ECOSMART – 2019 / International Conference Environment at …€¦ · Applied geomorphology and pedology The integrated analysis of land and soil processes in the context of extreme

ECOSMART – 2019 / International Conference Environment at CrossrOads: SMART approaches for a sustainable future

ECOSMART – 2019

International Conference

Environment at a CrossrOads: SMART

approaches for a sustainable future

Book of Abstracts

Bucharest

September 5-8, 2019

https://ecosmart.geo.unibuc.ro/


Topic 1. Applied geomorphology and pedology

The integrated analysis of land and soil processes in the context of extreme geomorphologic

phenomena through geomatics and spatial modeling contributes to environmental protection

and sustainable development. Applied geomorphology plays a critical role in solving territorial

planning issues, contributes to the conservation of geomorphosites, through novel GIS and

remote sensing approaches. Assessing and modeling natural hazards have a direct

implementation in land use planning decision making at local and regional scales.

The perception of hazards affecting the geomorphological heritage. Comparison of

representative Southern Carpathian massifs (Bucegi, Făgăraș, Cozia)

Laura Comanescu, Alexandru Nedelea, Adriana- Bianca Ovreiu

University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography, Dept. of Geomorphology-Pedology-Geomatisc

Geomorphological heritage is a fundamental component of natural heritage, which includes

individual or grouped natural geological, geomorphological, ecological monuments of notable

aesthetic or scientific value; protected natural sites (geological, geomorphological) of

outstanding value and natural sites of exceptional scientific or aesthetic value that are not under

any protection regime. Geomorphosites are landforms that develop special value through

human perception, which is consequently highly important with regard to the natural and

anthropogenic hazards that affect said geomorphosites and that, in time, can result in the loss

or decrease their value. Our approach is aimed at assessing how tourists perceive and

understand hazards and, implicitly, the measures that may be taken by authorities and tourists

to ensure a high-quality management and the mitigation of their impact. To this end, an

identical questionnaire (consisting of 15 closed-ended questions) was applied in three mountain

massifs in the Southern Carpathians (Bucegi, Făgăraș and Cozia), where both the hazards

affecting the geomorphosites and the specificities of tourist activities are different. The

questionnaire was administered in 2008-2010 (Bucegi), 2012-2014 (Făgăraș) and 2018-2019

(Cozia) on samples as homogeneous as possible in terms of age, gender, nationality and studies.

The findings feature series of both common (identification of natural and anthropogenic

hazards, knowledge of the most important geomorphosites in the study area, tourism

motivation) and distinct (types and particularities of tourism activities and especially of the

infrastructure, different infrastructure states, geomorphosites conservation states and

geomorphosites management) elements.

Analysis of the dynamics of Danube islands between 1995 and 2009 from SAR radar images

(sector Giurgiu-Călăraşi, Romania)

Kamel Hachemi1, FlorinaGrecu2, Ştefania Grigorie (Omrani)2, Gabriela Ioana-Toroimac2, André

Ozer3, Catherine Kuzucuoglu1 1Laboratoire de Géographie Physique (LGP), Université Paris-1 et Université Paris-Est; 2University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography; 3Géomorphologie et Télédétection,

Département de Géographie, Université de Liège.


The geomorphological, geological, hydrological and climatic context of the Danube in the

Giurgiu-Călăraşi sector in Romania is characterized by small islands of pre-quaternary

sedimentary deposits (mesozoic, cenozoic). The surface of the islands is formed exclusively of

Quaternary alluvial materials and covered by the vegetation which stabilizes them (islands). The

study of the landscape change of this area and its islands has proved essential. The use of

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery allows for spatial and temporal, regular and fine

tracking of surfaces, taking into account the sensitivity of the radar signal to the types and

properties of the terrain. The response of the radar signal is particularly sensitive to the

topography, roughness and humidity of the surface, which makes it possible to determine any

changes occurring between different acquisitions. Multi-temporal analysis, conducted using

amplitude images, showed the possibility of mapping surface changes at different dates; to

determine and locate the islands located in the Danube sector Giurgiu-Călăraşi. It allowed

understanding their evolution over different periods. The radar images delimit the islands

perfectly thanks to their sensitivities of the roughness. The surface of the islets is very rough and

wet represented by a strong radiometry, appear in very pale color; on the contrary the surface

of the water is smooth appear with low values of radiometry, represented by a dark color. The

first results obtained show the contribution of radar imagery in island detection and monitoring

but also for the realization of maps at different scales of the island system in this area. These

results can be summarized by: (i) production of 23 amplitude images at 12.5 m resolution,

calibrated, filtered, georeferenced and orthorectified, showing the morphology of these islands

at different time intervals; (ii) detection and monitoring of their changes, delimiting, calculating

and comparing their dimensions (perimeters, surfaces, positions) at different dates of

acquisitions between 1995 and 2009 of the Danube sector Giurgiu-Călăraşi in Romania.

Landslide perception as risk phenomenon. Case study: The Vrancea Sub-Carpathians

Marian Ene, Răzvan-Constantin Oprea, Roxana Cuculici, Gabriela Osaci-Costache, Ionuț

Săvulescu

University of Bucharest

Lying at the periphery of the Carpathian Arc, between the Trotuş in the north and the Slănic

(tributary of the Buzău River) in the south, the Vrancea Sub-Carpathians show a great variety of

landforms, testifying the complex conditions that contributed to the shaping of this territory.

For the most part, they overlie the Mio-Pliocene molasse deposits, which near the mountains

are folded, while at the contact with the plain have a monoclinal structure. The great diversity

of rocks (conglomerates, salt breccia, salt deposits, volcanic tuff, sandstones, gravel, sands and

clay), the strong fragmentation imposed by a dense river network, the seismicity of the area,

the climatic conditions and the human pressure have been responsible for the intensification of

landslide phenomenon. Unfortunately, although most of the inhabitants of the area are familiar

with these geomorphological processes and the type of damage they can cause, the local and

county authorities have a very low involvement in managing this type of geomorphologic risk.

In order to have a fair picture of the preparedness of the inhabitants and the authorities to deal


with the risk of landslides, we have chosen to apply a questionnaire. This was meant to give us

a picture of the perception of landslides as a risk phenomenon both at the level of the local

communities in the Vrancea Subcarpathians, and at the level of the authorities.

Shallow landslides physically based susceptibility assessment improvement using InSAR

Armas Iuliana1, Gheorghe Mihaela1, Silvas George Catalin2 1University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography; 2S.C. Formin S.A

Landslides susceptibility maps represent a key information for risk evaluation. In this study we

propose a relatively novel technique where InSAR is used to validate and improve a landslide

susceptibility map in a slope environment prone to landslides developed using a classical one-

dimension infinite slope stability model to predict possible future events. InSAR deformation

maps are derived by processing free Sentinel-1 A and B SAR images using the multi-temporal

interferometry algorithm, the Small BAseline Subsets. Because InSAR detects mainly

displacement that affects radar coherent targets, such as built-up features, deformation maps

are obtained mainly over inhabited areas. The results of the landslide susceptibility analysis

calculated using the physically based model under completely saturated conditions, reveal that

our method produce best results when applied for the hilly area of our case study (the

Subcarpathians), characterized by permeable/impermeable rocks and larger deforested

surfaces. In the Subcarpathians, the most important geotechnical parameters for slope failure

are cohesion, unit weight and friction angle, and the triggering factor is a rapid rise in

groundwater table under wetting conditions. Our validation assessment combined with InSAR

approach successfully reproduced the observed landslides in areas predicted as unstable and

critical by the infinite slope model. We show that the InSAR refined susceptibility map is suitable

for unravelling the danger of the worst-case scenario.

The ravination processes in Sălătrucel-Coisca River Basin

Achim Florin

University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography

The study of geomorphological relief modelling processes involves multiple analyses with an

experimental character, for the measurement and quantification of evolutionary parameters.

The field experiment in geomorphology is a complex scientific method, which requires extensive

specialized knowledge, but also an applied side based on calibrated instrumental

measurements, made according to a unanimously accepted methodology, taking into account

the particularities and the specificity of the work area. The Sălătrucel River Basin is a space

affected by intense geomorphological processes, among which the ravines have a special role in

their frequency and intensity, influenced by local morphometry and morphometry, along with

lithology, structure and manifestations of climate elements, especially precipitation regime.


The occurrence of armored mud balls in the river bed of two streams from the Meledic

Plateau, Buzău Subcarpathians, Romania

Strat Daniela1, Móga János2 1University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography; 2Eötvös Loránd University, Geography and

Earth Science Institute, Budapest

Armored mud balls consist of rounded clast of clay covered with pebbles. Their occurrence is

documented in a variety of both ancient and modern environments, including streams,

ephemeral gullies, beaches, intertidal zones, and lake shores. Armored mud balls commonly

developed in fluvial environments from arid and temperate climate zone are formed during high

waters as a result of bedload transport. The paper reports the occurrence of armored mud balls

along the river bed of two streams that drains the Mânzălești salt massif, Slănic River basin. After

first discovering of several mud balls along the Meledic stream bed in August 2014, a number of

well-rounded mud balls, 2-10 cm in diameter, were found on the river bed of the Izvorul Sărat

stream valley as a result of the flood event which fallowed the heavy rains from the begging of

the June 2019. The mud balls consist of sticky, dark brown clay with sodium chloride content.

The variegated surfaces of the mud balls were studded with sand grains and small limestone

clasts collected during bed-load transport. To our knowledge, based on available literature

review, this could be the first report of armored mud balls in Romania.

Are rip currents a real hazard on the Romanian Black Sea coast?

Florin Tătui1, Sorin Constantin2, Florin Zăinescu1, Alfred Vespremeanu-Stroe1

1University of Bucharest; 2Research Institute of the University of Bucharest

Rip currents are a narrow seaward-directed water flow extending from the shoreline through

the surf zone, occurring on many wave-exposed coasts worldwide. Their activity can last from

hours to days with mean flow velocities often >0.5 m/s. They represent the primary physical

hazard for recreational beach users worldwide, each year hundreds of people drowning and tens

of thousands more being rescued from rip currents globally. Unfortunately, despite these facts,

beach users have limited awareness about and interest in rip currents compared to other natural

hazards, mainly due to lack of media attention and public interest. In a study using Google

search data as a proxy for public interest in rip currents globally between 2004 and 2015

compared to other natural hazards, Romania registered zero relative search rate, demonstrating

that there is no knowledge and public awareness of this hazard in our country. Moreover, there

are no statistics related to causes of drowning, many times the fatalities being related to „strong

currents”. Preliminary results based on the analysis of time-lapse video images and various

satellite data show the existence of rip currents along many beaches along the Romanian Black

Sea coast, being either hydrodynamically-controlled on alongshore-uniform beaches (Sulina –

Sfântu Gheorghe), bathymetrically-controlled formed at relatively fixed locations on beaches

with natural alongshore variability of underwater morphology (Techirghiol Barrier) or boundary-

controlled flowing against lateral boundaries of anthropogenic structures (Eforie Nord). Further


research on their typology, local causes and circulation and on the development of rip current

education and awareness is urgently needed.

