Research

Landscape Architecture (LA) has been linked together by numerous historical and contemporary connections and interdependencies across Europe and beyond. Its archives will now be used as a resource to create a comprehensive pan-European narrative of landscape history. The COST Action ‘Connecting Landscape Architecture Archives to enhance European landscape practice, research and education (ConnectLAA)’ will, for the first time, bring together information on the content of European LA archives and make it available worldwide on a digital platform. The involvement of different disciplines such as landscape architecture, cultural studies, art history, archival science, and IT will ensure that the highest scientific and technical standards are achieved in archival management, access, and cultural heritage preservation, and that the archives can be used as knowledge sources for innovative research and education. The focus will be on using advanced technologies to improve the quality, sustainability, use, and reuse of data. The mix of Proposers from different institutions and NGOs, the involvement of practitioners, and the development of innovative learning materials and a common thesaurus will ensure the promotion of promising careers and the development of groundbreaking international research projects that will support heritage agency and reveal previously undiscovered histories concerning places beyond Europe, addressing issues related to the migration and decolonization of collections. It is the basis for building a community of practice to continue to promote international access to data and support the creation of new archives and collections, particularly in ITCs, where the majority of the team are based.

Biodiversity loss is considered the next big global crisis, overshadowing the COVID‐19 pandemic and climate change. Biodiversity loss and climate change are interlinked and mutually reinforcing. However, many people perceive both biodiversity loss and climate change as abstract and psychologically distant threats. Citizens and farmers may struggle with translating these global crises into imminent concerns they can identify and act on in their local livelihood. BIODIVERCITI engages citizens and farmers to reflect on the interrelation between biodiversity loss and climate change and the role they personally play in these crises in a familiar environment – their own garden and cropland. The project analyses how beliefs and behaviours may transfer from biodiversity to climate action in order to transform mindsets and practices. BIODIVERCITI aims to close the gap how to leverage engagement with biodiversity to simultaneously advance engagement with climate action. Therein, the project pursues four research questions: - Which improvements in biodiversity indicators can be achieved? - How do individual climate action and efficacy beliefs change? - How may citizens and farmers collaborate for combating biodiversity loss and climate change? - How may gardens and farmland provide conjunctive elements in habitats? BIODIVERCITI is a multi‐stakeholder citizen science project. The project involves and observes citizens and farmers and their respective gardens and cropland over the timeframe of two vegetation periods. Citizens and farmers receive personal advice on enhancing biodiversity, observe their garden/cropland and are evaluated how their attitudes and beliefs change. Each participating citizen is supported and trained in biodiversity‐enhancing elements and techniques suitable for their garden, which species may benefit, and how to identify and monitor these species. Farmers are grouped by their participation in the Austrian agri‐environmental programme ÖPUL and supplementary organic farming certification.

As part of various research projects, the Institute of Landscape Development, Recreation and Conservation Planning has developed a comprehensive set of methods and tools that are used in research projects and case studies to investigate the visual impact of wind power development using realistic interactive 3D visualizations and to discuss these with stakeholders and/or the local population. The results of this process form a central basis for assessing the impact of wind turbines on the landscape. The approach is innovative in terms of its accuracy (based on high-resolution geodata), realism, interactivity (animation of wind turbines and vegetation, free choice of day and time, change of atmospheric conditions such as haze, clouds, etc.) and interaction possibilities (immersive VR glasses, switching between different expansion scenarios, free choice of location, etc.) and thus an important tool when it comes to assessing the visual impact, especially in sensitive and significant landscape areas such as World Heritage regions or protected areas. In this project, realistic interactive visualizations will be developed and implemented for the planned expansion of a wind farm between Andau and Halbturn. The visualization will be presented in a stakeholder workshop on site to discuss and evaluate the impact on the surrounding landscapes, especially on the UNESCO World Heritage Fertő-Neusiedler See.