NIKU researches the interaction between landscape, society, and protection. An interdisciplinary approach to landscape, environmental policies, and cultural heritage management gives us the opportunity to see the environment in a broader historical, intangible, and cultural context.

Environmental and societal challenges such as climate change, urbanisation, abandonment, tourism, and wear and tear increase the vulnerability of cultural and natural heritage. NIKU is concerned with ecological, social, and economic solutions ensuring sustainable management of landscape values, with the protection and use of cultural heritage as ideals.

Our research is based on close collaboration and communication with public administration, users, and local actors in the areas where we work.