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Long-term land use and water management strategies in arid margin landscapes

Objective

MarginScapes aims to bring together large-scale, multi-temporal and multi-source geospatial analysis to identify long-term sustainable land use strategies in arid regions, with a special focus on investigating the dynamics between past desert populations, climate change and the availability of water. Many populations inhabiting drylands maintain traditional strategies, the origin of which can be traced to distinct socio-ecological contexts. However, in recent decades, intensification of anthropogenic influence has caused a rapid transformation of the landscape and an alarming intensification of the processes has led to desertification, increasing the sensitivity and vulnerability of these regions to climate influences and, ultimately, endangering the preservation of archaeological and cultural landscapes.
MarginScapes will explore the nature of human occupation of arid margins by re-evaluating the socio-ecological dynamics that have shaped the cultural landscapes of South Asia. The present extent of the Cholistan desert and the northern margins of the Thar desert were core areas for the development of the Indus Civilisation (ca. 3300-2500 BC). These regions have been the subject of considerable historical interest due to the presence of extensive network of relict riverbeds that are thought to have supported several ancient sites in what is today an extreme arid ecotone. By using a novel combination of Earth Observation data and analysis in a petabyte-scale cloud computing environment, machine learning geostatitics, GIS-based topographic analysis and Network Analysis, MarginScapes will provide new methodological tools and quantifiable open access data to: 1) understand the relationships between past hydrological systems, relict palaeosoils and the distribution of ancient sites; 2) identify historical and modern landscape transformations; and 3) foresee the mechanisms of how populations coped and adapted to climate change, water scarcity and desertification.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2017

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Coordinator

THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 195 454,80
Address
TRINITY LANE THE OLD SCHOOLS
CB2 1TN CAMBRIDGE
United Kingdom

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Region
East of England East Anglia Cambridgeshire CC
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 195 454,80
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