Conference topics

I. Landscape spatial structure and dynamics - LSSD

I.1. Landscape field research – methods and approaches, the structure of data, and problems of sample plots data extrapolation to polygons

Organizers	Dmitry Chernykh, Dmitry Zamolodchikov, Svetlana Solodiankina
Institution(s)	Institute for Water and Environmental Problems SB, RAS; Sochava Institute of Geography SB, RAS
Country	Russia
Session description	Remote sensing data greatly facilitate landscape research and raster-based visualization of landscape properties. By the moment, field landscape mapping is commonly based on spatial identification of holistic homogeneous territories and does preserves its relevance. However, a lot of unsolved questions still remain. For example, what should be treated as homogeneity, how to identify the principal factor in spatial segmentation of a landscape, how to prove the legitimacy of extrapolating data obtained at local sample plot scale to a broader scale. The problem of extrapolating dynamic characteristics of a landscape such as annual biological production, geochemical flows, etc. is even more acute as compared to extrapolating its spatial features. During the session, we will discuss the approaches to landscapes field research; mandatory and optional lists of landscape features to be collected in the field survey; the structure and classification of landscape attributes; the intersecting parameters; the formalization of data and its options; the application of reference books and classifiers; the means for standardization of field descriptions; the problem of extrapolating data from sample plots to polygons; the landscape mapping; the databases and GIS for data collection, search and visualization. At the end of the section, we invite everyone to participate in the workshop Collaborative web service "Landscapes information facility". Its purpose is to discuss the structure of data, approaches and copyright regulation. It’s vital to create an information system to store and retrieve landscape research data similar to Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) or Forest Observation System. We welcome the specialists to share their experience in creating open data bases, especially in legal aspects of it application and regulation.

I.2. Landscape heterogeneity and hydrological processes under change: observations, modeling, and outcomes

Organizers	Dmitry Pershin and Vsevolod Moreydo
Institution(s)	Lomonosov Moscow State University, Water Problems Institute of RAS
Country	Russia
Session description	The land surface is the critical zone linking hydrosphere, lithosphere, biosphere, and human activity. Water plays a crucial role in this system. Water flows shape the landscape structure, and on the other hand, landscape heterogeneity largely determines water storage, partitioning, and movement. However, the interaction between the landscape structure within catchments and river runoff is yet not fully understood. The response of each landscape component, and the runoff itself, under changing conditions, can be assessed with a large degree of uncertainty. Climate change has affected many parameters of the global water cycle in recent decades (particularly the precipitation/evaporation ratio). Both ecosystem functioning processes and water flows are highly sensitive to such shifts. Furthermore, involving land use/land cover changes and various natural disturbances (fires, droughts) in this system, we consider a significant lack of knowledge about interactions in the landscape-catchment system and major uncertainties for modelling and forecasting. This section brings together a variety of studies that focus on interactions between water flows and landscape/ecosystem heterogeneity. Presentations cover research at various spatial scales from plot and catchment scales to regional and global scales. The talks will focus on the broadest possible set of methods: modelling, in situ measurements, remote sensing technics, and experimental research. We also welcome works related to snow hydrology and research in permafrost regions, which are particularly important for Northern Eurasia. The goal is to showcase regional work and focus on combining landscape-ecological and hydrological methods, which will potentially enhance our understanding of ongoing changes in the landscape-catchment system and prediction of future shifts.

I.3. Stochastic and deterministic modeling of landscape structure: processes and metrics

Organizers	Vladislav Sysuev and Alexey Victorov
Institution(s)	Sergeev Institute of Environmental Geoscience RAS
Country	Russia
Session description	The session will focus on review of available methodical tools aimed at stochastic and deterministic modeling of structure-forming processes in a landscape. We are planning to focus on quantitative DEM-based classifications using geomorphometric parameters that describe force geophysical fields as well as using remote sensing data. We are interested in demonstrating examples of deterministic modeling based on differential equations, experimental modeling, and field and laboratory measurements of processes. The supposed list of structure-forming processes of interest subject to modeling is as follows: runoff, sheet and streambed erosion, glacial matter transportation, morainic and glaciofluvial accumulation, relic and actual permafrost processes related to climate change, aeolic transportation and aeolian abrasion, avalanche-related landforms development, biogenic relief development, biological production, animals’ activity and its influence on patterns development, vegetation cover as a factor of landscape pattern development.

