Date: 15 April 2025
Time: 4 PM (CET)
Language: English
Landscapes surround us constantly—through the classroom window, in travel photos, in cityscapes and nature reserves. Yet how often do we pause to ask: What do I really see?
On 15 April, the ENRS invites teachers, educators, and cultural practitioners to a thought-provoking webinar that will challenge the way we think about landscapes—not as static views, but as living, layered spaces shaped by history, identity, and power. The event, titled ‘Beyond the View: How Landscapes Shape Our Understanding of the World’, offers a fresh and interdisciplinary perspective on how we perceive and teach about the world around us.
A landscape is never neutral. It carries emotion, memory, ownership—and often, conflict. In this session, participants will be encouraged to reflect on landscapes not only as geographical or visual phenomena, but as spaces that tell stories about who we are, what we value, and how we construct meaning.
The keynote speaker will be Dr. Mateusz Salwa, philosopher, environmental aesthetics scholar, and author of The Landscape. An Aesthetic Phenomenon. Drawing from art history, philosophy, and cultural theory, Dr. Salwa will lead participants through different ways of reading and interpreting landscapes—from historical concepts to contemporary questions of representation and belonging.
The session will be hosted by Dr. Konrad Bielecki, historian and member of the ENRS Academic Section, who specializes in cultural history and has extensive experience in education and public humanities.
The webinar will include visual materials, case studies, and classroom-ready activity ideas that can be used in a wide range of subjects—history, social studies, biology, art, and civic education. It is designed especially for teachers and educators working with students at various levels, including in non-formal education.
Bonus: During the event, participants will also learn about the B-SHAPES Summer School: Landscape as Heritage, an ENRS initiative taking place in Zgorzelec/Görlitz from 22 to 24 August 2025. The programme will explore landscapes as heritage in a hands-on educational setting, and applications are now open.
This webinar is more than just an academic talk—it’s an invitation to see landscapes differently, and to bring that perspective into your teaching practice.