ABSTRACT
As a human construct, its meaning in flux over time, the term ‘landscape’ requires a careful definition appropriate to the present. Various definitions are given and discussed, even the arguments challenging the very concept. Amongst these is the argument that discussion of ‘land’ is preferable, though there is a difference – the one subjective, the other more objective and closer to the French ‘terroire’. The speaker reflected on the shifting meanings of landscape during her career and traced her personal journey from the assumptions behind the standard teaching of the late twentieth century and acceptance of the Florence Charter to a full embrace of the complexities and nuances of the cultural landscapes approach and intangible heritage. This has developed significantly, in large part through the work of ICOMOS generally, the Burra Charter and afterwards the properties inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Amongst the larger changes has been the acceptance of sites of memory and of association, leading to some sacred places of First Peoples being added.