Morphological changes induced by the irrigation systems and sustainable land use in Băilești

Plain

Crișu Lavinia, Boengiu Sandu

University of Craiova

The current pedoclimatic conditions of Băilești Plain, an area subject to land drying, require

irrigation. The large irrigation systems in Romania were built around 1970, in 1989 the total area

covered with irrigation infrastructure was 3.1 million ha, with a number of 375 irrigation

systems. The dismantling of agricultural land, which did not take into account the configuration

of the irrigation infrastructure at that time, made the irrigation arrangements inoperable. At the

level of the Dolj County, an area of 296.969 ha is arranged for irrigations, with 273 km of

irrigation channels. However, irrigated areas are kept at a low value (50,000 ha), which

fluctuates year by year. Failure to fully utilize the irrigation systems, deforestation and defective

use of agricultural land have led to their degradation and amplification of geomorphological

processes, especially on sandy surfaces. By GD no. 793/2016 regarding the approval of the

National Plan for the rehabilitation of the main irrigation infrastructure in Romania (ANIF), aims

to restore the initial parameters for the functioning of the stations and channels by 2020. The

article proposes the space-time analysis of the four major territorial arrangements in the study

area: Nedeia-Măceșu, Bistreț-Nedeia, Calafat-Băilești, Cetate-Galicea, designed and equipped

for the requirements of very large CAP and IAS farms. These systems control the meadow and

the Danube terraces, pumping water downstream on the high terraces up to 100-200 m. The

article identifies the types of slopes resulting from the construction of the irrigation systems,

the total area occupied by them and estimates the quantity of relocated materials.

Favorability analysis for the connectivity of the Romanian cities to the motorway network

Dobre Robert


The favorable analysis for the connectivity to the motorway road network of the big cities in

Romania, implies the accomplishment of a multicriteria spatial analysis, in correlation with the

national transport strategy. The analysis contains: Identification and description of natural and

anthropogenic factors with an impact on the development of high-speed road transport

infrastructure; Spatialization and evaluation of identified natural and anthropogenic factors with

impact; Conducting multicriteria analysis by aggregating the natural and anthropogenic factors

with impact; Establishing and presenting alternatives of road connectivity for big cities on the

high-speed road network (highways and expressways); Identification and presentation of critical

sectors with impact in the implementation of projects for the development of high-speed road


transport infrastructure; Identify and present the basic technical solutions (tunnel, viaduct,

backfill, bridge) and establish the estimated costs based on the cost standards.

Early Warning Intelligent System for Road Transportation Risks

Dobre Robert, Teodor Madalina, Paunescu Cosmin


Romanian TEN-T network is seriously affected by natural risks such as landslides, torrential

erosion, rock falls, avalanches, floods and heavy snow. These natural hazards lead to numerous

road accidents which cause important casualties and material losses every year. ITS (Intelligent

Transport Systems) are being applied to facilitate mobility, make better use of existing

infrastructure, improve safety and help mitigating negative environmental impacts. Deployment

of ITS is also motivated by the increased difficulty of expanding transportation capacity through

conventional infrastructure building. Data sources are represented on the one hand by the

institutions that produce and manage these data sets and on the other hand they are collected

by the project implementation team. For detailed mapping and orthophotoplans, a drone was

used to obtain high-resolution images with very good details and very current information (such

data being unavailable and impossible to obtain by other means). The creation of numerical

altimetric models and the elaboration of very detailed and current situation plans (including

aerophotography) will be used to validate the information identified on the field. In a future

stage, it is desirable to implement a project using the same methodology in neighboring

countries, as cross-border and interoperable method.

The Geomorphology of Bucharest City Centre – past and present

Popovici Diana, Armaș Iuliana, Osaci-Costache Gabriela, Gheorghe Mihaela


During its existence of more than 550 years, Bucharest suffered major geomorphological

transformations. At its beginnings, the city had a more rural look – with large gardens, orchards

and vineyards and small built-up areas, so the human impact on the local geomorphology was

minimal. Later, the city started to expand, and the built-up areas become larger and higher. The

urban growth started to demand certain geomorphological changes, such as the channelization

of Dâmbovița River, excavations for brickyards or sand exploitation, modifying the slopes of

Dâmbovița floodplain in order to make place for new constructions and leaner roads. By far, the

most intense human induced geomorphological changes of Dâmbovița floodplain were made in

the communist period. In the present work, it was investigated the geomorphological

characteristics of Bucharest City, focusing on its city centre, by using the diachronic analysis

applied on historical maps and documents. GIS tools were also used together with satellite

imagery in order to determine the present morphodynamics.


Topic 2. GIS and remote sensing applications.

Geomatics is an active research field with high innovation potential in digital data gathering

and processing. Novel modeling algorithms of natural and social phenomena, as well as high-

resolution remote sensing data are increasingly being used in the environmental and social

sciences, with the goal of informing environmental management and conservation.

InSAR surface deformation and modeling unravel an active salt diapir in southern Romania

Armas Iuliana1, Gheorghe Mihaela1, Manea Marina2, Manea Vlad2 1University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography; 2Computational Geodynamics Laboratory,

Centro de Geociencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

For more than a century and a half, salt tectonics represented a key research topic closely

related with the formation and evolution of major hydrocarbon provinces. In this study, we

employ the Small BAseline Subset algorithm for assessing the C-band SAR imagery acquired by

the Sentinel-1A and B satellites for the Diapiric Fold Zone (DFZ) located in the East Carpathians

Bend, and show for the first time the surface deformation associated with a previously unknown

rising salt diapir.

Using OpenStreetMap data for measuring the effects of land use policies in France and

Germany

Mathias Jehling

Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development

Strong suburbanisation trends constantly challenge planning systems in Europe and the

endeavour to promote sustainable cities. Against the backdrop land use polices in many

countries have been adapted to contain and redirect growth to existing urban land. However,

while a multitude of approaches in geoinformation science exist to measure urban

morphologies and their change, their application to draw on cause-effect relationships between

these land use polices and urban structures have high but so far under-exploited potentials. It is

the aim of this research to address and investigate these causal relationships through

contrasting urban morphologies with evolving land use policies using OpenStreetMap data. To

do so, the presented research takes a mixed method approach that combines quantitative

geographic analysis and qualitative institutional analysis and applies it to an inter-country

comparison. This approach investigates links between country specific institutions of land use

and respective urban structures. A geographic approach is developed that relies on building and

street network data. Form this data urban metrics are derived to describe the urban morphology

using measures for density, form and location. On this basis, structural differences are identified.

This research takes the example of France and Germany and investigates the options for mutual

data models and applies the approach to the cases of the Leipzig and Strasbourg functional

regions. The presentation will focus on the spatial results of the analysis and discuss


opportunities and limitations of using OpenStreetMap data for comparatively analysing urban

morphologies.

Assessing Agriculture Drought in the Hagieni Plain (Romania) using Vegetation Health Index

Andi Mihai Lazar1, Andreea Florentina Marin2 1Romanian Space Agency; 2University of Bucharest - Faculty of Geography

The agriculture drought appears when the soil moisture availability to plants decreased so much

that the crop yield is affected and the hence agricultural profitability. It is one of the most major

natural hazards, with a lot implications on the economy of countries throughout the world.

There are several ways to monitor the agricultural drought, one of them is the use of satellite

images. This paper aims to assess the agriculture drought in the Hagieni Plain using satellite

imagery from Landsat 8 mission with a spatial resolution of 30 m. Hagieni Plain is situated in the

south east of Bărăgan Plain, is one of the most fertile agricultural areas in Romania, with black

soils and rich humus. Due to its location, the climate is hot and dry in the summer, with average

precipitations of under 450 mm per year and periods of drought during the summer that can

extend to 40 days or more. Based on the methodology developed by the NOAA for estimating

the VHI (Vegetation Health Index) we have calculated the NDVI (Normalized Difference

Vegetation Index) and LST (Land Surface Temperature) for 2018. For the analysis we used all the

available images (without clouds) from April to October. The results of the VHI were classified

in five categories: extreme, severe, moderate, mild, and no drought.

Assessing the suitability of different drone generated data products for tree detection using

deep learning techniques

Alin - Ionuț Pleșoianu1, Ileana Pătru-Stupariu1, Ionuț - Cosmin Șandric1, Mihai-Sorin Stupariu2

1University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography; 2University of Bucharest, Faculty of Mathematics

and Computer Science

Individual tree detection from remote sensing data is one of the main research areas concerning

the exploitation of satellite and drone imagery for forestry and related ecological fields. While

traditional techniques for tree detection for this kind of data exist, they are demonstrated to

have many drawbacks related to pre-processing steps, data heterogeneity, spatial scale or raster

resolution. In this study we take a look at implementing deep learning techniques for tree

detection using drone-generated raster products. Deep learning is a subfield of machine

learning that builds neural networks for high-level decision-making processes in data through

model architectures. For this study, we trained and tested the Single Shot Detector algorithm

using the ArcGIS API for Python and Jupyter Notebook. The drone data was acquired for an

orchard, called Moara Domnească, in Ilfov county, Romania. Following the standard processing

steps using Drone2Map, we obtained the ortophotomap and the Digital Surface Model (DSM).

We then further derived slope and hillshade models for the same site. The first results show a

poor performance (<40% detection) for ortophotomap, largely due to the similarity in spectral


response between tree crowns and grass patches around the trees. DSM and slope raster data

have similar detection values, while hillshade gave the best results, with a detection score of

over 80%, we believe, mainly because the shape of trees is visible and distinct in comparison

with the ground. Further testing and tuning is to be done on combinations of these raster

products and other deep learning algorithms.

Monitoring land-use dynamics in Romania's major metropolitan areas

Constantin-Alexandru Stoian, Octavian Groza, Alexandra Sandu

Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Faculty of Geography and Geology, Iași

Starting from the well-known fact that humans tend to be a dominant agent of change in nature,

monitoring social and environmental consequences associated with the exurban development

is an essential process for efficient territorial planning. To that end, our study proposes a

multitemporal analysis between the years 2000 and 2018 of the land-use/land-cover changes in

seven metropolitan areas of Romania in order to identify the predominant patterns and their

driving forces at a national level. We also aim to discover how these metropolitan areas compete

or relate to one another, and to further develop the overall understanding of the urban sprawl

in Romania. Consequently, the results of the analysis were also interpreted statistically and the

land use changes were captured into various maps by using specific GIS-based methods.

