Abstract - Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization PAS

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Land use and land cover changes (LULC) and their impact on potential soil erosion, road density as transfer routes of material and water to channels as well as channel level changes were studied in three catchments (~20 km2 each) in the central part of the Polish Western Carpathians in 1975-2015. It was hypothesised that short-term LULC changes during transition from a centrally planned to a free-market economy are sufficient to modify selected elements of the environment and that these changes can be identified in a measurable way. The analysis of aerial photographs and socio-economic data indicates that during the investigated period, the forest area increased by 20-27%, with a continuous decrease of cultivated land by 89-93% in the three catchments. LULC changes were accompanied by continuous population density growth by 29-50% and a decrease of the population dependent only on agriculture to less than 5%. Analyses confirmed the hypothesis that the environment was significantly modified due to the LULC changes. Abandonment of cultivated land, forest succession and a decrease in used road density, have resulted in lower efficiency of slope wash and sediment transport within the 4th-order catchments. This has led to an interruption of aggradation and initiated channel deepening by approximately 1 cm∙year-1 after the introduction of a free-market economy in 1989.
Landscape ecology and related sub-disciplines like geoecology and comprehensive physical geography are among the most applied of the geographical sciences. Comprehensive diagnosis, evaluation, planning and forecasting of human-environment interactions, as applied to spatial management or physical development, is the main direction in which ecological and landscape knowledge is seen to find application. In the light of that, the research presented here sought to present directions of application of landscape ecology among Polish researchers, in the years 1983-2017. The presentation was in the context of scientific research, with the most important monographs thematically convergent with these directions indicated. In the light of the expert and research achievements to date and the human-resources potential, prospects for the development of the sub-discipline were then outlined. Diagnostic and planning-related environmental studies of a mandatory nature, as well as environmental impact assessments and optional diagnostic studies were the kinds found to have been performed most frequently (accounting for 57% of the total). In turn, among the 35 detailed types of studies identified, the kinds produced most frequently involved thematic maps (mainly of a sozological nature), eco-physiographic studies and environmental impact reports (together accounting for 1/3 of all expert opinions). Expert opinions were most often commissioned by public administration (in 3/4 of all cases), be this local (in 1/3 of cases), regional or central. Expert opinions were most often produced for Commune Offices (26.7%) or the Offices of the Marshals at regional level (10%), or else for Ministries (mainly the Ministry of the Environment), or for industrial or infrastructural enterprises. The greatest numbers of expert opinions originated at the Gdańsk, Warsaw, Poznań, Opole, Łódź and Lublin centres. Landscape ecologists from individual centres specialise in selected directions of application, as is the case for Gdańsk (environmental impact assessments and GIS databases); Warsaw (diagnostic environmental studies); Lublin (studies of the optional type), and Kielce (obligatory planning--related studies). Within the six basic groups of studies – of which four are divided into two subgroups – there are several dozen examples of specific topics of expertise and a similar number of monograph titles presented. Changes in Polish legislation on science and higher education, as introduced in 2018, ay affect the organisation of institutions and research processes. Landscape ecologists will find themselves in two main areas (the social sciences as well as the pure and natural sciences) and disciplines (socio-economic geography and spatial management, as well as earth and environmental sciences), and some will also be found in technical and engineering sciences (environmental engineering, urban planning and architecture). Consequences of this might be either negative or positive, as the development might either activate interdisciplinary contacts or reduce opportunities for cooperation. At the same time, the state rules for assessing applications relating to scientific advancement or applying for funds for research projects still treat participation in the implementation of commercial projects marginally. Among the criteria for assessing the activity of scientific entities (and constituting the basis for their financing), the commercialisation of research in the form of application of scientific work confirmed by enterprises or public administration is also limited. This leaves the fate of Polish landscape ecology as hard to predict unambiguously, though, given the interdisciplinarity and desired directions of research resulting from the challenges of civilisation – the likelihood is that it will remain at the current level, or even develop further.
Landscape-oriented education taking into consideration regional assets and cultural determinants plays a specialrole in the formation ofrural areas. A survey research conducted among students of Spatial Management, Landscape Architecture as well as Tourism and Recreation revealed differences in their perception of rural cultural landscape depending on the field of study. Students demonstrated gaps in their knowledge of cultural landscape, which could have a detrimental effect on their interpretation and formation of rural space in the future. A comparative analysis of "ideal countryside" essays and credit papers concerning conceptions of land development showed that it was necessary to exchange knowledge and experiences of students representing various fields (e.g. via inter-school workshops, common practices/field classes, project exhibitions). The research conducted and analysis of the syllabuses concerning the three selected fields have proven that landscape formation, especially in rural areas, should be taught as a separate field of study because the relevant knowledge imparted in the present form may become vague.
Large buildings (towers, large slabs, etc.) dating from 1965 to 1974 are one of the five main targets of the Agence Nationale de la Rénovation Urbaine (French National Agency for Urban Renewal), which has used demolition as a privileged tool of intervention in large social housing complexes (grands ensembles) and degraded condominiums since the early 2000s. Using a corpus of grands ensembles in the urban area of Lyon of interest to the national programme of urban renewal, we sought to verify the intentions displayed at the national level; this urban area has indeed been at the forefront of concerns regarding ’city policy’ since the early 1980s and can be considered emblematic of national policies in this area. We simultaneously examined the methods used to demolish these towers and bars, from explosive demolition to mechanical means. Given their monumentality, these buildings are most restrictive at the technical level, and the means by which the demolition occurs are viewed with the greatest attention, as decision-makers are most vigilant regarding their effects on the inhabitants and on public opinion. The demolition of these high-rise buildings can be analysed in light of technical and normative evolutions (security, recycling) as well as their political and ideological meanings.
Local-level spatial policies in Poland are determined by diverse social, economic, political and environmental factors. On the one hand, they result from the specific characteristics of individual areas. On the other, however, supra-local factors are found to be playing an increasingly important role. These can include trends related to the Europeanisation of spatial planning and the associated promoted institutional changes and changes in planning practices. However, from February 2022 onwards, certain European countries in particular have seen another important factor has come into play, i.e. the war in Ukraine. It thus seems legitimate to verify how the fundamental change in the geopolitical situation, i.e. the location in the immediate vicinity of a victim state (Ukraine), an aggressor state (Russia) and an aggressor-friendly state (Belarus), along with a number of related consequences (including a change in the nature of border capacity, a sense of insecurity, potential changes in investment policy, etc.) determine the directions local spatial policies have been taking. The main purpose of the article is to diagnose the current planning situation of units of local government administration along Poland’s eastern border by reference to two groups of issues: (1) concerning the state of progress of planning work, as well as (2) the impact of the outbreak of war in Ukraine on changes in spatial policy (perforce ancillary, given the small number of responses received). The source of the data were annual surveys of the Ministry of Development and Technology and Statistics Poland regarding the advancement of planning work at the level of the Polish gmina, as well and a survey addressed to all 77 such units of local administration located by the border. Particular reference was made to the application of spatial-planning instruments at the local level (studies of spatial planning conditions and directions, local spatial development plans and decisions on development conditions – with the analyses concerning the period before the major July 2023 amendment of spatial planning law). Particular attention was paid to the frequency of enactment of individual acts, with this being related to both earlier periods and trends in Poland as a whole. The research finds that the relatively high level of activity shown by some of the surveyed gminas in amending/updating spatial planning studies and spatial/physical development plans may not be related to the outbreak of war in Ukraine. The Polish spatial-planning system in fact lacks instruments by which to react flexibly and ensure the integration of development policies (as is particularly necessary when a crisis erupts). <br>
Lofoten (Norway; islands)

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