, we used a questionnaire survey to ask 30 PhD students attending a course on integrative landscape research about their experiences of working in integrative research. From their answers and discussions during the course, we identified six key challenges for PhD students in integrative research projects: (i) defining concepts related to integrative research; (ii) coping with epistemological differences across knowledge cultures; (iii) coping with high expectations of the results and products of integrative research; (iv) involving stakeholders and the general public; (v) overcoming organizational barriers; and (vi) communicating and publishing successfully