UROP Project

Nature-based solutions for agricultural landscapes

Climate change will have a strong impact on agricultural landscapes, their productivity and their ecological soundness. Nature-based solutions (NBS), defined by the EU as bringing more natural elements and processes into landscapes can be an important part of adapting agricultural landscapes to the challenges of climate change, e.g. drought seasons or extreme rainfall event. Currently working mainly on NBS for urban areas in EU research projects like proGIreg and GoGreenRoutes, the Institute of Landscape Architecture wants to extend this approach to agricultural landscapes. With the highly fertile Rhenish mining area as a potential living lab we want to create a transdisciplinary research approach discussing and testing the potential of NBS for transforming agricultural landscapes.

Task

We call for students to establish a catalogue of nature-based solutions for agricultural landscapes based on literature research and best practices from other regions worldwide. The NBS identified should be structured in the catalogue according to different criteria including their climate adaption benefits, their spatial and landscape impact as well as their possible integration into agricultural land use and their suitability for the case study region. Students from planning or design disciplines may also draw plans for potential application of selected solutions in the area.

Requirements

Interest in transformation approaches, experience with literature research and ability to structure knowledge from various sources