Th is paper aims to demonstrate some ethno-cultural specifi city in land use and land
inheritance by the data of the fi eld survey carried out in four diff erent municipalities in
Romania, representing diff erent historical regions where the ethnical composition of
the regions is very diff erent. Th e understanding of land management and agriculture
is very diff erent between the groups. Th e paper presents the data of a project which
is the collaboration of a Swiss and a Romanian team in a three-year programme
(SCOPES programme of Swiss National Science Foundation), in which a survey was
carried out with the help of questionnaires. Th is was applied in a sample of 612 rural
households in four municipalities. Th e main questions focused on land use and land
inheritance as well as agriculture. Th e sample included two generations: the parents
and their children (362), men and women. Th e research team looked for an answer to
the question: “who are the next generation farmers in Romania and are there cultural
and ethnic and also gender-based diff erences between rural families?” As the data
show there are four diff erent strategies applied in the four regions. In one, traditional
sustainable agriculture was preserved, combined with a high rate of international
migration. In another village there is a good perspective for farming, but a lot of young
people are going to other sectors of activities. In the third location the former socialist
cooperative was transformed into a new type of agricultural cooperative. Th is region
has the best developmental perspectives. In the fourth region agricultural activity is
maintained and the local economy also includes other types of activities which are
complementary to agriculture (trade, industry and other services)