Mission
Landscape qualities, landscape functions and landscape policies are the subject of our studies. Most of our research is on the historical changes, present-day management and future perspectives of lowland landscapes, with a special emphasis on river and delta systems. Our team involves the disciplines of physical geography, landscape ecology and public policy analysis. We work in the Netherlands as well as abroad, in Europe, Asia and South America, mainly on a national or regional level.
Main Actvities
- In the study of the physical and ecological patterns and processes we try to understand why landscapes change, and which characteristics of the landscape determine its quality, in order to contribute to a sustainable land use planning. We develop methods for geomorphological mapping and GIS, landscape monitoring and quality assessment, scenario studies involving plan design and plan evaluation, and landscape ecological modelling.
- In the study of public policies, we try to understand how the present public policies work and how the landscape, spatial planning and public organisation is best to be managed in the future.
Our strategy is to combine these two aspects into truly integrated projects, and also try to link the knowledge obtained on various scale levels.
Main Themes
Our projects can be classified roughly into the following themes: