What do indeterminacy and uncertainty mean in landscape research? Perspectives from natural sciences, social sciences, and arts

Fremantle, Chris ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5818-8208; Vergunst, Jo ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7585-1286; Barwell, Louise J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1643-1046; Bevan, Anne ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8605-9171; Cavers, Stephen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2139-9236; Clarke, Jennifer ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5725-4576; Collins, Timothy M.; Goto Collins, Reiko ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4078-8114; Combe, Malcolm M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1711-9150; Cottrell, Joan ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6355-1326; Douglas, Anne ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8145-7704; Edwards, David ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5670-087X; Ellison, Aaron M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4151-6081; Heddon, Deirdre ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9136-2151; Heim, Wallace ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4400-2377; Kalshoven, Petra Tjitske ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6011-9236; Marion, Glenn ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0454-9338; Oliver, Seth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8387-6021; Saraev, Vadim ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8791-3256; Veenman, Sietske ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-3218-6582. 2025 What do indeterminacy and uncertainty mean in landscape research? Perspectives from natural sciences, social sciences, and arts. Landscape Research. 19, pp. 10.1080/01426397.2025.2537772

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Abstract/Summary

Landscapes, intentionally or otherwise, are often planned and managed in ways that create determined outcomes involving production, conservation, and aesthetics. While the focus of much research is on how to plan landscapes more effectively, this article explores how uncertainty and indeterminacy are inevitably also part of the research process. We present the results of discussions among a multidisciplinary group of researchers across the arts, humanities, social and natural sciences. We articulate discipline-specific understandings of indeterminacy and uncertainty and synthesise points of similarity and difference between them. Common concerns are with the limits of knowledge; conceptions of futures; the role of chance and change; and the dichotomy of action or ‘doing nothing’ in landscapes. We highlight arts research that works distinctively to develop subjectivities and create different relations with control and management. We emphasise the challenge of research to manage risks versus the need for indeterminacy to enable adaptation and promote novelty.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1080/01426397.2025.2537772
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Biodiversity and Land Use (2025-)
ISSN:	0142-6397
Additional Information:	Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.
Additional Keywords:	indeterminacy, uncertainty, multidisciplinary, environment, arts, knowledge, futures, chance, innovation, risk, landscape decisions
NORA Subject Terms:	Ecology and Environment
Date made live:	05 Sep 2025 10:13 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/540178

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