Mapping Landslide Features with Drone Aerial Images and Deep Learning

Ionut Sandric1,2, Radu Irimia1, Zenaida Chitu3,4, Viorel Ilinca5 1University of Geography, Faculty of Geography;2Esri Romania; 3National Administration of

Meteorology, Romania; 4National Institute of Hydrology and Water Management, Romania; 5Geological Institute of Romania, Romania

The study is focused on mapping landslide features, aiming to identify elements like scarps (main

and secondary), waves, lakes, toes. One of the main challenges is the high number of features

with different shapes and high spectral variability. To accomplish the task of automated mapping

of landslide features, several test sites in Romania were chosen, each one having slightly

different environmental conditions. Each landslide has been flown with a DJI Phantom 4

quadcopter for at least one time, and some of the landslides have been flown up to 6 times. The

flights were made at spatial resolutions ranging from 5 to 10 centimeters and both nadiral and

oblique images were taken. As mapped features, we used only four classes for landslide

features: scarps, ridges, water ponds, and lobes. Because there weren’t enough training images,

image augmentation techniques were applied. Combinations between spectral information and

various terrain parameters, like hillshade, curvatures, and slope, were used to enhance the

training samples and improve the overall accuracy. The model was trained, using ArcGIS Python

API and TensorFlow deep learning framework, on five landslides and once the model was fully

trained, we applied the model on a set of completely new landslides. Even though the

methodology is not, yet, complete, satisfactory results have been achieved and landslides


features were successfully mapped on various landslides. The training and validation accuracies

have acceptable values.

Rural settlement characterization in agrarian landscapes of Central Asia

Maik Netzband

University of Würzburg, Department of Remote Sensing

The goal of this project is to map urban areas in Central Asia, in order to approximate the extent

of “urban gardens” which presumably cover a non-negligible part of the region and require a

significant amount of irrigation. Furthermore, it is attempted to create a dataset which best

captures the extent of artificial areas in Central Asia, in particular the Khorezm and Fergana

regions. The Global Urban Footprint at 0.4 arcseconds resolution is statistically the best option.

It was used as the basis for manual improvements, which significantly increased the accuracy.

The resolution of the rasters, however, puts an upper bound to the achievable accuracy.

Earth Observation services for fisheries and aquaculture activities support

Sorin Constantin1, Ioan Daniel Șerban1, Marius Budileanu1, Dan Birtaș1, George Țiganov2

1TERRASIGNA; 2National Institute for Marine Research and Development “Grigore Antipa“

Identification of the most favorable areas for fishing and aquaculture activities, based on

modern techniques, is essential for a sustainable development and implementation of the Blue

Growth strategy. Nevertheless, this task has become a challenging one due to fish stocks

decreasing trend and offshore general migration of the remaining ones. This situation can trigger

longer search times and, therefore, increased costs. Earth Observation data can be successfully

used to raise the efficiency of fishing and aquaculture efforts. The SkyFISH (Service for Water

Quality Monitoring for Sustainable Fishing and Aquaculture in the Romanian Coastal Area)

platform, developed as a Copernicus Marine Service (CMEMS) downstream service, is a

dedicated web-based service that can be used by the end-users as a decision support tool for

finding the most favorable fishing zones or analyze the suitability of specific areas for

aquaculture activities and monitoring of the existing ones. SkyFISH takes advantage of the

wealth of data delivered under the Copernicus program (CMEMS) and other data sources. It

makes use of advanced Earth Observation data analysis and web-mapping technologies in order

to offer access to a wide variety of oceanographic parameters for the western basin of the Black

Sea. Users can retrieve, in a simple and user-friendly way, information regarding both essential

water related variables (i.e. temperature, salinity) and other contextual information (i.e.

bathymetry, meteorological conditions etc). A suitability index for fishing and aquaculture has

also been developed. The service directly addresses multiple categories of stakeholders, from

individual fishermen, to mid-size and industrial fishing companies.


Assessing wildfire impact on the environment and human settlements. Study area: Thessaly

and Central Greece

Albu Liviu Marian1, Enea Andrei2,3, Iosub Marina2,3, Breabăn Iuliana Gabriela2,3, Niacșu Lilian3,

Sfîcă Lucian3, Stoleriu Cristian Constantin3, Ursu Adrian3 1Doctoral School of Geosciences, Department of Geography, Faculty of Geography and

Geology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi; 2Integrated Center of Environmental Science

Studies in the North-Eastern Region - CERNESIM, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi; 3Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Faculty of Geography and Geology, Department of

Geography

In the context of global warming, wildfires have become an ever-growing threat to both human

settlements and activities, and numerous species of fauna and vegetation, all across the Globe.

Climate significantly dictates prevalent areas with high wildfire frequency values, especially

considering the naturally occurring events. Arid and vegetation rich areas are the most prone to

wildfires, and countries located in such regions undergo the severe effects of wildfires, on a

yearly basis. Cities, villages, farmland, protected areas and road infrastructure take the highest

damage, when confronted with frequent, large-scale events. In order to mitigate the effects of

wildfire, it is important to thoroughly understand their occurrence behavior and identify the

most common places they are associated with, from the perspective of different criteria.

Therefore, the aim of the current study is to quantify wildfires in Thessaly and Central Greece

region, based on remote sensing, GIS techniques and open source data, through morphometric

approaches, and identify the areas with the most frequently recurring wildfires, as well as the

places most vulnerable. Moreover, the impact on different land use types, protected areas, road

infrastructure et.al. can be quantified through statistical analysis. Results represented by

cartographic means are of significant importance, in order to mitigate future wildfire damage

and better understand the phenomena.

Monitoring crop phenology using time series Sentinel 2 images

Alexandra Petronela STOLERIU, Elena Diana BOBRIC, Iuliana Gabriela BREABAN

Faculty of Geography and Geology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi; Integrated Center of

Environmental Science Studies in the North Eastern Region – CERNESIM

In recent decades, studying the phenology of vegetation has become increasingly. The influence

of climate change on the evolution of vegetation can be quantified by a series of biological

indicators, highlighting the impact of changing phenological dynamics on ecosystem functions

and functionality. By studying the phenology of the terrestrial surface in accordance with the

crop calendar using time series of vegetation indices obtained from Sentinel 2 images, a new

way of monitoring the vegetation response to climate change has been developed. By

implementing the Strategy for space in November 2000 Europe have the ability to provide

ongoing, temporary information on the ecosystem's response to climate change at different

spatial scales. The analyses was carried out in a cropland area located in NE of Romania with

coordinates 47°21ʹ0.86ʺ N and 26°49ʹ37.07ʺ E, the Valea Oii catchment has 9700 ha from which


the total agricultural surface is 6000 ha plus 3700 ha occupied by other land uses. The study

focused on two main crops growing in the summer season: maize (35 %) and soybeans (11 %).

The crop type mapping based on satellite data and crop data represent the main objective of

the current study. With this aim, 15 images from Sentinel 2 between April - November 2018

were acquired in order to studying changes of vegetation, especially in farmland with maize and

soybeans, based on spectral information obtained from SENTINEL 2, where was used several

vegetation indices: NDVI, GNDVI, NDWI. An overall accuracy of 97.84 % and 0.98 RMSE were

estimated.

Mapping flowers as a proxy for orchards yields with drone imagery and deep learning

Radu Irimia, Ionut Sandric


Orchards yields estimation play an important role in agricultural management for owners and

stakeholders. Usually, these yields estimations are based on statistical analyses made for an

entire orchard. Our approach is focused on mapping the tree structure (height and crown width)

and the flowers for each tree. These parameters were obtained by using ultra-high aerial images

collected with a DJI Phantom 4 quadcopter. Several flights with images having different spatial

resolutions, ranging from 2 to 10 cm, were flown in the spring and summer seasons. The low-

resolution images (10cm) were used to obtain ortho-images and digital surface models, and

from these products, we extracted the tree height and crown width. The high-resolution images

were used for flower detection and mapping, using object detector models based on deep

learning techniques. A Single Shot Detector model was trained from 500 samples collected in

Pascal VOC (Visual Object Classes). The training and testing accuracies reached acceptable

values and made possible the detection of flowers for each individual tree. Using the tree

structure and the shortest distance between the trees and the photo location we managed to

correctly allocate the detected flowers to each individual tree. A linear model was fit between

the number of flowers and the number of fruits per tree. This model was extrapolated for the

entire orchard and a final yield was obtained.

Assessing Landscape visibility as input of landscape level ecological planning

Hakan Alphan

Çukurova University Faculty of Architecture

Human interference into coastal ecosystems directly or indirectly affects landscape patterns and

processes. In this process, visibility also changes as a result of changing land uses and land

cover. Composition or configuration of these patterns may vary from one landscape to another.

These parameters may also change from an earlier to a later date, leading to substantial changes

in landscape visibility. This change phenomenon is observable even in shorter time periods in

the Mediterranean coastal zone. Built-up areas are one of the most rapidly changing land cover

types. In this respect a case study was presented to demonstrate calculating and comparing


earlier- and later-date visibilities of surrounding natural environment from residential

buildings. Visibilities from residential buildings for an earlier and a later date were separately

calculated and compared. The results showed that substantial changes occurred in the visibility

of various land cover features. Recommendations for landscape planning and management

were made on the basis of visibility analysis results.

Topic 3. Climate change adaptation

Climate change adaptation is an emerging focus of environmental science and geography

research. In particular, such research targets social and ecological systems that are highly

vulnerable to climate change, seeking to understand and reduce the uncertainties associated

with the short- and long-term responses to climate variability and extreme weather events. In

addition, climate adaptation research needs to focus on improving the weather forecast and

alert systems, increasing citizen awareness on the effects of extreme weather events, identifying

rapid response procedures following extreme weather events, and understanding the past

climate variability.

Solar energy as a major pathway towards worldwide decarbonization and climate stability

Remus Prăvălie, Georgeta Bandoc, Adrian Tişcovschi


Given the large prevalence of fossil fuels that still define the global energy system and are the

cause of many global environmental issues, solar energy is considered a major opportunity for

a rapid decarbonization and sustainable development of the world. However, in numerous

regions worldwide, there still are knowledge gaps regarding the status of existing solar

resources, which is vital for governments in order to expand this renewable energy sector and

to limit anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Using GIS techniques and a recent climate

database, this study aims to spatially analyse onshore solar resources across the planet, as well

as the degree to which they are being used by governments globally in order to create a pathway

towards worldwide decarbonization and climate stability. Our results showed massive solar

resource availability across the Earth’s terrestrial surface, which can be effectively used from

regional to local scales in numerous countries worldwide. Nevertheless, our findings showed

that, contrary to expectations, many of the world's states with significant radiative resources

have a low level of solar power use, against the background of some political, economic or

environmental issues. Our results can support a more in-depth understanding of global radiation

hotspots that are currently severely underexploited, but which in the near future may become

a major pillar for a rapid transition towards a global carbon-free economy and a climatically

stable planet.