I.4. Multidimensional landscape modeling and its practical application

Organizers	Alexander Krenke
Institution(s)	Institute of Geography RAS
Country	Russia
Session description	By the early 21st century, physical geography and landscape science received an intensively developing measuring system of multispectral and hyperspectral remote measurements in a wide frequency range, containing information on a wide range of processes occurring in different parts of the ecosphere at various spatio-temporal scales. At the early stages analysis of multispectral remote measurements and development of various indices were commonly based on the reflection ratio of two spectral channels. Later, methods for extracting multidimensional quasi-discrete images based on various classifications and for identifying boundaries based on segmentation procedures were developed. Now, the research focus is the assessment of the fundamental thermodynamic variables that potentially create the basis for the study of non-equilibrium processes and self-organization of geosystems or states of landscape cover. Whereas in the 20th century, geography and landscape science concentrated efforts on answering the question “how natural phenomena and functional parts of a dynamic system are interrelated in space and time”, in the 21st century the main question is: “why are they related in this way?” This objective requirement for geography, which is a science that simultaneously operates with space and time, allows us to talk about analytical landscape science focused on identifying the mechanisms that generate the behavior of dynamic systems at different spatio-temporal scales. Its basis should be a system of appropriate scale-related remote and field measurements. This section is devoted to the methods of structural analysis of geodynamic systems using field measurements and remote sensing data. The main topic of the section is the methodology of a comprehensive description and modeling of ecosystems, the relationship between models and observable data as well as approaches to the structural description of landscapes as a system and modeling specific components of landscape cover aimed at determining the properties that affect human activities.

I.5. Modelling emergent properties of a natural landscape as a perspective for landscape studies and landscape planning

Organizers	Eugeny Kolbovsky
Institution(s)	Lomonosov Moscow State University
Country	Russia
Session description	The session will focus on the question what should be considered as a higher-level derivative in modeling landscape. Whether it should be a pattern of undisturbed vegetation cover or that with selected soil and relief parameters or any composite layer that could be derived via combination of patterns of vegetation, landforms, soils and geology? If we recognize that landscape is a “composite” layer what modeling tools could be relevant to reflect and explain its emergent properties? To what extent modeling can reveal the objective relationships between abiotic template and biotic essence of a landscape? Whether traditionally distinguished three or four hierarchical levels are sufficient for the description of real landscape structure? If so, to what extent modeling methods are specific for each level? These questions are critical for both the development of basic and applied landscape studies, for landscape planning in particular. The development of mathematical and GIS-based tools of data processing provides new opportunities in research focused on landscape as a natural system with emergent properties. The geographers that study separate geocomponents believe that the concept of natural landscape is simply one of the ways to perceive and to analyze environment at human-related scale. However, if we recognize that natural landscape exists, we should answer the abovementioned questions on the basis of relevant reproducible spatially-explicit models. GIS-based tools are believed to be particularly helpful in meeting these requirements.

I.6. Transdisciplinarity in landscape research: landscape synthesis from nature and human perspective

Organizers	Dmitry Marinskikh, Tatyana Kolesnikova, Sergey Kirpotin
Institution(s)	University of Tyumen, Tomsk State University
Country	Russia
Session description	The session discusses the possibilities and limitations of a transdisciplinary study of landscapes for planning and management in global context and in Russian conditions. We supposed to consider landscape as an object of integrative landscape research, which is understood holistically as a unity of natural, socio-cultural and perceptual-aesthetic aspects, which corresponds to the first scientific definition of the landscape by Alexander von Humboldt as “the total character of the Earth's terrain”. The problem field of landscape research in the context of “Anthropocene science” is considered. The importance of conceptualization of the landscape as a socio-ecological system and as a cultural landscape is proved, supposed its study based on integration of structures and processes of the biophysical components of the landscape with a human and his activity, studied based on sociocultural approaches. Transdisciplinary interaction in landscape research of representatives of natural sciences, social sciences and humanities, policies and practices (stakeholders) is assumed, as well as involvement in research procedures of the population (“citizens science”) to solve problems of the “real world” using participatory approaches. It is proposed to identify promising topics of landscape research that need a transdisciplinary methodology. The following issues are proposed for discussion at this session: 1. Transdisciplinarity as a modern methodology for interdisciplinary landscape research; 2. Transdisciplinarity methodology for the design of research projects in landscape science; 3. Transdisciplinarity as a driver of sustainable landscape development; 4. Traditional knowledge and traditional practices of indigenous peoples for sustainable landscape development; 5. Transdisciplinary landscape science for human wellbeing and improving quality of life; 6. Case studies of transdisciplinary landscape research at various scales and in different geographical conditions.

II. Natural hazards - NH

II.1. Investigating degradation, desertification or simply land use change?

Organizers	Vera Schreiner and Burghard Meyer
Institution(s)	Martin Luther University, University Leipzig
Country	Germany
Session description	Goal of the session is to discuss to compare Russian and European research entrances of landscape ecology on degradation, desertification and especially on irreversible changes in the context of land use changes. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) integrate important aspects on land degradation neutrality as well as the green strategy for Europe formulate the goal of climate change neutrality both general as well formulation these in the context of resilience. A key problem not solved here in the scientific discussion is still the geographical scale of the ongoing or envisaged land use changes (e.g. Aral Lake or simply a small dry out lake in Europe after the last drought season). The problem of extreme events is especially focussed here on climatic changes of temperature, precipitation and wind characteristics and their influences on land uses and land functioning/ecosystem provision. A change in e.g. wind speed in arable landscapes may increase the wind erosion risk in drought periods. How can the problem of degradation, desertification or land use change be characterised and renewed reformulated to the goals of resilient systems and both land degradation and climate change neutrality? New entrances to clarify degradation and desertification processes are needed in the context of the scale of change for land use planning, indicator concretisation, monitoring and policy advice.

