THISTLE · Transformation and the management of HIStorical foresT. Landscapes of the Eugaean Hill (Padua, Italy). Fresh perspectives through spatial analyses and dendro-anthracology
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2016-04-01 → 2018-03-31
- EU contribution
- €180,277
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-EF-ST
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Transformation and the management of HIStorical foresT. Landscapes of the Eugaean Hill (Padua, Italy). Fresh perspectives through spatial analyses and dendro-anthracology
This project focuses especially on forests that played a crucial role in the evolution of human societies. Forested landscapes represent the ecological inheritance of forest management across the centuries. We particularly study the evolution of historical forests in the Euganean Hills (Padua, Italy) with a multidisciplinary approach (history, archaeology, geography, archaeobotany). No intensive research has been carried out on forest history in the territory so far. THISTLE programme was designed to better understand the place these forests occupy in the lives of the users while taking stock of the local knowledge on the forest history. At the same time, thanks to a regressive and pluridisciplinary approach, the aim of THISTLE programme is to examine the centuries-old relations between local people and forests. This dual approach has brought to light the virtual absence of local memory relating to forest history. Indeed, many inhabitants of this area ignore the ancient existence of ancient forests on the Euganean Hills. Thanks to historical cartography (Austrian land registers 1840) and the study of archaeological charcoal kilns we can attest of the ancientness of the forest, from the end of the 13th century. In addition, the comparison between archaeobotanical data (studies of charcoal) and current botanical inventories reinforce this hypothesis. Indeed, only the maintenance of these spaces in the forest allows the conservation of its large botanical biodiversity. The THISTLE project, which was carried out in close collaboration with the Park has highlighted the presence of ancient forests hitherto unknown. One of the main points of this project is to raise awareness of the strong heritage value of these forests and, thus, to better manage them in the future.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
To better anticipate global changes (environmental, climate and social changes), research over the past twenty years has focused on understanding and measuring the interactions between societies and their environment. Knowledge of past environments and their evolution in relation to society can help contribute to better manage, protect and anticipate present and future environments. This project adds to this dynamic research with a focus on forests. Forested landscapes represent the ecological inheritance of centuries of forest management to supply, among other products, the fuel necessary for human activities. Thus, to meet their demands for firewood past societies gradually modified and transformed the landscapes they inhabited. We focus here on the evolution of historical forests in the Euganean Hills (Colli Euganei, Padua-Italy) through wood charcoal production. Charcoal production is extremely polymorphic and fully understanding it requires the use of different approaches and disciplines (including history, ethnography, archaeology, geography, archaeobotany etc.) The aim of this project is to develop an integrated approach combining all disciplines to reconstruct forest landscapes on the Euganean Hills at different temporal and spatial scales. The choice of the Euganean Hills has been guided by its interesting biodiversity, by the numerous diachronic archaeological surveys previously undertaken, by the wealth of written and cartographic documentation concerning the uncultivated lands and also by the willingness of local actors to promote their region thanks to the richness of the landscape and its history. The project THISTLE aims to reconstitue the history of cultural landscapes, and more precisely of forest landscape of the Euganean Hills (Colli Euganei, Padua-Italie) with a pluridisciplinary approch in order to protect and promote them at different geographical scales (from local to global)
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI PADOVA · PadovaCoordinatorItaly
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union