The landscape heritage of Slovenia and its contribution to the national territorial identity

The starting point of the research is a need for recognition of the nature and significance of the Slovene landscape heritage as one of the main factors of the national identity. It is justified primarily by an increasing globalisation which leads into large-scale homogenisation not only in the sphere of culture and of material goods but also of physical components of our environment. In this way it endangers the originality and identity of any national territory. The basic working hypothesis is: the exceptional landscape diversity of Slovenia, ranging from the Mediterranean over and Pannonia to Alps, generates a process of identification in the sense of the territorial attachment. In addition to this, the Slovene landscape constitutes an important part of the European cultural heritage. Following objectives were set up for the research: - to enlarge and deepen the knowledge about the national landscape heritage, which would serve also as a basis for its protection - to find out the position of the landscape in the hierarchy of social values in Slovene population - to identify development trends in the perception of the landscape heritage - to make selection of the most valuable landscapes for inclusion in national, European and world heritages.