II.2. Ecosystem services of erosion regulation - research methods, historical and statistical trends, value assessment

Organizers	Ralf-Uwe Syrbe and Yurij V. Ryzhov
Institution(s)	Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development, Lomonosov Moscow State University
Country	Germany, Russia
Session description	Due to a changing climate and land degradation, it is both expected and experienced more frequent and more extreme erosion and weathering processes. We would like to collect and discuss recent advancements and novel approaches for research and assessment of erosion regulation services as well as successful examples of mitigation implementation and overcoming the threat. We welcome contributions investigating a range of topics: 1. indicators of erosion regulation services (type of cover, slope parameters, vegetation cover, soil texture, and etc.); 2. the major factors that affect the water and wind erosion and models of influence; 3. the factors and processes controlling rill and gully erosion; 4. monitoring and measurement techniques; 5. gullies and badland dynamics and modeling approaches; 6. mapping areas exposed to erosion; variability in the processes and rates of erosion; 7. soil retention and the capacity to prevent and mitigate soil erosion and landslides; 8. measuring the dynamical interplay of erosions; 9. soil erosion modeling tools; 10. soil erosion following post-fire and logging; 11. quantification of erosion and weathering in space and time; 12. on-site and off-site effects of soil erosion; 13. value assessment of erosion regulation services; 14. mitigation planning of water and wind erosion. Contributions are welcome from field, experimental, and modeling to methodological and conceptual studies across all temporal and spatial scales.

II.3. Wildfire as a global phenomenon: long-term fire dynamics, ecosystem response and fire management

Organizers	Elena Novenko, Maxim Bobrovsky, Tatiana Kharitonova
Institution(s)	Lomonosov Moscow State University, Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems of Soil Science, RAS
Country	Russia
Session description	Fires is a major factor strongly influencing all natural, economic and social processes. Climate changes in the recent century, land abandonment, drought, flammable forest and plantations and urban sprawl resulted in increasingly extensive and dangerous forest fires in different regions of the World. An assessment of ecosystems response to fires is an important scientific problem that demands multi-proxy investigations on global, regional and local scales. Expertises in the modern status of landscapes and in projections of future changes are impossible without an understanding of fire as a global phenomenon during a long period based on evidences of landscapes dynamics and fire frequencies in the past. Such knowledge would enable us to improve management options in terms of adaptation of ecosystem services to climate change and mitigation of negative impacts of fires. The session is aimed to bring together the specialists with backgrounds such as fire dynamics, fire risk management, fire effects on vegetation, fauna, soil and water, working in the fields of geography, biology and paleoecology. The proposed session will focus on the following resect topics: 1) fire frequencies and environmental changes in different regions during the Holocene and the recent past; 2) satellite monitoring of forest fires; 3) landscape factors of fire spread and containment; 4) ecosystem dynamics under different natural and human-driven fire regimes; 5) post fire vegetation recovery, forest management and biodiversity conservation.
Special offer	Participants of the session are invited to contribute a paper to the special issue of the per-reviewed journal. Which will be organised after the conference.

II.4. Transformation of The Arctic and Subarctic Landscapes under Climate Change and Human Impact

Organizers	Gabriela Schaepman-Strub, Larisa Zotova, Ksenia Ermokhina
Institution(s)	University of Zurich, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS
Country	Switzerland, Russia
Session description	Permafrost landscapes occupy one-fourth of the world's land area and they are currently under intensive pressures of modern climate warming and anthropogenic impacts. The structural and functional organization of northern geosystems is determined by the permafrost temperature and ice content, depth of seasonal thawing, protective vegetation properties. These factors determine the cryogenic processes development such as thermokarst, thermal erosion, solifluction, frost heave and others. The mechanical damage arising during the operation of engineering facilities and mining, are widespread in the cryolithozone and intensify these processes. The landscape sustainability in the permafrost zone is the ability of landscapes to resist the activation of cryogenic processes. So, hazardous geoecological situations within high latitude areas are defined by an abrupt of cryogenic processes activation and radical biota change. Understanding the dynamics and stability of permafrost landscapes, predicting their future evolution, finding solutions to environmental problems and developing adaptation strategies to the changing climate are critically important today. Permafrost-landscape classifications and mapping are also very necessary for studying the natural environmental trends in "cold" regions. Thus, all studies of permafrost landscapes regarding theoretical aspects, new research methods, observation data analysis, and predictive modeling are welcome. The following topics must be discussed: 1. The methods of permafrost landscapes studies; 2. Permafrost landscapes classification; 3. Cryogenic landscapes stability to the exogenous processes activation. 4. Lithocryogenic and bioresource state of northern geosystems, environmental problems; 5. The effects of vegetation cover on the cryogenic landscapes state under climate warming; 6. Estimating and mapping the landscape sustainability and geoecological situations to current climate change and anthropogenic impacts; 7. Mapping, remote sensing, and geographical information system (GIS) modeling; 8. Infrastructure deformations in the Arctic and Subarctic under the influence of cryogenic processes, environmental measures; 8. Adaptation to environmental changes

