Scenario visualisation for participatory landscape planning - a study from Denmark

Increasingly, different functions must be integrated simultaneously in the Danish countryside, demanding a common effort of planners, decision-makers, researchers, and stakeholders. The study proposes a transdisciplinary method that combines scenario technique, photorealistic visualisation, and stakeholder participation to identify the interests of stakeholders in the future countryside. Photorealistic visualised landscape scenarios were used to discuss future options for a rural area in southern Denmark in a meeting with stakeholders and representatives from planning and administration. By focusing on one out of four monofunctional land uses-industrial farming, recreation and tourism, nature conservation, and residential expansion-future extreme scenarios were created. Scenario visualisation by photorealistic design techniques proved to be a helpful tool for researchers in communicating the proposed landscape changes to stakeholders. Interests of stakeholders were quite varied, with strong support for measures to improve environmental quality. Stakeholders lacked trust in planning authorities and were not used to reflect about the future of their home areas. Landscape researchers can contribute to rural planning by improving communication among planners, decision-makers, and stakeholders.