Landscape futures: decision-making in uncertain times, a literature review

Abstract

This review considers how rapid environmental change, generated through both inhuman natural forces and human-induced impacts, affects landscape futures and decision-making processes. To do this, we start by defining ‘futures’, and, more specifically, the different kinds of futures at stake in changing landscapes. We discuss how rapid environmental change not only puts immediate pressure on identifying alternative futures for landscapes, but also threatens to unsettle patterns of attachment to the landscape. We then explore different ways of managing tensions and consider strategies that have been used for breaking down binary divisions that may stymie informed and integrated decision-making. We conclude by adapting a five-point framework that incorporates uncertainty and environmental change when making decisions about landscape futures.