II.5. Cryolithozone landscape dynamics under climatic changes

Organizers	Timofei Orlov, Olga Trapeznikova
Institution(s)	Sergeev Institute of Environmental Geoscience RAS
Country	Russia
Session description	A broad scope of up-to-date investigations involves landscapes with permafrost soil occupying vast areas, mainly in the Northern hemisphere (Russia, Canada, China, Alaska). In particular, many pieces of research deal with thermokarst landscapes. Different issues concerning the evolution of cryolithozone landscapes are especially urgent because of the climatic change. The practical importance of the topic results from a necessity of the behavior prognosis for engineering structures within the cryolithozone. The suggested session is expected to consider the following issues: 1. Patterns of landscape dynamics in the cryolithozone; 2. The impact of climate change on the cryolithozone landscape dynamics; 3. Modeling the landscape dynamics in the cryolithozone; 4. Dynamics of cryolithozone landscapes and natural risks; 5. The use of remote sensing in studying the landscape dynamics in the cryolithozone; 6. Dynamics of lacustrine thermokarst plains and thermokarst plains with fluvial erosion in the cryolithozone; 7. Sustainability of permafrost landscapes and methods for its assessment

II.7. Landscape epidemiology: environmental risk factors and disease distribution

Organizers	Svetlana Malkhazova, Varvara Mironova
Institution(s)	Lomonosov Moscow State University
Country	Russia
Session description	Many diseases are associated with particular landscapes. They include zoonoses (infections with natural nidality), anthroponoses (such as malaria, geohelminthoses, etc.), sapronoses (e.g. cholera). Landscape epidemiology deals with spatial dynamics of pathogens, their hosts and vectors populations’ interactions within natural environment. Also, there are some non-infectious diseases (e.g. geochemical endemies, diseases associated with environmental pollution) that may be associated with particular landscapes. Climate and land use change, anthropogenic influence on landscapes may lead to emergence of some new and increase in incidence of the old diseases, widening of natural habitats of disease hosts and vectors and other health-related issues. This session will consider the most important approaches related to landscape epidemiology problems: 1. identifying and mapping areas of distribution of diseases, their vectors and hosts in relation to the landscape structure; 2. spatial differentiation of host and vectors populations; 3. computer modelling of structures of hosts, vectors, and pathogens populations in relation to landscapes; 4. meteorological events affecting the spread of diseases in relation to the landscape structure, with special reference to the global warming; 5. evolution of landscapes, anthropogenic influence and predicting the related spread of diseases; 6. indicators and predictors of landscape-associated diseases and their monitoring; 7. methods of geospatial analysis and cartography in landscape epidemiology; 8. remote sensing and spatiotemporal analysis in landscape epidemiology; 9. disease surveillance, prevention and control by ecologically friendly methods with reference to landscape structure; 10. landscape approaches in the study of disease spread in urban settings.

II.8. Mountain landscapes: indicators of climate changes and suppliers of ecosystem service

Organizers	Dmitry Chernykh
Institution(s)	Institute for Water and Environmental Problems of the Siberian Branch of the RAS
Country	Russia
Session description	Mountain environments are fragile, marginal and people living in mountainous areas are exposed to environmental stressors as well as human stressors. Scientific topics of the section are: 1. The role of landscape information to climate change assessment in the mountains. 2. Mountain landscapes and their patches as paleo-environmental; archives and the indicators of modern climate change. 3. The use of landscape metrics as indicators for climate change in the mountains. 4. Assessment and mapping of the capacity of mountain landscapes to provide material, regulatory and cultural ecosystem services.

III. Historical landscape ecology - HLE

III.1. Long-Term Socio-Ecological Transitions: Towards Energy—Landscape Integrated Analysis of Global Land Use and Cover Change

Organizers	Joan Marull and Victor Matasov
Institution(s)	IERMB, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Agrarian-Technological Institute, RUDN University
Country	Spain, Russia
Session description	How farming energy flows historically have interacted with land systems? Land-use systems created by farming, animal husbandry and forestry can be seen as a spatial imprint of the biophysical flows driven by farmers, herders and lumberjacks in different bio-cultural landscapes over the world. This approach opens a bridge between two methodologies, which have been kept separated so far: the socio-metabolic accounting of energy through puts and balances of farm systems, and the landscape ecology metrics used to assess how different land cover patterns affect ecological processes and farm-associated biodiversity. It requires new models able to integrate long-term social metabolism and landscape ecology analysis, and find out the levels of land use heterogeneity and energy availability that may host greater species richness and related ecosystem services. These aims are relevant in a world facing a dilemma between increasing land use intensity to meet the growing demand of food, feed, fibres and fuels, while avoiding at the same time a dangerous biodiversity loss. Conservation biology has a long-lasting debate between land-sparing and land-sharing approaches to biodiversity maintenance, and it is increasingly acknowledged the role of functional land-use mosaics.

