LANDLABS - Landscape Laboratories: Design Strategies for Sustainable and Beautiful Landscapes of the Anthropocene
red. prof. dr. Ana Kučan
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How can landfills, mining areas or transportation infrastructure corridors that are part of our urban landscape be transformed into sustainable and beautiful places? How can we create a coexistence between humans, animals, plants, water, soil and technical elements in these areas? These are the questions addressed by LANDLABS, a doctoral research project in the field of landscape planning and design, which was successfully funded in April 2024 as part of the call for Marie Sklodowska-Curie Doctoral Networks.
The LANDLABS doctoral research project will take place in six "landscape labs" in different parts of Europe. This innovative approach is based on on-site research (hence the term landscape lab) and is carried out through research by design. The selected landscapes are characterised by a strong influence of industry and other anthropogenic factors, often leading to the development of unique ecosystems and a complex interplay of living and non-living elements. LANDLABS is based on the premise that the conditions characteristic of the Anthropocene require new ways of understanding and designing in order to develop more sustainable and beautiful urban landscapes. LANDLABS will explore the interconnections between humans, animals, plants, water, air, soil and technologies in these landscapes and provide new perspectives on this dynamic interplay. It offers young researchers the opportunity to contribute to the restructuring of spatial planning in line with the objectives of the green transition, the European Green Deal and the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations.
The Department of Landscape Architecture at the Biotechnical Faculty of the University of Ljubljana is part of the consortium. The landscape laboratory will cover the area of Fontanigge, part of the Sečovlje Saltpans, which has been shaped by human salt extraction into a delicate balance of living and non-living factors, favouring the development of an ecosystem with numerous protected animals and plants. For this reason, the Sečovlje Saltpans could serve as a model for the development of Anthropocene landscapes in which humans and nature are inextricably intertwined. The project leader at the University of Ljubljana is Prof. Dr. Ana Kučan.
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In addition to the University of Ljubljana, the consortium also includes the Aarhus School of Architecture, the Arctic University of Norway, the University of Porto, the Vienna University of Technology and Leibniz University Hannover, which also heads the consortium. Together with six associated partners from municipal urban planning and environmental departments, the consortium will train doctoral students and develop new modes of understanding urban landscapes and new methods to design them.