Innovative methods of agro-hydro-meteorological monitoring on drainage and irrigation

systems in Poland (The Polish Research Project INOMEL)

Bogdan Bąk, Leszek Łabędzki, Tymoteusz Bolewski

Institute of Technology and Life Sciences, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Research Centre in Bydgoszcz

The unfavorable climate changes which have been observed for several years and predicted in

the future in Poland require various activities that will help in the economical management of

water in agricultural during periods of drought and support the control of drainage in periods of

excessive soil moisture. One of the important elements supporting these activities is agro-hydro-

meteorological monitoring on drainage and irrigation systems. The necessity of monitoring and

improving the management of agro-industrial sector justifies the need for the research

evaluation system which is considered to be highly effective. The aim of the polish project

INOMEL is developing and preparing for implementation a system of monitoring, including

remote sensing, forecasting and operational planning of regulated drainage and subirrigation

on the scale of a drainage and irrigation system equipped with innovative, developed within the

framework of the project, devices for regulating (stopping) water outflow from the system, as

well as regulating and measuring water inflow for irrigation. The system of monitoring includes

practical application of various measuring techniques to monitoring irrigation – drainage

systems in river basins and providing data for operational mathematical models of water

management. The necessary data in the environment of the analyzed melioration objects are

obtained using modern measurement techniques and wireless data transmission. Remote

sensing is mainly based on images from drones and terrestrial scanners as well as on satellite

images taken at different frequencies. Innovative action in the project are forecasts of weather

changes, soil moisture, evaporation and hydrological conditions in drainage ditches (canals) and

grasslands in the next 7 days.

Atmospheric phenomena of risk in Bucharest. Case study freezing rain between 24-29 January

2019

Mocanu Nicolae1, Albu Anca2, Barbarie Manuela1, Lixandrescu George1 1University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography; 2Ovidius University of Constanta

This study proposes to analysis, a current domain, often disputed of atmospheric phenomena

of risks and extreme climates. This study I managed to performed together with my fellows. In

the same time, we analysis frezeeing rain, case from last winter in Bucharest. This city were

confronted with extreme weather conditions for a week between 24 January until 29 January

2019. Discordant notes gives it human presence which is influenced by climatic, hydrological

and geomorphological risks, but without men we are talking about hazards. In this study, risk

phenomena derived from deposits, weight and duration of ice on the ground or blunt objects

conditioned by low temperatures. In this case the temperatures was -0,3 C in first day and the

lowest temperatures which was - 4C.


Smart Eco – districts and climate change

Coltos Alexandra

University of Architecture and Urban Planning Ion Mincu

Cities are transforming our planet, affecting natural ecosystems, creating pollution and social

disparities. On the other hand, also here, in the city, we can try to develop new methods to stop

the emerging processes that cause climate change and other problems that we are facing

nowadays. Through this research concerning urban planning and the impact of eco-districts on

the environment, is developed a new concept where technology is a very important tool in the

process of urban planning and combating climate change. The concept of eco-smart uses

technology as a transformation instrument, supporting the urban development process of such

a district. At the intersection of sustainable and smart are people, the main generators of data,

actively participating in the planning and construction process, coordinates and influences the

technological evolution. The eco-district is the foundation behind this new concept, using

technology and big data as a development, assessment and simulation tool. Based on the eco-

district principles, the eco-smart district is a concept that integrates objectives such as: synergy

between social, technological, environmental components, technology as a tool for developing

and connecting all elements within a sustainable district, protection of the environment through

technology, integrated urban mobility system (public space system, sustainable transport, green

parking) connecting major functions within neighborhoods), strong and sustainable

connectivity at the city scale.

The knowledge and awareness on the ’urban heat island’ phenomenon: a public opinion

study in Bucharest (Romania)

Elena Grigore, Elena Bogan, Adrian Amadeus Tișcovschi, Andreea-Loreta Cercleux, Florina Tatu


Assessing the knowledge and awareness degree of the population on the ’Urban Heat Island’

phenomenon (UHI) is a ’sine qua non’ condition for the decision-making process in order to

prevent and mitigate the potential damage. The purpose of this article is to analyze the

knowledge and awareness degree of the citizens in Bucharest, the only metropolis of Romania,

on the UHI phenomenon, from both a conceptual point of view and a practical aspect of the

individual and/or collective action in diminishing the harmful impact of this phenomenon. The

analysis was based on a public opinion survey, using a questionnaire with closed questions and

with or without the Likert scale and semi-open questions with multiple answers, applied

individually and directly. The size of the sample consisted of 267 subjects, classified by socio-

demographic indicators such as age, gender and level of education. 42% of the interviewees

declared not knowing the term ’Urban Heat Island’ (UHI), 28% recognized the term, while 30%

affirmed understanding this phenomenon. 66% of respondents believe UHI is felt in the study

area and 61% associate this phenomenon with the air pollution, larger in the city than in the

surrounding area. The obtained results reflect the need to transfer the scientific knowledge to


the decision makers and citizens for the awareness and adaptation to the present UHI and to

the climate changes of the human community.

Climate Change Adaptation: Green Touch

Aybuke Canguzel, Ipek Karaali, Kubra Kirmizialan

Ege University

Climate change is a change in climate caused by human activities that directly or indirectly

disrupt the composition of the global atmosphere. Climate change impacts are observed in

physical and ecological systems. The effects of these changes are like rising sea level, melting of

glaciers, changing precipitation models, increasing the variability of weather events. In order to

prevent and minimize the effects of climate change, effective energy use, storm water

management, increasing biodiversity, saving water, reducing carbon emissions and heat island

impacts are essential. The measures to be taken are to increase the use of solar panels, wind

power plants, roof gardens, pollinator houses, algae systems, electric cars and bicycles and

permeable surfaces, wetlands, bioswale and sink areas. Building facades, water sides and algae

systems used in various parts of the city clean air and water and reduce the heat island effect.

Bioenergy is produced as a result of harvesting. As a result of all these studies, it is aimed to

minimize the effects of climate change and to adopt ecosystem-based adaptation approach.

Assessing the impact of climate change on water resources and flow regime in Șușița

catchment (Romania) using CORDEX dataset for 4.5 and 8.5 Representative Concentration

Pathways scenarios

Ciobotaru Nicu, Zaharia Liliana


In this study the impact of climate change on water resources and hydrological regime of Șușița

catchment is assessed, using CORDEX Ensembles for Europe. These datasets are accessed from

User Data Gateway (UDG) platform of Santander Meteorology Group, and are composed of 11

Regional Climate Models (RCM) with historical and future climatic conditions, covering a time

spam between 1970 and 2100. The current analysis is based on five downscaled models, using

the projected precipitation and the temperatures for the near future (2031-2060). The data

served as an input for the HEC-HMS Soil Moisture Accounting hydrological model. The model

was calibrated for the period 1961-1971 and validated for the 1972-2010 time interval. The

results are showing a dramatic decrease of water resources in Șușița catchment, along with a

sharp change in the hydrological regime, consisting in high winter waters in exchange of high

summer waters, while the summer and autumn are experiencing lower flows. The projected

changes are expected to have significant impact on aquatic and riverine ecosystems, as well as

on the water supply. Thus, changes in water management practices should be foreseen in order

to tackle future challenges.


Topic 4. Challenges in water management.

The continuous growth of human population and economies has led to widespread

environmental impact. One of the most sensitive topics is water management; water resources

are under intense pressure, leading to social conflicts. At the same time, extreme weather events

are causing an increase in the frequency and magnitude of extreme hydrologic events, causing

significant losses of human lives and having considerable economic impacts. Water management

continues to pose challenges in many places around the Globe, and we see an increasing role of

the scientific community in developing research in aquatic ecosystems to support decisions in

water resources management.

Water and sewage infrastructure against the background of Poland's water resources

Katarzyna Kubiak-Wójcicka, Monika Kielik

Nicolaus Copernicus University, Faculty of Earth Sciences, Department of Hydrology and Water

Management, Toruń (Poland)

The aim of the study is to present Poland's water resources and their use for the needs of the

national economy. Poland has a limited, compared to other European countries, renewable

resources of surface waters. Water resources in Poland are characterized by high variability in

time and space, which requires rational management of water resources. The study analyzed

the intake and consumption of water, as well as the condition of water and sewage

infrastructure (length of water supply and sewage systems, number and types of sewage

treatment plants) on a regional basis. The analysis period covers the years 2004-2018, i.e. the

time of Poland's being a member of the European Union. Taking into account the structure of

water consumption, the largest amount of water is used for production purposes, and to a lesser

extent for the operation of water supply and irrigation. Despite systematic actions taken to

improve water management and water protection, water consumption in Poland in some years

amounts to up to ¼ of total surface water resources. The study indicates lack of legal regulations

that would encourage all water management sectors to be more economical in water

management.

Mitigating Floods with the Use of New Technologies: Μulti-Criteria Decision Analysis to Map

Flood Risk for Zakynthos Island, Greece

Stavros Stavropoulos1, George N. Zaimes2, Evangelos Filippidis3, Daniel C. Diaconu4, D.

Emmanouloudis2 1 International Hellenic University, Drama, Greece; 2Laboratory of Management and Control of

Mountainous Waters, Department of Forestry and Natural Environment Management,

International Hellenic University Drama, Greece; 3Forest Service, Serres, Greece; 4Department

of Meteorology and Hydrology, University of Bucharest


Floods are one of the most serious natural and man-made natural disasters that can cause

serious damages to societies including the loss of human lives. The increase in human

population, along with the anthropogenic and climate changes have increase the frequency and

magnitudes of flash worldwide. This is also the case in Mediterranean islands were human

development has expanded in intermittent and ephemeral streams that have flash floods that

are quite dangerous to human societies. Flash floods are more difficult to predict than river

floods because they are faster and episodic. Flash floods in the Mediterranean region are

increasing and causing more and more problems. In this present study the flood hazard risk on

Zakynthos Island was estimated by using the multi-criteria decision analysis method in a GIS

environment. Six factors that influence floods were included and each factor had a different

weight depending on their importance in order to develop an integrated flood risk map for the

entire island. The six factors, that were included for the development of the flood risk map,

were: a) flow accumulation, b) land use, c) elevation, d) geology, e) rainfall intensity and f)

topography (slope) of the watershed. Once the map was developed it was validated with the

locations of actual floods that had been recorded in the past on the island. The overall results

based on the map and validation were very encouraging. This new flood risk map can be used

by the Civil Protection Authorities of Zakynthos Island that should help reduce the risk from flash

floods.

Progress in flood risk informing and warning in Romania

Liliana Zaharia, Gabriela Ioana-Toroimac


The last decades, the hard (structural) measures were no longer considered as the only solution

for flood risk mitigation, while the soft (non-structural) ones have been increasingly introduced

in flood risk management. Among these, actions for people informing and warning are

important ways to increase society's resilience to floods and, consequently, to diminish the

related risk. This paper focuses on the measures aiming the public informing and warning on

flood risk in Romania, country having one of the highest flood risk in Europe. The study is based

on processing of data and information obtained from bibliographical research and from field

investigations in some areas in Romania affected in the last years by damaging floods. In the

first part, the paper presents aspects concerning: 1) the legislative and action general framework

on flood risk management at national scale, with special focus on public informing and

awareness actions; 2) the most representative institutions and specific tools for public informing

on flood risk in Romania. In the second part, some examples of actions aiming flood risk

informing at local scale (in areas hit by disastrous floods) are shown. A noteworthy progress in

the development of non-structural measures for flood risk mitigation can be noticed after 2005

in Romania, including people informing and awareness actions. Such actions were identified at

both national and local level (communes/towns). However, many other actions must be

transposed from the legislation into practice.