III.2. Environmental history of forest landscapes

Organizers	Olga Trapeznikova and Victor Matasov
Institution(s)	Sergeev Institute of Environmental Geoscience RAS, Agrarian-Technological Institute, RUDN University
Country	Russia
Session description	The forest zone of Eurasia remained a zone of gathering and hunting for a long time. However, agriculture gradually began to develop in it, but it could hardly feed a gradually growing population and thus was always accompanied by additional crafts, oriented to the natural resources of vast forests and bogs around. The session deals with the history of the taiga zone development and assimilation, as well as the study of the forming landscape economic complex. We invite geographers and historians to discuss the following issues: 1. historical and modern dynamics of forests and bogs under natural and man-made influence; 2. rational environmental management and sustainable development in the taiga zone in historical retrospective; 3. historical aspects of ecosystem services in the forest zone; 4. agrarian development of the forest zone and the current state.

III.3. Rural development and land use / land cover change: modern trends and major driving forces

Organizers	Oxana Klimanova, Alexey Naumov
Institution(s)	Lomonosov Moscow State University
Country	Russia
Session description	Despite of rapidly progressing urbanization, modern world requires a scientifically based strategy of rural development. This strategy should relay on complex approach, taking in consideration both natural and human features of rural areas and their interactions. Rural areas should be seen as a whole, comprising the environment, economy and society and studied at the most detailed regional level as possible. Modern methods of geographical analysis as remote sensing, GIS, and other offer major opportunities for research in this field. At the same time, rural-urban interactions, technological development of the agri-food sector, agricultural colonization, green economy progress and other processes make rural landscapes ever more diverse and the mission of their research becomes more and more complicated. Our aim is to learn from experiences of rural areas transformations in different countries and regions of the world and also discuss classical and innovative approaches and methods of land use and land cover changes analysis. Landscape science is indeed the most fruitful platform for reveal modern trends in development of rural areas and their driving forces and try to formulate responses to global challenges which their sustainable development is facing.

IV. Landscape assessment and planning - LAP

IV.1. Regional and Landscape Aspects of Ecosystem Services Assessments

Organizers	Elena Bukvareva and Karsten Grunewald
Institution(s)	Biodiversity Conservation Center, Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development
Country	Russia, Germany
Session description	The concept of ecosystem services (ES) is one of the most rapidly developing areas of environmental policy in the world. It allows to optimize nature management, receive sustainable benefits from the functioning of natural ecosystems and not to damage the living nature. Ecosystems of Russia are of global importance due to climate regulating ES and are a key component of national wealth. However, local and regional ES are not less important because they ensure the well-being of the population and the stability of the economy in the regions of Russia. At this scale, the balance of provided and used ES, as well as ES flows from ecosystems, which provide ES to ES consumers, depend on both natural and socio-economic characteristics of the landscape, as well as geometric features of landscape structure. In the scope of the session is the regional (landscape) scale with a perspective of implementation in practise and the following topics will be discussed in particular: 1. Concept of landscape ES – the specifics and applications for Russia; 2. The impact of landscape characteristics on the provision, demand and use of ES; 3. Estimation of trade-offs and synergies; 4. The impact of anthropogenic transformation of landscapes (ploughing, forest logging, construction of buildings and infrastructure, etc.) on ES provisioning; 5. The importance of biological and landscape diversity for ES provisioning; 6. ES of cultural landscapes; 7. Specific indicators and approaches to landscape ES evaluation; 8. The dynamics of landscape ES: historical changes, current trends and future projections; 9. Examples of the use of ES assessment for territorial planning.

IV.2. Landscape planning as a perspective tool for cooperation with nature: how to manage matter flows, emergent effects, and context-dependent values

Organizers	Alexander Khoroshev
Institution(s)	Lomonosov Moscow State University
Country	Russia
Session description	Determination of nature-based region-specific criteria for land use planning remains the critical challenge for landscape ecology and physical geography. Using the landscape concept for spatial planning procedures implies that planning decisions consider interactions between geocomponents (i.e. parent rocks, water, air, soil, vegetation, animals) and possible chain reactions between them under exterior impact, remote effects “impact here – effect there”, and specific emergent effects resulting from combined influences of landscape units. This follows from understanding landscape as a system. The geosystem approach to landscape planning deals with the properties and the internal energy, water and matter turnovers of landscape systems and uses biophysical units as a base for distributing land use types in space. The session will focus on the principal aim of landscape planning, that is how to adapt land use to natural units, to imitate natural flows and processes as perfectly as possible, and to support or create appropriate proportions and neighbourhoods of land use units. The context-based landscape planning is understood as the due consideration for both intrinsic properties of a unit and its value in a broad (regional, national, or international) spatial context. The purpose of our session is to discuss the tools for landscape planning aimed at answering the following questions: 1. What spatial context-based criteria and at which scale should be applied for ecologically safe allocation of land use types in a landscape? 2. How to consider involvement of a landscape unit to matter and energy flows while choosing the appropriate land use type? 3. Which combinations, proportions and neighbourhoods of land use units are needed in various geographical conditions to ensure sustainable landscape functioning and to meet human needs?

