ABSTRACT
This chapter describes landscape research in the broadest sense, in keeping with the concept of landscape itself. Scientific landscape research covers both natural and human sciences, but the study of landscape also encompasses the visual arts and applications in landscape architecture, planning and management. This research complexity can be understood by considering the multiple meanings of the word 'landscape', as well as the broader contexts of society and technology. The chapter discusses the etymology and meanings of the word 'landscape' related to the differentiation of activities of studying and forming the landscape. It considers the consecutive phases of the history in more detail and comment on different regional developments, illustrated with some examples from North America, Europe-Middle East and Southeast Asia. The chapter also discusses briefly some of the changes in landscape research since the introduction of formal definitions of landscape, by the World Heritage Convention and European Landscape Convention.
