New resilience strategies for the Dyje River basin: a European project proposes innovative scenarios for climate change adaptation.

It is possible to design territories capable of resist the climate crisis without sacrificing biodiversity and historical identity? The answer, today more than ever, could lie in transcending disciplinary boundaries. An interesting academic experiment brought together landscape architecture students from six universities to imagine the future of Přítlucký polder, a site of great naturalistic and cultural value destined to suffer the effects of climate change.

Interdisciplinary approach and geodesign for the Přítlucký polder

Il Přítlucký polder It is located in the floodplain of the Dyje River, near the borders with Austria and Slovakia. This drained stretch of land (polder, precisely), inserted in a context of undoubted historical and naturalistic value, has a critical function: protect the area from floods, which are expected to become more and more frequent.

Historically, the landscape of the area was dominated by extensive alluvial forests and wet meadows. Then, between the 1970s and 1980s, the three artificial reservoirs of Nové Mlýny – designed for flood control, irrigation, and recreation – which drastically altered the landscape. Vast areas of floodplain forests and natural meadows were submerged, while the downstream areas were drained and partially converted to agriculture.

Many species lost their natural habitats, and biodiversity decreased significantly. Thus, starting from the 2000s, the Protected Landscape Areas of Soutok and Pálava, which together with the Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1996, today represent important resources for the region, whose local economy is focused on small-scale viticulture and tourism.

The Přítlucký polder also has a strategic role in the protection of the territory, which is destined to undergo a increase in flood events, therefore, it is the ideal context to test the integration of landscape protection with climate change risk management. A study recently published in the journal "Discover Cities” presents the results of an interesting project involving several landscape architecture students from six universities in Central Europe who were confronted with theapplication of resilience strategies that took into account the most recent findings from the various disciplines that, together, give form and substance to landscape planning.

Geodesign and the evaluation of ecosystem services

The project involved four student teams coming from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Austria and Poland, who were asked to apply an interdisciplinary approach that took into account the principles of ecological planning, the valuation of ecosystem services and the concept of geodesign introduced by Carl Steinitz, who proposes large-scale land use through future development scenarios.

As can be read in the case study on the Přítlucký polder,

"The use of scenarios is a key tool in this context, as it allows the simulation of alternative options and the comparison of their impacts.".

A fundamental step,

"if landscape architecture aspires to going beyond the design of gardens, parks and public spaces, towards larger-scale planning and adaptation to climate change".

La valuation of ecosystem services, in such a context, is particularly important because – by providing a framework that integrates natural, cultural, and economic aspects – it allows us to evaluate the impact of specific measures and compare different development scenarios. Let's talk about the international framework. TEEB (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity), launched in 2007 during the G8+5 Environment Summit in Potsdam at the suggestion of Germany, with the aim of making the economic value of ecosystem services visible and integrating it into decision-making and administrative processes. To give a very simple and concrete example, which is also relevant to the case study, consider wetlands, which provide protection and control from flooding, allowing significant savings on the construction of artificial defense structures.

In the case of Přítlucký, the researchers have selected 4 ecosystem services and analyzed and evaluated them individually: flood protection, food production, biodiversity, and recreation and tourism.

Climate Resilience in a Risk Area: Solutions and Future Challenges

The four teams have developed different scenarios: the proposed solutions range from the creation of buffer zones between forests and agricultural land to be used for horse grazing, the creation of canals and new wetlands, but also include the conversion of some hilly areas into flower beds and community gardens and the modification of private fences to facilitate the passage of small animals.

As the authors of the case study observe, despite the differences in the proposed measures, some differences emerge: five main themes: 1) Biodiversity and habitat connectivity, 2) Response to water resource management issues, 3) Integration between agriculture and ecology, 4) Recreational function and education and 5) Overcoming physical barriers. The approach focused on the assessment of ecosystem services, although limited to only 4 ES, has allowed us to demonstrate with concrete examples how the planned measures would affect each individual ecological service:

“In this way, it was possible to implement systemic thinking and sensitivity to the potential and conditions of the site into the design process,”

The study reads. And it is here that a certain structural conflict emerges, which is perhaps the strongest achievement of this academic experiment:

“Educational models aim to simulate real-world planning conditions, but inevitably struggle to capture the complexity of bureaucratic constraints, conflicts of interest, and economic feasibility.”

While it is essential that students are prepared for decision-making and negotiation processes, on the other hand, professional practice would benefit from the integration of interdisciplinary collaboration processes informed by thescenario-based learning.

“Preparing future professionals to work creatively and systemically is not only an educational goal, but also a social necessity in the era of climate change,”

the authors conclude.

Here are three insights that might interest you:

The Earth Archive: Rural Landscapes and Sustainability
Designing for Biodiversity: From Architects to Habitat Creators
Biodiversity and well-being: new models of rural development