IV.4. Envisioning multifunctional sustainably productive and biodiversity friendly landscapes: Mainstreaming Nature Based Solutions beyond demonstration projects in urban and rural areas

Organizers	Ina Säumel
Institution(s)	Integrative Research Institute on Transformations of Human-Environment Systems, Humboldt University Berlin
Country	Germany
Session description	Accelerated land-use change and urbanization are mayor drivers of global change and affect a sustainable use of natural resources, reduces ecosystem resilience and biodiversity, vanishes traditional landscapes, and jeopardizes regional diversity, coherence and local identity in both urban and rural areas. In this session, we focus on multifunctionality as a strategy for healthy, biodiversity-friendly and sustainable productive urban and rural landscapes. We share experiences with the implementation of innovative concepts for sustainable land management by using historical land use techniques to create a common identity. We search for planning instruments to strengthen environmental justice and health-related ecosystem services for local communities. A promising concept is the mainstreaming of nature-based solutions to enhance social and climate resilience of landscapes. We discuss methodological approaches that create knowledge for the practice and not for the drawer such as the development of guidelines, planning instruments and optimized land use models for application and economic utilization. One plus one is sometimes more than two: A multi-stakeholder approach from citizens to high level decision makers expands perspectives and horizons of experience lead them to new research questions and innovative solutions that provide benefits for everyone. Furthermore, we share experiences to open up new knowledge fields with the help of citizen science in local schools in order to encourage a participatory and emancipatory generation of knowledge with children as curious scientists and informed citizens of tomorrow. The main goal of the session is 1) to review the state of the art of ecological measures, nature based solutions and associated ecosystem services and to analyse knowledge gaps and 2) to open the discussion on strategies for the planning of sustainable and healthy landscapes with an efficient network of multifunctional infrastructures.
Special offers	Selected proposals for the session will be invited to submit a paper in the upcoming special issue on “Urban agriculture and resilient cities” of the MDPI publication ‘Smart Cities’. The chairs will search for a similar possibility for publications in rural landscapes.

IV.5. Social-ecological system dynamics: challenges and opportunities to strengthen the science-policy interface for a sustainable land management

Organizers	M. Schultze, K. Merekalova & C. Fürst
Institution(s)	Martin-Luther-University, Moscow Lomonosov State University
Country	Germany, Russia
Session description	Understanding social-ecological system dynamics toward a sustainable land management is often hampered by nested human-environmental interactions. The interplay of rising population growth, resource mismanagement and climate changes requests to rethink how humans are related to ecosystems, given the evidence that traditional land practices have been performed on a sectoral basis such agriculture or forestry. This limits cooperative relations (e.g. sharing actionable knowledge) between scientists, practitioners and policy-makers resulting in socio-environmental problems. Thus, resource management is often determined by feedbacks between short-running policy impacts, mid-term societal demands and long-lasting ecosystem health (Cooper & Dearing 2019). Adopting multi-disciplinary concepts will help to strengthen the science-policy interface to make better land management decisions across spatio-temporal scales. The symposium will untangle challenges facing social-ecological systems that are useful to find a common language in sustainable land practices. By integrating smart modelling methods, advanced participatory approaches and environmental governance, a co-production of scientific knowledge as well as stakeholder information will enhance the interface of science-based policy creation. Novel social-ecological practice thinking allows to address (I) practitioner’s beliefs, ideas or rationales (II) to quantify sustainable management practices for a (III) sufficient decision-making to reinforce the correspondence between scientists, practitioners and policy-makers. To achieve these goals, we will raise the questions: 1. How can scientists, practitioners and policy-makers interactions be improved to contribute to sustainable land management decision-making actions? 2. What are the substantial knowledge gaps that may hamper the science-policy interface? 3. How may social-ecological practice modelling provide information for a closer research integration into situated decision-making? 4. Finally, the output of the symposium will be summarized in a research paper that synthesizes most important information to provide innovative theoretical and practical approaches to boost the scientific-practice-policy integration for a sustainable land management.

IV.6. Objectification of subjective value and perception of a landscape

Organizers	Eugeny Kolbowsky and Tatiana Kharitonova
Institution(s)	Lomonosov Moscow State University
Country	Russia
Session description	In the postmodern world, when a person is getting freed from labor, the leisure activities are becoming more in demand. A relaxing person pays more attention and has a greater need for the cultural quality and significance of a place. Therefore, the identification and design of an aesthetically attractive, culturally significant environment is becoming an increasingly important task of landscape science. Cultural symbols and values are personal and subjective, but science does not tolerate subjectivity. The solution of the task requires the development of formal criteria for assessing the attractiveness of a landscape. One of the well-known and widely used criteria is the degree of anthropogenic disturbance of the territory. But does human intervention always deteriorate the aesthetic quality of the environment, and how should urban landscapes be assessed in this case? Can green infrastructure be considered as a major factor of the emotional comfort in an urban environment? How traditional land management created an attractive environment? The other important issue is a spatial visualization of the cultural value of a landscape. Which spatial units most adequately convey landscape integrity that makes the landscape attractive, and how should the landscape neighborhood be taken into account in the process of estimation of landscape attractiveness? We invite speakers to make presentations on the following topics: 1. modern aesthetic theory and assessment of the attractiveness of the landscape; 2. 3D metrics in landscape cultural value assessment; 3. cultural landscape and globalization: why we are concerned about the preservation and rehabilitation of traditional historical landscapes; 4. promising approaches to modeling of cultural landscapes and evaluating related intangible eco-services; 5. perception and attractiveness of urban landscapes in human geography agenda