Preliminary study on monitoring micro- and nano-plastics in urban rivers using fluorescence

spectroscopy

Dontu Ionela Simona, Carstea Elfrida Mihaela, Popa Cristina Liana, Savastru Dan

National Institute of Research and Development for Optoelectronics, INOE 2000

Plastics are a wide range of highly synthetic and semi-synthetic materials that can be

transformed into a multitude of solid objects. In addition to the unsightly appearance of plastic

waste in the environment, recent studies have shown that plastic presents a high toxicity risk

through both micro- and nanoplastic (MNP) formation and the release of additives used in

plastic production. The most important particularity of plastics is given by their composition.

The aim of this study is to obtain information on MNPs that are potentially present in urban

rivers using fluorescence monitoring. In the present experiment water samples were colected

from Ciorogirla river and were contaminated in the laboratory with polystyrene lids (used for

coffee beakers) cut into approximately 1 cm pieces. Three identical samples were prepared to

obtain relevant results. Fluorescence spectroscopy measurements were performed with an

Aqualog fluorimeter (Horiba) for spectral analysis of particles and organic matter. For these

preliminary results, fluorescence measurements were performed weekly, for three weeks, after

exposure to plastics. Analyzing the fluorescence spectra, a maximum at 250 nm excitation

wavelength and 305 nm emission was observed in the samples with added plastic. Thus, it can

be assumed that the samples contain a low concentration of polystyrene. Although three

identical samples were prepared, the release of pollutants produced was different. However,

the differences were not significant.

Preliminary study of temporal evolution of micro- and nano-plastics in urban lake waters

Popa Cristina Liana, Carstea Elfrida Mihaela, Dontu Ionela Simona

National Institute of Research and Development for Optoelectronics, INOE 2000

One of the major problems that threaten the modern world is the increasing amount of plastics

found in waters, especially in urban waters such as lakes, which could have a direct impact on

human well-being and health. Given that plastic production increases annually, the attention

researchers was directed towards the monitoring of micro- and nano-plastics (MNPs) present in

waters. We aim to evidence the effect of MNPs (Polypropylene-PP, Polystyrene-PS and Low-

density polyethylene-LDPE) on urban lake water quality for 3 weeks using fluorescence

spectroscopy and flow cytometry. Water samples were collected from Carol lake in Bucharest

and exposed to plastics. The fluorescence spectroscopy revealed an increase of peak T intensity

in the first two weeks, followed by a decrease in week 3 for LDPE. For PP, a gradual increase of

peaks T and A over the three weeks was noticed, and for PS, a sudden decrease of peaks B, T

and A was observed from week 1 to week 2 which remained unchanged in week 3. The

cytometry measurements revealed a gradual increase of the populations during the three weeks

for the samples containing LDPE and PP, while the samples containing PS exhibited an increased

population in week 2 and a decrease in week 3. These preliminary studies revealed the potential


for using these techniques for the evaluation of urban lake water quality, although more

research is needed over a more extended period of time.

Assessment of the state of small water retention in Poland

Monika Kielik, Katarzyna Kubiak-Wójcicka

Nicolaus Copernicus University, Department of Hydrology and Water Management, Toruń

The aim of the study is to assess the state and needs of water retention in Poland in small

retention reservoirs. Based on the data of the Central Statistical Office (GUS), the capacity and

number of small retention facilities in the years 2005-2016 have been compiled. In the analyzed

years, the number of facilities increased by 136%, while the total capacity of reservoirs increased

by 214%. In 2016, there were a total of 32,792 small retention facilities with a total capacity of

826,034 dam3. The largest increase in the analyzed years was recorded in the number and

capacity of artificial water reservoirs. Despite the recorded increase, the amount of water

accumulated in artificial water reservoirs in 2016 accounted for only 24.1% of the total capacity

of all small retention facilities. The paper assesses actions related to increasing natural retention

in recent years.

An overview of water evaporation in Romania based on direct measurements

Mincu Florentina-Iuliana, Neculau Gianina

National Institute of Hydrology and Water Management

Over the last decades the evaporation process was analyzed at different surfaces and time

scales. In Romania the evaporation rates are measured directly from 1961 to present, during

the period without ice (April - October), at 53 evaporimeter stations, located at different

altitudes (from 1 m to 1300 m) and equipped with: GGI-3000 pan, psychrometer, thermometer,

anemometer and rain gauge. The aim of this study is to analyze the temporal variation of

evaporation in Romania (over the period 1961-2013), by establishing the maximum and

minimum values, as well as the probability of reaching them and their tendency, considering the

climate changes (especially those related to the precipitation and temperature). The

methodology was based on statistical parameters and statistical tests. The water evaporation

rates in Romania showed highest values in the southern and eastern part of the country, mainly

in the Romanian Plain (greater than 9 mm/day in summer), and lowest values at the contact

with hills and plateaus and mountain areas (less than 7 mm/day in summer). As for the years

where the highest values of evaporation occurred, they were recorded into the period 1961-

1963 (e.g. Amara and Cinciş stations) and 2009-2012 (e.g. Soleşti and Vârşolţ stations), due to

the hydrometeorological conditions. Changes of evaporation rates were identified in the 70’s,

80’s and 90’s, due to the evolution of the climatic parameters over time, but also caused by the

anthropic intervention.


Using GRACE data to analyze the recent variability of water storage in large European river

watersheds

Ioana-Toroimac Gabriela, Zaharia Liliana


Monitoring the water storage variability by using remote sensing data allows for large spatial

scale analysis and comparisons. In this study, the water storage was assessed by using the water

equivalent thickness per river basin estimated by GRACE (Gravity Recovery & Climate

Experiment) Data Analysis Tool (Jet Propulsion Laboratory data version) for the interval March

2002-June 2016, at monthly scale. The study consisted in basic statistics and was conducted on

ten large watersheds located within the boundaries of the European Union: the Danube, Duero,

Ebro, Elbe, Loire, Odra, Po, Rhine, Rhone, and Wisla river basins. The cross-European comparison

revealed that the highest amplitude of water storage characterized the Mediterranean Po River

Basin, while the lowest amplitude occurred in the temperate Elbe River Basin. The maximum

values were recorded in November-December in three quarters of the studied watersheds (2002

– the Loire, Po, Rhone, and Rhine river basins, and 2010 – the Elbe, Odra, Wisla river basins)

suggesting the major role of neighboring low pressure centers over Europe. In November 2002,

the half west of the continent was wet, while in November 2010 only the center of the continent

was wet. The minimum values were more variable, occurring in various months and years,

suggesting the complexity of dry events drivers. As example, in May 2011, only small areas in

the west of the continent were dry (i.e. in the Loire and Rhone river basins). Our study confirms

the importance of GRACE data in the monitoring of water-related extreme events for further

management issues.

A machine learning approach for flash-flood mapping in the context of deforestation

Mihnea Cristian Popa1,2,3, Daniel Constantin Diaconu1,3,4 1Research Center for Integrated Analysis and Territorial Management, University of Bucharest; 2Research Institute of the University of Bucharest; 3Simion Mehedinți – Nature and Sustainable

Development Doctoral School, University of Bucharest; 4Department of Meteorology and

Hydrology, Faculty of Geography, University of Bucharest

The importance of identifying the areas prone to floods and flash floods has become a very

important subject for researchers as this natural risk phenomena have increased in the past

years as a result to climate change and ever-increasing anthropic activities. The present study is

conducted in the Moldovița river catchment, one of the most deforested areas in Romania,

which also overlays one of the most flood affected regions, the Moldova river catchment. The

methodological approach of the study proposes the use of machine learning techniques to

process the factors with a direct impact on flash floods and compute their outputs using GIS

software, thus resulting the flash flood vulnerability maps. The results offer a methodological

approach, useful for both the local and national authorities to elaborate flash flood hazard maps

for the areas with no hydro-technical constructions and where forest loss is ever-increasing.


Low flows in rivers as a source of potential conflicts in water management

Katarzyna Kubiak-Wójcicka

Nicolaus Copernicus University, Faculty of Earth Scienes, Department of Hydrology and Water

Management, Toruń (Poland)

The paper evaluates the seasonality of low flows in selected Polish rivers. Availability of water

resources, determination of their amount and stability of the hydrological regime is an

extremely important issue due to economic, financial and social consequences. Seasonal

variability of the river runoff is one of the most important hydrological information, as it allows

for proper control of water management activities in relation to the water resources of a given

watercourse and its entire catchment. The use of water may not reduce the flow in the channel

of the watercourse below the liminal flow. It is not always possible to satisfy the water needs of

all users, which is why it requires setting a hierarchy of needs. The issue of setting priorities in

meeting water needs applies to both the hierarchy of users and the use of water resources.

Pursuant to the Regulation on establishing conditions of water use, the priority in satisfying

water needs is to provide people with drinking water, water for social and living purposes as

well as for the production of food and pharmaceutical products. In the second place is to satisfy

the requirements of aquatic ecosystems and those dependent on water. In the situation of too

little water there is a problem with satisfying the water needs of all users, which leads to

conflicts in water management. These conflicts intensify during a prolonged hydrological

drought.

Hydrogeology of Karangbolong Karst, Java-Indonesia

Hanindha Pradipa, Eko Haryono, Sutanto, Trijuni Putro, Fitria Nucifera

Department of Environmental Geography, Faculty of Geography, Universitas Gadjah Mada

Karangbolong Karst (KK) lies in the southern zone of Central Java, Indonesia. The area is typified

by conical karst (kegle karst) morphology. The karst aquifer develops in the Miocene Limestone

of Kalipuncang Formation. This paper aims at investigating the hydrogeological system of the

area. Hydrogeological data was collected from geological report, cave survey report, and field

survey. Field survey was conducted to collect springs occurrences and epikarst characteristics.

The results show that karst aquifer in the KK has already developed very well, which is indicated

by conduit system, fissure, and diffuse component. The hydrogeological system is governed by

this limestone formation and the underlying volcanic clastic rocks. The conduit systems result

from underground river system in which five underground river system develop in the KK, i.e.

Kalikarak, Jatijajar, Kalisirah, Petruk, and Bleber. The underground river systems emerge as

springs discharging water 350 up to 1500 lt/s. The biggest springs occur in the northern foot

slope the karst hills coinciding with the underlying dipping. The permeability of the conduit is

ca. 6,644 m/day, whereas the permeability of the subcutaneous zone is 0.268 m/day. The sub-

cutaneous zone is composed of 20-130 cm thick of clayed soil.


Topic 5. Environmental sciences

A holistic understanding of the environmental challenges faced by humans requires an

integrative and interdisciplinary approach to science. We are extending an invitation to

researchers in environmental science, conservation biology, landscape ecology, and social

sciences to step outside their comfort zones and collaborate towards charting a sustainable

future for both society and the environment.

