HiLSS · Historic Landscape and Soil Sustainability
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2020-10-01 → 2022-12-31
- EU contribution
- €212,934
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Historic Landscape and Soil Sustainability
The HiLSS Project is a multidisciplinary investigation into the complex relationships between sustainability and landscape heritage, with a specific focus on long-term soil loss and degradation. This innovative research initiative combines archaeology, Historical Landscape Characterisation (HLC), geosciences, and computer-based geospatial analysis (GIS) and modelling (RUSLE) to develop spatial models that inform the creation of sustainable conservation strategies for rural landscape heritage. The project has chosen to concentrate on two mountainous regions in Europe, namely the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines in Italy and Northern-mid Galicia in Spain, both of which have similar historical and cultural features but are located in different climatic zones. The HiLSS project introduces an inventive methodology that combines both the historic/cultural values and the environmental values of land-use to develop a model for sustainable conservation. This approach differs from previous HLC studies that have evaluated land-use solely from a cultural heritage perspective and RUSLE studies that have only used it as a proxy for the land-cover of an area and its impact on soil erosion. By examining different agricultural land-use HLC types in GIS-RUSLE modelling, the project can determine the effect on soil loss for each type and develop more environmentally sustainable management practices for each type. The HiLSS project represents a transformative model for interdisciplinary research by proposing a new way to integrate cultural and natural values into landscape management plans. Traditionally, environmental sustainability and historic landscape conservation are treated as separate fields, but the HiLSS project demonstrates the potential for a more comprehensive approach that recognizes the interplay between cultural and natural values. Through its innovative methodology, the project provides valuable insights for policymakers, conservationists, and land managers seeking to balance the competing demands of sustainable development and heritage conservation.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
The HiLSS Project aims to investigate the relationships between sustainability and landscape heritage with particular reference to soil loss and degradation over the long term. The project will take a multidisciplinary approach that combines archaeology, Historical Landscape Characterisation (HLC), geosciences, and computer-based geospatial analysis (GIS - Geographical Information Systems) and modelling (RUSLE - Revisited Universal Soil Loss Equation). The research objectives of the HiLSS project are to quantify the impact of human activities during the Late Holocene in order to create spatial models which can inform the development of sustainable conservation strategies for rural landscape heritage.This project will focus on two mountainous regions that present historical and cultural similarities but located in different climatic zones of Europe (1- Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, Italy; 2- Northern-mid Galicia, Spain). In previous HLC studies, land-use has been evaluated from the perspective of cultural heritage, whereas RUSLE have used it as a proxy for the land-cover of an area and its effect on soil erosion. The HiLSS project will propose an innovative methodology that combines both the historic/cultural values and the environmental values of land-use to inform development of a model for the sustainable conservation. By considering the different agricultural land-use HLC types in GIS-RUSLE modelling, it will be possible to quantify the effect on soil loss for each HLC type and consequently to devise more environmentally sustainable management for each type. Environmental sustainability and historic landscape conservation are typically treated as two separate fields, but the HiLSS project will develop a transformative model for interdisciplinary research, proposing a new way to embrace both cultural and natural values as components of the same landscape management plans.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- UNIVERSITY OF NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE · Newcastle Upon TyneCoordinatorUnited Kingdom
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union