V. Land use and land management - LULM

V.1. Landscape Studies and Tourism Management of Protected Areas

Organizers	Vera Chizhova, Natalia Luzhkova
Institution(s)	Lomonosov Moscow State University, V.B. Sochava Institute of Geography SB RAS
Country	Russia
Session description	Nature conservation is an important tool in land and water management. Natural landscapes constitute Protected Areas (PAs) with various statuses and preservation regimes. The fragility of certain landscape components, landscape structure and uniqueness substantiate assessment and establishment of a new PA. Land use restrictions in many typical and fragile ecosystems all over the world have shown the effectiveness of preserving the pristine environment for future generations in nature reserves, national parks, and wildlife sanctuaries. At the same time, wildlife, a high variety of landscapes, their attractiveness increased the demand for tourism in protected areas. National and natural parks have created an established practice of host visitors, but other categories of protected areas, such as nature reserves and wildlife sanctuaries, still have difficulties in regulation of tourist flows. Even in the well-managed protected areas, an ever-growing number of visitors causes problems: an increase in the anthropogenic load, landscape degradation, soil erosion and other. Research methods may vary significantly depending on the type of landscape and the intensity of visits to protected areas. But they are all based on the study of landscapes, their structure and features that help to create a special tourist infrastructure, to manage the flow of tourists and to predict possible negative impacts on nature. We invite speakers to study the following and related topics: 1. The study of landscapes, their components and value for managing tourism and recreation in protected areas; 2. Peculiarities of tourism management in protected areas with different landscape conditions; 3. Anthropogenic impact assessment for visitor flow regulation; 4. Creating infrastructure for different types of tourists; 5. Providing accessible environments to disabled people; 6. Ecosystem services assessment for tourism development in pristine landscapes and PAs.

V.4. Transformation of the Eurasian grassland landscapes: the patterns, drivers and implications

Organizers	Alexander V. Prishchepov, Ksenia Myachina, Ilya Smelansky
Institution(s)	University of Copenhagen; Institute of Steppe, RAS;
Country	Denmark, Russia
Session description	The Eurasian grasslands are vulnerable ecosystems and play an important role in global biogeochemical cycling, host biodiversity, but also important for the economy and societal well being. The Eurasian grasslands have been substantively altered by massive agricultural expansion during the 20 century and recent partial or complete deactivation/ abandonment of farming in some parts of the Eurasian grassland belt. However, the patterns of land transformation across the Eurasian grassland belt still remain elusive, as well as implications for the landscape re-configuration and various ecological processes. Concurrently, other pressures, such as a change in climatic conditions may alter the ecosystem functioning of the Eurasian grasslands. We invite the talks that present the recent advances in research on the landscape -change precesses across the Eurasian grasslands, the interplay among the different components of grassland landscapes and recent progress about the understanding of the driving mechanisms of grassland transformation in Eurasia. We are interested in various types of grassland communities, including steppes, meadows in temperate landscapes, grassland communities in the Arctic. We particularly invite the studies stemming from landscape ecology, landscape science, land-use modeling and spatial analysis. Studies with the elements of Earth Observation are also welcomed, but have to reflect the major scope of the session and the conference.

V.5. Coadaptation and coevolution of human-nature interaction in agricultural landscapes

Organizers	Daniil Kozlov
Institution(s)	V.V. Dokuchaev Soil Science Institute, RAS
Country	Russia
Session description	The thousand years heritage of the agricultural management (mechanical, chemical, biological, informational) and adaptive management developed in the process of coadaptation of natural and social systems do not compromise the demand for research and development support in agriculture in modern era. The conflict between the intensification and greening trends in agriculture is among the headlines of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and can be viewed as a grand challenge for research and development globally. Placing crops and new varieties in optimal ecological niches, creation of the optimal aeration and water supply in the root zone, sustainable plant nutrition and crop protection can be done in the framework of landscape-and-ecologically adapted agriculture. This section is devoted to theoretical issues of optimizing the socio-economic and ecological functions of agricultural landscapes, methods for land agroecological assessment and monitoring, technologies for maintaining the environmental stability of agricultural landscapes, restoring degraded ones and creating new agricultural systems with desired properties. Multi-disciplinary contributions on the trade-offs in and across multifunctional landscapes to accomplish good socio-ecological system managements are very welcome.