Post-urban feudalisation of parks. Subduing urban parks through politics in Bucharest

Alexandru Gavriș, Claudia Popescu, Adrian Kanovici, Viorel Mionel

The Bucharest University of Economic Studies

Cities of former European socialist countries marked multiple facets of analysis, yet, despite

notable interventions, scholars have not prospected enough the urban political ecology realm

and how the new dynamics create particular assemblages of accumulation, dispossession and

exclusion. The support that alliances of power gained through neoliberalization tactics allowed

an increased authority that reduced politics to individualistic visions mimicking cooperation and

democracy, lacking dialogues or entangling them into variegated architectures of populist

power. In the city of Bucharest such situations amply manifested in the case of urban parks

through actions of politicians embracing a peculiar form of post-urban and post-socialist

understanding. They developed a post-urban feudalisation of parks which we examine under

the lens of urban political ecology. Our inquiry draws from a fieldwork research, supported

through media and renewed parks explorations. The explored directions reveal that political

agency is a function of distorted evolution with economic patriarchal interests supervising

socionatural reality. It contributes to the development of the critique in the region as reflecting

on the post-urban feudalisation concept can support the ideological and political shift

transforming the landscapes in the region.

Biogeographic educational field schools and excursions in the concept of field training

practice of the geographical faculty of Lomonosov Moscow state University

Emelyanova L.G., Emelyanov A.A.

Lomonosov Moscow State University

In 1992, in the middle taiga of the European part of Russia (200 km West of Kotlas, between the

rivers Vaga and Northern Dvina), a field station of the Department of biogeography of the

geographical faculty of Moscow state University was organized. This area is known as the

"Russian North" and the "Center of the European taiga". Here is a wide range of taiga landscapes

with evidence of the last glaciation. The spruce-fir forests of different ages are dominated here,

as well as Siberian elements of flora and fauna (at the Western tree line). Students of the

Department of biogeography annually undertake a field practice at the station. To date, the

nature of the taiga has been well studied, the results of these researches are reflected in

numerous review scientific monographs and articles. It took some time to develop the idea of


biogeographical education for a wide range of people living on the territory neighbored to the

station - in villages and habitations. Two environmental schools were organized by students and

teachers. Schools introduced the nature, biotic diversity of the taiga, its flora and fauna to local

students, children from orphanages and teachers. As it turned out, it was easier to find literature

on kangaroos and monkeys than about the life of living near flying squirrels and lynx. In this

regard, we have published the books "Life of Taiga", "Healing and ornamental plants of the

Arkhangelsk taiga". There were described ecological routes for excursions on the territory near

the station (taiga on different types of forests, floodplain on the "island" forests), allowing to

get acquainted with typical and rare species of plants and animals and their communities. That

was the beginning of the development of biogeographic (!) tourism in the depths of the taiga of

the European part of Russia.

Public perception regarding air pollution in Bucharest due to road transport and opportunity

of traffic restriction for the polluting vehicles

Popa Vasile, Irimia Radu, Șandric Ionuț

Faculty of Geography, Bucharest University

Air pollution, especially in large urban areas, is a reality that is more and more difficult to bear.

It is also known that pollution is responsible for the premature death of millions of people

worldwide. Between the sources of pollution, road transport has a significant contribution. In

2019, a survey on air pollution was conducted in Bucharest. The aim was to investigate public

perception of air pollution due to road transport and the opportunity of traffic restriction for

the polluting vehicles. The results demonstrate that the citizens of Bucharest are concerned

about air pollution issues, and agree that improving air quality is the obligation of all citizens.

The large majority also consider that the pollution in Bucharest is high and a measure is

needed to restrict the polluting cars in the city.

Landscape connectivity: a model based on understanding the human-wildlife interactions

Mihai Mustatea, Ileana Stupariu


Human-wildlife interactions (WLI) are facing an unprecedented magnitude especially in areas

were consistent populations of large animals share habitat with diverse human activities, and

wildlife management is precarious. Connectivity measures represent a suitable landscape

ecology tool proper to investigate the potential of diverse ecosystems to facilitate species

movement in order to gain access to food resources, shelter or suitable habitat patches. In this

study we hypothesize that the upper Prahova Valley, an area known for the problematic

coexistence between animals and humans, possesses valuable suitable habitat regions proper

to be connected by a network of ecological corridors. Therefore, the goal of our research is to

address the areas WLI problem by 1) identifying the distribution and characteristics of the most

frequent interactions, 2) investigating the main economic or natural triggers and 3) developing


a complex system of ecological paths wich allow problematic species access to habitat patches

and complementary avoid major conflict hotspots. The methodology applied encompasses

surveys and interviews with locals, filed observations of targeted species, discussions with local

authorities and GIS cost connectivity models. The analissess demonstrates that favorable habitat

areas for wild animals located within the Bucegi, Baiului and Clăbucetele Predealului Mountains

can be connected by a web of corridors without interfering with dense WLI concentrations such

as the outskirts of Bușteni, Sinaia or Predeal settlements. The results are useful in helping

planners to ensure an eficient protection system regarding the protected areas within the

Prahova Valley in order to conserve both human economic activities and large interfering

species.

Empowering impact assessments knowledge and international research collaboration

Nita Andreea

Centre for Environmental Research and Impact Studies, University of Bucharest

Innovation, knowledge exchange and collaboration are fundamental in environmental studies.

Impact assessments represent a key tool in identifying and predicting the environmental

consequences of a project. The journal Environmental Impact Assessment Review started

promoting research discussing different issues or methods in the field of impact assessments

and environmental management since 1980. By analyzing 1664 articles published within the

journal between 1980 and 2018 by 2935 authors, affiliated to institutions from 75 countries, this

study aims to provide a better understanding of the environmental assessment research trends.

Bibliometric indicators such as keywords or country of affiliation were analyzed through a

network methodological approach, including co-occurrence analysis, centrality metrics and

multiple correspondence analysis. The international collaboration and productivity maps bring

a novel overview to this type of analysis and reveal new perspectives for thrived cooperation on

environmental assessments research. The results illustrate the most common research topics

through a conceptual structure map and a keywords co-occurrence graph with a temporal

overlay, which allows observing their evolution over the years. Furthermore, this work tries to

explain the political, economic, social and technological factors that influence the tendencies in

environmental assessments research and scientific cooperation, providing future insights for

environmental scientific priorities.

Building Energy Consumption and household behavior: a case study in semi-arid climate

Abdou Saliha, Bouchenak Nourhouda

Laboratory of bioclimatic architecture and environment (ABE), University Salah Boubnider

Constantine 3

In order to reduce energy consumption and its impact on environment and to preserve thermal

comfort of occupants in buildings, the present study tries to assess occupant’s behavior towards

energy consumption in buildings, and point out the relations between architectural elements,


occupants' behavior, household characteristics, and energy consumption. It is widely recognized

that the residential energy consumption is not only influenced by the characteristics of

construction, but also by household’s behavior and characteristics. Thus, this study aims to get

a glimpse on the effect of the characteristics and behaviors of residents on energy consumption.

For that, three types of dwellings are chosen for experimental work that are: The colonial type,

social type and the promotional housing type. First, a difference between the energy

performances of housing is found. Then, the impact of occupants is checked in order to point

out whether they contribute: to maintain, improve or increase that performance? To define the

energy performance of the three categories of selected houses, the study uses: First, a thermal

analysis and energy simulation Ecotect Analysis 2010 software. Then, a simulator of energy

performance diagnosis that gives: / Energy class housing and consumption per m² per year. /CO2

emissions calculated in kilograms per m². In addition, to explore the impact of occupants a

survey was conducted, the questionnaire includes also questions on household characteristics,

building, energy consumption, and occupant behavior. The results demonstrate the significant

effect of the occupants on energy consumption. A relationship between both occupant behavior

and household characteristics, with energy consumption has been established identifying: Three

patterns of behavior: spending, high-conscious and comfort-commodity.

Rise and shine, vegans! Veganism as an eco-solution: against cruelty and climate change, for

a healthy life

Valentina-Mariana Manoiu, Alexandru-Ioan Craciun

Faculty of Geography, University of Bucharest

Over 70 billion animals are slaughtered each year in order to feed approximately 7.7 billion

people. Currently, more and more people become aware of the extreme suffering and the

terrible forms of cruelty animals are subjected to every day in factory farms that produce meat

and dairy products, and eggs. At the same time, intensive animal farming contributes to climate

change, as livestock accounts for 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions, which exceeds the

transportation sector. Meat consumption is associated with a higher risk of developing certain

serious health issues, such as heart disease, kidney-, liver- and lung-related conditions, strokes,

type 2 diabetes, colorectal cancer and other types of cancer, infections, obesity etc. This review

aims to examine the impact of a vegan diet on animal welfare, climate change and health. By

means of the snowball method, i.e. tracking references for papers featured on the Google

Scholar platform, an initial bank of 85 scientific articles was obtained. Additionally, by using

certain keywords, search protocols and filters on the Web of Science platform, a second bank of

76 relevant studies was produced. One of the review’s conclusions is that veganism is an ethical

solution against the violence and exploitation that sentient beings (farm animals) endure in

industrialized farms; plant-based foods have the lowest GHG emissions/kilocalorie of food

produced; a vegan diet provides health benefits for the prevention and treatment of many

diseases and is associated with a lower mortality than that of a meat-based diet.


The second reporting of Romania to the European Commission under Article 17 of the Habitats

Directive – main issues noticed

Mihăilescu Simona1, Bodescu Florian1, Gheorghe Iuliana-Florentina1, Strat Daniela1,2, Onete

Marilena1, Manu Minodora1 1Institute of Biology Bucharest, Romanian Academy; 2Faculty of Geography, University of

Bucharest

The aim of reporting under Article 17 of the Habitats Directive 92/43 / EEC is to assess the

conservation status of species and habitats of community interest in Romania. The second

report was submitted to the European Commission at the end of April 2019. The implementation

of unitary methodologies for evaluation of the conservation was developed in order to elaborate

the country report. Also, the differences were noticed between the information reported by

Romania in the first report from 2013, the Standard Natura 2000 Forms for SCIs (updated in

December 2018), as well as updated Checklists for Annex I habitat types and Annex II, IV and V

species. Also, a number of inconsistencies were noticed for SCIs designated until 2015 or those

that have been updated since 2016. For the habitats and species of community interest that are

being implemented by the Bucharest Institute of Biology, information / data / field observations

/ documents were used from the projects that were the basis for the designation of the sites

mentioned above, as well as the related management plans for SCIs that were approved

between 2011 and 2017. The activities were carried out within the project ""Completing the

level of knowledge of biodiversity by implementing the system of monitoring the conservation

status of species and habitats of community interest in Romania and reporting under Article 17

of the Habitats Directive 92/43 / EEC"", financed by POIM (SIMIS code 120009), where the

Institute of Biology Bucharest is a Partner of the Ministry of the Environment which has the

status of leader.

