Project description DEENESFRITPL Mapping how people shaped ancient landscapes informs strategies for sustainable futures What was the impact of human activities during the late Holocene period? The answer to this question can be used to inform the development of sustainable conservation strategies for rural landscape heritage. The EU-funded HiLSS project will study this issue by considering both the cultural and natural values of landscape. It will focus on the relationships between sustainability and landscape heritage with particular reference to soil loss and degradation over the long term. Specifically, land use will be researched in two historically and culturally similar mountainous regions located in different climatic zones of Europe (Tuscan-Emilian Apennines in Italy and northern-mid Galicia in Spain). The project will identify the key historic characteristics of each region's landscape and quantify the effect on soil loss to examine how different management practices have affected them. Show the project objective Hide the project objective 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. Fields of science natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic zoneshumanitieshistory and archaeologyarchaeology Keywords HiLSS Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Main Programme H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility Topic(s) MSCA-IF-2019 - Individual Fellowships Call for proposal H2020-MSCA-IF-2019 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF) Coordinator UNIVERSITY OF NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE Net EU contribution € 212 933,76 Address KINGS GATE NE1 7RU Newcastle Upon Tyne United Kingdom See on map Region North East (England) Northumberland and Tyne and Wear Tyneside Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 212 933,76