V.6. Urban Green Infrastructure and Ecosystem Services

Organizers	Ralf-Uwe Syrbe and Liliia Sulkarnaeva
Institution(s)	Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development, Tyumen State University
Country	Germany, Russia
Session description	Green Infrastructure is a strategically planned network of high quality natural and semi-natural areas with other environmental features. The primary purpose of these areas is to deliver a wide range of ecosystem services and protect biodiversity. This explicitly includes green infrastructure in urban areas. This relatively new planning approach is promising in order to address both the environmental and social problems of modern cities. It is potential for that, and first experiences with the application shall stand in the focus of this session. Thereby, there is a strong need in valuation, assessment, and use for the specification of several kinds of urban ecosystem services. In particular, the linking-up of urban green elements; a complement to the so-called „Grey Infrastructure“, which comprises the transportation, water and energy networks should be regarded and used for innovative contributions to city planning. The scientific concept and its implementation bear many challenges that should be addressed. Contributions dealing with the concepts of green infrastructure and ecosystem services, in general, are welcome. In particular, we would like to encourage talks that address the particular challenges providing new approaches, methods, experiences and implementation examples about: 1. the multi-functionality of urban green; 2. the several kinds of green and blue spaces which are part of the urban green infrastructure; 3. their contribution to people, biodiversity, and climate change adaptation; 4. trade-offs between urban ecosystem services and biodiversity; 5. the connectivity between green spaces at different scales; 6. multi-scale and multi-object approaches of green infrastructure; 7. Nature-Based Solutions, i.e. actions enhance nature’s ability to deliver multiple valuable ecosystem goods and services; 8. How green spaces in cities do significantly enhance the well-being of urban residents. Contributions are welcome from field, experimental, and modelling to methodological and conceptual studies across all temporal and spatial scales.

V.7. Green and Blue for Re-Naturing Cities

Organizers	Olga Likhacheva and Anton Shkaruba
Institution(s)	Pskov State University, Estonian University of Life Sciences
Country	Russia, Estonia
Session description	Green and Blue infrastructure for re-naturing cities is a planning approach with a long history. The value of open spaces with vegetation for neighbourhood liveability was recognised decades ago, as reflected in several generations of planning textbooks, and in planning forms of many cities, such as e.g. in «water and green diameters» of fUSSR cities created in the 1970-80s, “green belts” in the UK and the Netherlands or the “finger plan” of Copenhagen. With the global environmental change recognised and operationalised, green and blue also became associated with concepts of “resilient”, “climate-neutral”, “climate-friendly”, “adaptive” etc cities. City re-naturing became visible in planning agendas and international literature as well, as urban and territorial planning were absorbing concepts of ecosystem services and nature-based solutions (NBS), while attracting and maintaining wild nature to/in cities. A raise of green and blue in city planning discussions and agendas took different or even contrast forms on the ground, due to diverging planning and management priorities. For instance, in most countries within the former USSR, on one hand, there are many incentives to maintain green spaces in cities and to develop NBS (e.g. cultural & recreational needs of citizens, sanitary requirements and building rules & standards, well-advertised best international practices appealing to the youth etc), but on the other hand, they often crash into the economic and planning realities as well as cultural perceptions & behavioural deadlocks. As commonly observed in the Global North, NBS do not appear to deliver on their promise, because either the expectations were unreasonably high, or the implementation was poor or compromised due to conflicts with competent authorities or expert groups overseeing infrastructure safety, sanitation or environmental quality. Keeping this background information in mind, we invite speakers addressing the following or related issues: 1. Perception of “green & blue” in urban landscape by citizens: what they want, what they get, and how we learn; 2. Dilemmas between “green & blue” and “cheap & neat”: planning priorities and quality of urban landscapes; 3. Enabling and disabling conditions for the development of “green & blue” in urban environments; 4. Urban wildlife and quality of urban environments: a multistakeholder perspective; 5. Management of green & blue infrastructure and NBS, including promotion and access; 6. Knowledge transfer, applicability and replicability of nature-based solutions

V.9. Landscape structure and land use of mountain countries

Organizers	Alexey Gunya, Marina Petrushina, K. Ramesh
Institution(s)	Institute of Geography RAS, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Wildlife Institute of India
Country	Russia, India
Session description	Mountainous landscapes play the important role for the preservation of environmental sustainability, biodiversity, water supply of lowland areas, etc. due to their special position in the landscape structure of the Earth. But they are more dynamic and sensitive to the inner natural and anthropogenic impact that leads to the variety of responses to the global changes and often to the deterioration of their ecological state. Increasingly, mountain landscapes are being paid attention to as indicators of global change and as potential niches underlying life support. The landscape approach allows us to create the basis for the synthesis of various-scale changes in the mountains and thereby ensure sustainable resource use. The issues that are at the center of the discussions in the session are the following: 1. Structure and dynamics of mountain landscapes; 2. Ecological role of mountain landscapes in the landscape structure of the Earth; 3. Mountain landscape response to climate change; 4. Specifics of landscape planning and zoning in mountainous areas; 5. Landscape support for development and sustainable development of mountain regions.

The conference «Landscape Science and Landscape Ecology: Considering Responses to Global Challenges» is dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the Department of Physical Geography and Landscape Science at Moscow State University and additional session within the conference will be also in Russian.

Conference 2020