MEASURES Project in Romania

Mihăilescu Simona, Gheorghe Iuliana-Florentina, Dumitrache Cristina-Alina, Bodescu Florian

Institute of Biology Bucharest-Romanian Academy

Managing and restoring aquatic EcologicAl corridors for migratory fiSh species in the danUbe

RivEr baSin (MEASURES) will establish of ecological corridors through identifying key habitats

and initiating protective measures along the Danube and its main tributaries. Two pilot actions

are proposed: (1) identify and map key habitats, (2) restocking of two native species to conserve

their genetic pool. A MEASURES Information System (MIS) will facilitate access to information

for experts, decision makers and the general public. It includes a reference library, a

metadatabase and a data center to provide scientists, decision makers and the general public

with information about ecological corridors and the connectivity of habitats for long- and

medium-distance migratory fish of the Danube River Basin. The main objective for engaging

stakeholders in MEASURES project is to achieve a shared understanding of the project results

and implementation at national and basin level, as well as an improved implementation process,

improved feedback and data collection. One of these objectives is to establish a national


network between the stakeholders involved in the project activities, in particular for the

conservation of migratory fish species and their habitats. At national level, Romanian team from

Institute of Biology Bucharest (IBRA), in February 2019, together with Ministry of Water and

Forest (MAP) and WWF – RO, organized the first national workshop. During the workshop the

participants were invited to round tables according to those three working groups and

categories. This event with data owners was a good opportunity to present the project, raise

their support for data upload on the MIS. MEASURES Project is co-funded by European Union

funds (ERDF, IPA): http://www.interreg-danube.eu/approved-projects/measures.

Estimations of PM10 levels and their water-soluble components during the convective period

of 2019: a case study in Prahova Valley

Tiberiu Hriscan1,3, Alina Olaru2, Gabriela Iorga1,4 1University of Bucharest, Faculty of Physics; 2University of Bucharest, Faculty of Biology, Dept. of

Systems Ecology and Sustainability; 3National Meteorological Administration, Romania; 4University of Bucharest, Department of Physical Chemistry

The study was conducted in a small touristic mountain town in Prahova Valley during the

convective period of 2019 in two field campaigns. The PM10 mass concentrations were

determined using a medium-volume sampler with a time-sampling resolution of 12 hours for 10

successive days during each campaign. Correlations between meteorological parameters

(atmospheric pressure, precipitations, relative humidity, temperature) and ambient PM10 levels

were analyzed. Meteorological parameters were measured using an automatic weather station

that operated at 1 min resolution, and were complemented with radar products (images,

reflectivity, echotops) from the C-band meteorological radar from National Meteorological

Administration in Bucharest. The rainfall rates were calculated using the radar reflectivity.

Water-soluble components (WSOC) in ambient PM10 samples were determined, as well. WSOC

were determined as follows total organic carbon by a carbon analyzer (HiperTOC, Thermo

Scientific) and several ionic species using chromatographic methods (HPLC Varian Prostar

chromatograph with conductivity detector). The aerosol scavenging coefficients were estimated

and compared with those in scientific literature. The obtained results are important for

evaluations of the air quality and for investigations of aerosol wet deposition processes.

Spatial variation of land surface temperature during persistent heat waves in urban areas of

southern Romania

Dumitrică Cristina, Micu Dana, Grigorescu Ines, Havriş Loredana

Institute of Geography, Romanian Academy

Land surface temperature (LST) in urban areas have been widely used to perform land use/cover

(LUC) classifications and relate them to different extreme whether episodes. The current study

investigates the LST-LUC relationship and its contribution to the shape and size of the nighttime

and daytime surface thermal environment in eight selected cities of southern Romania (e.g.


Bucharest, Craiova, Pitești, Călărași, Galați). The study relies on LUC data (Urban Atlas

Copernicus Land Service) to investigate the LST (MODIS) responses to the underlying urban LUC

and to detect LST-LUC hotspots under persistent heatwaves episodes (2000-2013 interval). Four

main LUC types within the administrative boundaries of the selected urban areas that reflect

both the local exposure (impervious, arable) and coping capacity (green, blue) to heatwaves

have been considered. The main findings of the study suggest strong LUC- LST relationships and

similar spatial LST variation patterns under heatwave conditions in all target cities. E.g. cities

with high soil sealing (up to 60%) and reduced green/blue urban space (below 22% and 5%,

respectively) (e.g. Bucharest) are experiencing large LST, suggesting a great exposure to heat

stress of urban population. Also, extended arable land (e.g. Buzău, Giurgiu) linked to very high

LST values (especially during daytime – above 50°C in Craiova or Călărași) are driven by the

thermal properties similar to bare soil which heats faster than the vegetation-covered soil. On

the other hand, the increased shares of blue (e.g. Galați) and green (e.g. Craiova, Pitești) areas

have shown significant cooling effects despite the extended impervious surfaces.

Past environmental signals recorded in the alpine speleothems from the Făgăraș Mountains,

Romania

Maria-Laura Tîrlă1, Virgil Drăgușin2, Vasile Ersek3, Dirk Hoffmann4, John Hellstrom5, Petra Bajo5,

Ionuț-Cornel Mirea 6

1University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography, ICUB; 2Romanian Academy, Emil Racoviţă

Institute of Speleology, Romania; 3Northumbria University, Department of Geography,

Newcastle upon Tyne, UK; 4Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Department of

Human Evolution, Leipzig, Germany; 5School of Earth Sciences, The University of Melbourne,

Victoria, Australia; 6Babes-Bolyai University, Department of Geology, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Cave deposits in alpine regions are terrestrial environmental archives which store information

about climate and vegetation change, mountain uplift, and hence, landscape evolution. This is

of particularly interest for speleothems from caves developed in carbonate rock bodies isolated

at high altitudes. We present here the preliminary results of U-Th dating and carbon and oxygen

stable isotope analysis of three speleothem samples collected from the M3-R2 and M5 marble

caves, located in the Făgăraș Mountains at elevations above 2,400 m a.s.l. These are the first

speleothem ages and stable isotope data from the South Carpathian high-alpine caves. The U-

Th dates suggest that speleothems grew during the warmer intervals of Middle and Late

Pleistocene (i.e., interglacials MIS 11, MIS 7, and MIS 5). Stalagmite M3-R2-1 grew at the peak

of the Last Interglacial (MIS 5e), between 125.5±0.8 and 123±0.8 ka. Considering the fact that

speleothems usually form during warmer periods and under wetter conditions, flowstone M3-

R2-3 most probably start forming during the MIS 7 around ~200 ka and continued during the

MIS 5, whereas flowstone M5-1 formed only during MIS 11 between ~420 and ~370 ka. The

δ13C values recorded high oscillations related to organic matter content of speleothem calcite

and hence, to biological activity in soil at the time of deposition. The δ18O values show relative

stability across the analyzed period, close to the average δ18O in modern precipitations (-8‰).


Collaborative dispute resolution. What drives its effectiveness?

Hossu Constantina-Alina1, Ioja Ioan-Cristian1, Patroescu Maria1, Hersperger Anna2

1University of Bucharest, Centre for Environmental Research and Impact Studies; 2Swiss Federal

Research Institute WSL, Switzerland

Collaborative dispute resolution is essential in natural resources management to negotiate

solutions to global environmental problems. Our study aims to look at the conditions which

appear to contribute to the effectiveness of collaborative problem-solving efforts in case studies

of environmental conflicts in Romania. The selected case studies illustrate the conflicts

confronting many countries today, specifically human-wildlife conflicts as well as green and blue

infrastructures related conflicts. The method of multi-value qualitative comparative analysis

(mvQCA) is used to compare the case studies and identify the conditions that bring success in

the resolution of the conflicts. Our preliminary results showed that the combination of

principled engagement, shared motivation and joint action are necessary and sufficient

conditions for success. Our study discusses new insights on the theory and practice of

collaborative governance that might lead to an improvement of the collaborative processes in

natural resources management in the future.

Monitoring of mountain grasslands’ vegetation for evaluation of multifunctional potential

Petre Bretcan1, Daniel Dunea2, Danut Tanislav1 1Valahia University of Targoviste, Faculty of Humanities, Department of Geography; 2Valahia

University of Targoviste, Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Food Sciences

Grasslands are important ecosystems, which together with forests and shrublands represent

valuable terrestrial biomes that own increased diversity and a complex interrelation between

biocoenosis and abiotic factors. Mountain grasslands contain valuable species of plants and

animals, as well as microorganisms that often have valuable ecological plasticity. Conversely,

grasslands having canopies formed by species with high phenotypic plasticity show a better

multifunctional utilization potential starting from valuable fodder production to areas of

ecological compensation (reservations of biodiversity) for the flora and fauna potentially

affected by inadequate cropping practices, environmental issues, and climate change. The

paper presents some combined techniques of observation and analysis using satellite

information and geospatial tools applied to mountain grasslands’ herbage evaluation and

monitoring. The applied methodology facilitates the conservative management of grasslands

and maximizes their multifunctional utilization value in correlation with animal production. In

sustainable agriculture system, the role of perennial canopy is substantial and acquires the

valences of multifunctional utilization. Besides its use as a fodder resource, the perennial canopy

of the mountain grasslands becomes a reservation of biodiversity (an area of ecological

compensation) for the flora and fauna seriously affected by the anthropogenic interventions.

PROBA-V satellite provides images with spatial resolution of 300 m allowing the extraction of

more detailed information regarding the crop yields, droughts, desertification, deforestation,

changes in the type of vegetation, etc. (http://proba-v.vgt.vito.be). The information collected by


the satellite was used to study the ecosystem of grasslands in Fundata area (Romania) between

2015 and 2017. Photosynthetically Active Radiation was measured on-site with a Delta-T beam

fraction sensor to assess the light fluxes in the area.

Spatial analysis of Brown bear damages in Eastern Carpathians

Ioan-Mihai Pop, Silviu Chiriac 1Faculty of Geography, University of Bucharest; 2Environmental Protection Agency of Vrancea

County

The damages caused by the brown bear (Ursus arctos) are not constant over time and space,

suggesting that landscape factors might influence the frequency of conflict occurrence. From

the reported incidents (n=779) from 2007 to 2016 in Covasna, Harghita and Vrancea counties,

66% of them involved the killing of domestic animals and 26% the destruction of crops by brown

bears. We check whether the spatial distribution of the conflict locations was clustered or

dispersed and the obtained z-score (30.240, p < 0.001 of Getis-Ord Gi* statistic), shows a less

than 1% likelihood that the clustered pattern could be the result of random chance. Of 3,490

2×2 sample units in the study, 229 squares (6.5%) were identified as hotspot areas. Only 43.9%

(n = 342) incidents took place in the pastures and hay meadows and areas with rare vegetation,

i.e., the main areas used by farmers for livestock breeding, while 13.7% (106) took place in the

forest habitats. In addition, 200 incidents (25.7%) occurred inside the localities (144) or at a

distance of less than 100 m. Considering also the large diversity of reported abundances (at GMU

level in 2016) of the brown bear, we observed a weak correlation (r = 0.217, p < 0.001) between

the number of conflicts and bear abundance. Thus, we can conclude that conflicts may occur

over all the brown bear range, with factors other than environmental and ecological having a

higher importance.

