Perceiving rural landscapes in film and photography – experiences from a participative planning approach in the upper Austrian leader region Mühlviertler Kernland

In addition to the natural-physical aspects of landscape, the public perception of landscapes is of central importance for a comprehensive understanding of landscape. This paper reflects different landscape perceptions on the basis of a photo competition and school workshops. These were conducted in the VITAL LANDSCAPES project as part of a regional participation process in the Upper Austrian LEADER region Muhlviertler Kernland. The authors analysed the photos submitted in the regional photo competition as well as the short films produced by secondary and vocational school students with regard to how the participants perceive the landscapes they inhabit. This paper argues that human-nature relations form an intrinsic part of the regional landscape perception and that depictions of local/regional landscape particularities contribute to forming personal and collective identities.