# name
Organic Farming and Landscape: Experiences and Perceptions in Alt Empordà (Catalonia, NE Spain)

# metadata.dc.description.abstract[].value
The five sections comprising this chapter explore the word “landscape” and its meaning in
the rural European Mediterranean world from the perspective of organic farmers. One of
the aims of this chapter is to make the reader aware of the true nature of these landscapes,
and of the need to educate inhabitants and visitors about their conservation. To this end, a
case study is presented which focuses on the district of Alt Empordà (Catalonia, NE Spain).
In the first, introductory section, some theoretical considerations concerning the concept of
landscape will be discussed, and questions related to the terminology, typology and even
contradictions which are encompassed in this word will be explored. The second section
will consist of a brief description of the principal geographical features of the area studied,
whilst the third presents the most relevant figures concerning organic farming production in
Spain and Catalonia. The fourth section can be considered as representing the main body of
the chapter, since it concerns the subject which has been the focus of this research: how
organic farmers in the Alt Empordà district perceive the landscape. Rather than taking a
rigid stance on the concept of landscape, which is after all a concept which everybody uses
and is thus subject to multiple meanings and interpretations (Küster, 2004), the aim of this
section is to try to describe the different perceptions that organic farmers have of this
concept, and how they relate these perceptions to their activities and surroundings. Lastly,
the main conclusions that were drawn from this study are summarised.
Accordingly, perhaps the best place to start this chapter is with some brief reflections on the
word “landscape”, and the associations and interpretations it elicits.

# metadata.dc.rights[].value
cc by (c) Armesto López, Xosé Antón, 2011

# metadata.dc.source[].value
Llibres / Capítols de llibre (Geografia)

# metadata.dc.title[].value
Organic Farming and Landscape: Experiences and Perceptions in Alt Empordà (Catalonia, NE Spain)