Thoughts from the IALE European Congress in Bratislava
Landscape Ecology UK chair Marc Metzger reports from the recent IALE European Congress
The International Association for Landscape Ecology European Congress took place in Bratislava from 2-5 September. The conference brought together over 450 landscape ecologists from across Europe and beyond, including a health delegation from the UK. This was the first in person European congress since 2017, and was a joyful reunion for some, and a warm welcome to the friendly community for a new generation of landscape ecologists.
Set in the newly renovated science faculty of the Comenius University (the last coats of paint applied only the week before), we met in the historical heart of landscape ecology. In 1982, the International Association for Landscape Ecology was formally established in Piešťany (near Bratislava) during the 6th international ‘landscape symposium’, organised since the 1960s by an emerging network of mainly Central European and Russian researchers, with growing interest from Dutch and German colleagues. The venerable Prof. László Miklós’, who participated in the early discussions, outlined these early developments in his keynote, reminiscing about the challenges, heated discussions, and frictions with other learned societies when establishing landscape ecology as a new discipline.
I had the honour of giving the second keynote, somewhat enigmatically titled Landscape Ecology: an undiscipline?, questioning whether landscape ecology may have lost some of its edge by becoming mainstream. Considering the urgent wicked problems facing our rapidly changing world, I argued that landscape ecology could more boldly position itself as different from traditional academic disciplines… as an undiscipline perhaps? I suggested that landscape ecology should embrace undisciplinarity, using a diverse methods, collaborative interpersonal skills, and creativity to find solutions to the interactive and emergent landscape scale challenges we face.
Other notable Landscape Ecology UK contributions included a presentation by Claire Wood (UKCEH) providing an overview ongoing legacy of the Bunce strategic ecological surveys, including the Countryside Survey and Woodland Survey, a half-day session led by Jenny Hodgson (University of Liverpool) on using the CONDATIS connectivity analysis software, and a presentation by Chloe Bellamy (Forest Research) explaining the new Forest Biodiversity Index.
I thoroughly enjoyed a week of connecting, learning and laughing with colleagues from around Europe. It reassuring to see common challenges and insightful to learn more about the diversity of Europe’s wonderful landscapes.
Marc Metzger
