Students and staff

Participation in the European Landscape Ecology Congress in Bratislava

The picture shows a boat with two women sitting in it, holding a map and pointing to details on it. In the background is a river and a riverbank with trees and bushes.
The picture shows a boat with two women sitting in it, holding a map and pointing to details on it. In the background is a river and a riverbank with trees and bushes.
The picture shows a map of the river, which someone is holding in their hands.
The picture shows presenter Anita Zariņa. In the background, on the right-hand side, there is a blackboard, and on the left-hand side, there is an image from a projector.
The picture shows a river. In the middle, there is a concrete bridge, which is also under water. Further away, there is a riverbank with trees.

From 2–5 September, the project “Water Cultures” was represented at the European Landscape Ecology Congress in Bratislava, Slovakia. Project researcher Anita Zariņa (with co-authors Ivo Vinogradovs and Artis Svece) took part in the landscape ethics session, presenting on the role of beaver presence in debates on river naturalness, the controversies around river “cleaning” practices, and the interpretation of natural barriers from the perspective of conservation and water management experts.

Her presentation raised the question of whether “naturalness” in today’s management paradigm should be understood as an ethical category or rather as an ontological one. It also asked whether landscapes can be governed solely through control, or whether coexistence with other species is possible.

In addition to her presentation, Anita Zariņa co-chaired a session on the use of oral history in landscape ecology, took part in discussions of the Historical Ecology Working Group, and, together with colleagues, joined a field excursion in the Danube valley to explore nature restoration practices such as reconnection of side-arms, riverbank re-naturalisation, and other approaches.

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