Our Research on Landscapes
Our research focuses on the complex interactions within and between landscapes through five interdisciplinary thematic areas.
Understanding landscapes
Landscape research at Newcastle University examines the complex relationships between people and the environment in the past, present and future.
Landscape is understood in many ways by different people and therefore provides myriad opportunities for transdisciplinary working and research. This includes (i) as a concept and way of thinking by researchers and (ii) as a physical and administrative entity, particularly by professionals and policy-makers in relation to development, spatial plans, quality of life, identities, cultures and sustainability indicators.
Our interdisciplinary thematic areas include:
Climate change, technology, disease, and other vectors create even more rapid landscape change. What is the impact on people’s wellbeing when there is rapid change and adaptation in landscapes? Are humans capable of tackling constant, accelerating landscape change?
Landscapes bring people together using shared resources and common objectives. People can also be separated in landscapes through exclusive property rights, natural and human-induced disasters, policy and physical features. How can future landscapes be participatory, just and democratic?
Our collaborative research uses many digital methods including GIS, remote sensing, digital survey, artificial intelligence and acoustic modelling. If you are interested in our work on Digital Landscapes or would like to get involved in our research, please get in touch.
Challenges from intensification, abandonment and climate change affect landscapes at all scales. Landscape approaches for interdisciplinary research provide opportunities for researchers and policymakers that allow them to understand the impacts of complex social and environmental challenges.
This centre is uniquely placed to cut across traditional subjects and time periods. We develop new methods for analysing physical and intangible aspects of past landscapes. Key competencies include landscape history and historical geography; geoarchaeology, paleoenvironments and landscape change.
