LAWI301500 Landscape planning project (landscape planning, recreational planning, environment protection and planning, spatial planning, water planning)

Type
Project course
Semester hours
5
Lecturer (assistant)
Reinwald, Florian
Organisation
Landscape Planning
Offered in
Sommersemester 2026
Languages of instruction
Deutsch, Englisch
Content

Vienna Woods Landscape Plan

The Vienna Woods are a UNESCO biosphere park and one of the most important landscapes in eastern Austria. They fulfill key functions for biodiversity, climate, water balance, recreation, and agriculture—and at the same time are under pressure from climate change, settlement pressure, and intensive use.

The landscape plan provides a strategic framework for securing and developing this area for the future. The Vienna Woods landscape plan builds on existing plans such as the Green Ring and the Green Spaces Model and develops them further as a joint regional planning perspective for the landscape at the interface between nature conservation and spatial planning. In doing so, different circumstances such as land ownership structures and protection categories are also to be taken into account.

The focus is on the following topics:
• Development of settlement edges (accessibility and permeability)
• Pressure of use and disturbance of natural areas due to consumption and leisure activities
• Preservation of climate functions (cold air formation and fresh air corridors, further development of core zones)
• Land use trilemma: balancing production, recreational use, and nature conservation in one area
• Natural hazard prevention: dealing with extreme weather events, adaptation of forest vegetation, and recreational use


Using selected focus areas, new approaches to strategic nature conservation—including climate conservation and renaturation measures in the context of the EU Restoration Regulation—are discussed. Cooperation, awareness raising, and public participation play a central role in this, as does strengthening the population's identification with the Vienna Woods Biosphere Reserve.

The project aims to provide comprehensive basic knowledge about the landscape plan as a tool and, using the specific landscape area of the Vienna Woods as an example, to work independently on spatial development dynamics and strategic planning approaches. After a general introduction to the topic through lectures, two days of fieldwork and interviews with experts will form the basis for further work.

Important dates:
• Course start: March 4, 2026, 2:00–6:00 p.m.
• First day of fieldwork: March 25, 2026 – all day!
• Second day of fieldwork: April 29, 2026 – all day!
• Final presentation: June 24, 2026, 2:00–6:00 p.m.
Previous knowledge expected

• Basic knowledge of nature conservation in Vienna and Lower Austria and UNESCO Biosphere Reserve designation
• GIS skills
Objective (expected results of study and acquired competences)

• Understanding of the ecological, climatic, and cultural significance of the Vienna Woods
• Insight into biosphere park instruments, monitoring, and decision-making processes
• Ability to apply and further develop instruments related to nature conservation, planning, and regional development
• Analysis of the challenges posed by climate functions, recreational use, agriculture/viticulture, and biodiversity in the Vienna Woods
• Development of spatial-strategic approaches in the interests of climate-effective nature conservation and sustainable regional development
• Conception of a research or survey design and independent implementation
• Preparation and presentation of results from field research
You can find more details like the schedule or information about exams on the course-page in BOKUonline.