Using a GIS model for identifying conflicting factors for the quality of lentic ecosystems in

Romania

Mihaita- Iulian Niculae, Ana Corpade2, Ionut Pascu3, Sorin Avram4, Carmen Gheorghe5,

Alexandu Sin5 1University of Bucharest, Centre for Environmental Research and Impact Studies; 2Babes- Bolyai

University, Faculty of Geography; 3PhD at National Institute for Research and Development in

Forestry “Marin Drăcea”;4University of Craiova;5National Institute of Economic Research Costin

C. Kiritescu, Romanian Academy.

The paper aims to create a new methodology for assessing the degradation of natural and semi-

natural lentic ecosystems in Romania, based on GIS techniques and various indicators. This

methodology classifies the lentic ecosystems in three categories (degraded, semi-degraded and

natural lentic ecosystems) and can be used to prioritize activities to reduce degradation sources

and to implement ecological reconstruction programs. These measures are critical in the case

of lakes situated in protected areas. The methodology also identified relevant parameters or


indicators that interfere with environmental degradation by using a multi-criteria analysis of the

dependence. The multi-criteria analysis was performed through fully automated data processing

and generated a derivate index, WRASTIC-HI. The proposed methodology is showcasing a fully

automated data processing instrument, based on GIS and administrative data that allows to

assess the lentic ecosystems degradation state at national level. It also allows to prioritize the

categories of indicators important for the lake degradation and use the chosen ones. The

management of the lake ecosystems is helped by identifying the most important sources of

degradation and the best indicators to define the degradation. It also provides spatial

distribution for the degradation sources and corresponding indicators, allowing to determine

where environmental conflicts may manifest, where measures need to be applied and what

should be done to improve the ecological status of the lake ecosystems.

Application of Fractal and Gray-Level Co-occurrence Matrix indices to assess the

Sustainability of Forest Dynamics in the Curvature Carpathians – Romania

Ciobotaru Ana-Maria123, Andronache Ion12, Ahammer Helmut4, Radulovic Marko5, Peptenatu

Daniel123, Pintilii Radu-Daniel123, Draghici Cristian Constantin123, Marin Marian13, Carboni

Donatella6, Mariotti Gavin6, Fensholt Rasmus7 1University of Bucharest-Research Center for Integrated Analysis and Territorial Management; 2Research Institute of the University of Bucharest; 3Faculty of Geography, University of

Bucharest; 4Centre for Physiological Medicine, Institute of Biophysics, Medical University of

Graz; 5Laboratory of Cancer Cell Biology, Institute for Oncology and Radiology, Belgrade; 6Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Sassari; 7Department of Geosciences

and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen.

The mountain ecosystems face significant damage from deforestation and environmental forest

changes. We investigated the evolution of tree types of cover areas, deforested areas and total

deforested areas from Curvature Carpathians using Gray-Level Co-occurrence Matrix and fractal

analysis. We calculated four fractal indices (Pyramid dimension, Cube Counting Dimension,

Fractal Fragmentation-Compaction Index, Tug-of-War lacunarity) and five Gray-Level Co-

occurrence Matrix indices (Angular Second Moment, Contrast, Correlation, Inverse Difference

Moment, Entropy). We also calculated fractal dimension because it is an index of complexity

comparing how the detail in a pattern changes with the scale at which it is measured. Fractal

dimension is useful in estimating irregularity or roughness of fractal and natural objects that do

not respect Euclidian geometry. While the fractal dimension quantifies how much space is

occupied, the Tug-of-War lacunarity complements fractal dimension with its ability to quantify

how space is occupied. Analyses have been completed with Gray-Level Co-occurrence Matrix

analysis because it quantifies spatial probability distributions of gray level values between pixel

pairs within an image. Such comprehensive analysis has the advantage in combining fractal

analysis that extracts quantitative information about the morphological complexity of the image

together with the spatial distribution of the gray pixel intensities as calculated by the co-

occurrence features provided by Gray-Level Co-occurrence Matrix. Only a sustainable

management of forest resources could reduce the negative impact on local communities.


Effectiveness of the Natura 2000 network in Romania in protecting species from Habitats

Directive

Iulia V. Miu

University of Bucharest, Center for Environmental Research and Impact Studies

The Natura 2000 network of protected areas has been created to provide protection and the

favorable conservation status of species and habitats representative for Europe's

biogeographical regions. Scientists and policymakers often question the effectiveness of this

network, which is usually undermined by poor governance, lack of funding and relevant

resources. One tool supporting management decisions and for investigating species population

coverage within protected areas is spatial conservation prioritization, which can be an efficient

instrument to prioritize targeting of conservation effort in the Natura 2000 network. In order to

identify the high-priority Natura 2000 sites for species conservation, to analyze whether the

spatial coverage of SCI areas is representative for conserving species listed in Annex II of Habitats

Directive, and to explore if these species are well represented by the Natura 2000 network

according to biogeographical regions, we used systematic conservation planning software

Zonation. Based on data extracted from Natura 2000 Standard Data Form for every SCI, we try

to identify landscapes that have exceptionally high conservation value and which represent

critical areas to protect species diversity to guide future conservation efforts at national level.

We identify top-priority areas of the Natura 2000 network in the mountainous part of Romania

and the Danube Delta, and small isolated high-priority Natura 2000 sites in the eastern and

southern part of Romania. Distribution of top spatial conservation priorities demonstrated a lack

of connectivity between Natura 2000 sites with high conservation values having similar features

or species. Our approach is to provide a perspective on the effectiveness of the Natura 2000

network at national level by identifying high-priority conservation sites in the context of land

use change and anthropogenic pressure.

Elusive legal frameworks: A path towards local unpredictable conflicts

Gavrilidis, Athanasios-Alexandru, Diaconu, Daniel, Ioja, Ioan-Cristian

Center for Environmental Research and Impact Studies, Faculty of Geography

The ground for development and increase of people’s well-being in human settlements lies in

the exploitation of local resources. The presence of local resource has always urged

communities or economic actors to access them, regardless of the environmental consequences

or, in some cases, social and human health impact. Through our study we highlight how,

sometimes, different local activities can conflict one another, emphasizing the need of a better

management and coherent and integrated actions. We present the case of a mineral water

drilling activity jeopardized by agricultural activities and the use of ammonia-based compounds

which allegedly altered the quality of the exploited mineral water. Our study shows the

involvement and actions of the involved actors, before, during and after the conflict. Also, we

analyzed the media coverage of the subject for a better understanding of how the actors used

different leverages in order to gain grounds and satisfy their interests. Our study projected an


important issue such as the poor management and legal framework of the security buffer zones

that should surround some activities. The major finding of our study is that without a proper

regulation and management of these buffer areas there is a great potential of new conflicts

occurrence all over Romania with significant impact over local economies and development.

Explosive Mediterranean Cyclones over Southeastern Europe

Brancus Mihaela1,2, Antonescu Bogdan1,3, Stefan Sabina1 1University of Bucharest, Faculty of Physics; 2National Meteorological Administration- RMC

Oltenia, Craiova; 3National Institute of R&D for Optoelectronics

An extratropical cyclone is considered intense or explosive if the deepening rate is at least of 24

hPa/24 h (for sinφ = 60°) or, equivalently, at least of 1 Bergeron. Sometimes, these intense

cyclones do not follow the classical conceptual model of evolution but rather the Shapiro-Keyser

conceptual model. The Shapiro-Keyser conceptual model comes to complete the classical

Norwegian cyclone model in explaining some intense extratropical cyclones. This cyclone model

has four stages of evolution: the leaf stage (I), the frontal fracture stage (II), the bent-back front

formation and frontal T-bone stage (III) and the warm seclusion stage (IV). In stage III the

occluded front (or the bent-back front) starts to wrap around the cyclone center, eventually

ending behind the cold front. In a Shapiro-Keyser cyclone, the occlusion process can lead to

severe weather phenomena such as large amounts of precipitation or hurricane-like winds. The

deeper the cyclone, the greater the hazards. The aim of this work was to find the frequency of

appearance of explosive cyclones influencing weather in southeastern Europe. For study we

used the surface analysis maps, satellite and observational data explosive cyclones that formed

in Mediterranean Sea and followed a northeastern trajectory for 2009–2018 period. The results

showed a 20% relative frequency. Though the explosive Mediterranean cyclones that evolve

according to Shapiro-Keyser conceptual model and influence southeastern Europe represent a

rather rare phenomenon, they are studied because their associated hazards have a large societal

and economic impact.

The ecoclimatic indexes specific for the Bãiașu Drainage Basin

Iulian-Andrei Bărsoianu, Adriana-Bianca Ovreiu, Alexandru Nedelea, Laura Comănescu


The study area is situated in the central-southern part of Romania, more exactly in the middle

part of the Southern Carpathians, on the western slope of the Fagaras Mountain and at the

contact with the Getic Subcarpathians. The investigated area occupies a small area (90 kmp),

the elevation over 1500 m, the structural and lithological differences, as well as the different

orientation of the relief surfaces, make the landscape complex and extremely diverse.

Knowledge of ecological features and ecoclimatic indexes helps us to interpret geoecological

particulates as accurately as possible. Landscape ecology is the one that studies the natural

factors of the landscape that may be natural (fire, floods, storms) or human origins (forest


exploitation, quarries, etc.). A series of indices and coefficients have been calculated and

analyzed to highlight the features of the geomorphological landscape. The natural potential of

the landscape is analyzed by calculating some indices based on data processed from Worldclim

V2. Analyzing the digital maps made with the distribution of the main ecoclimatic indices, it was

found that the differences between the obtained values are imposed by relief: altitude, slopes,

aspect, the main climatic parameters: temperatures, precipitations, insolation degree, air mass

circulation, etc. The area shows an obvious climatic zoning, but on this background one can

notice local differences imposed by the orientation of the mountain ridges, by the relation

between the negative relief forms and these ridges, as well as by the vegetation and other

elements.

Biomass burning emissions- multiannual statistics in Romania

Cristina Marin, Luminita Marmureanu, Simona Andrei, Bogdan Antonescu, Mihai Boldeanu,

Jeni Vasilescu, Alexandru Dandocsi

National Institute of Research and Development for Optoelectronics, INOE2000

Atmospheric aerosols play an important role in the radiative budget of the Earth. Also, they are

key parameters for air quality and human health. An important source of atmospheric aerosols

(e.g., organic aerosols, black carbon-BC) and gases (e.g. CO, CO2, CH4) is biomass burning

produced by anthropogenic or natural sources. The aim of this study is to analyze the black

carbon aerosols that are emitted during cold or hot season by agricultural waste ignition or

residential heating. The analysis was made combining remote sensing technics (i.e. satellite

imagery) and ground based intensive measurements (i.e. absorption photometer). Satellite

observations are used for studying the multiannual variability of the agriculture waste burning,

while high time resolved in-situ data are used for deriving multiannual and seasonal statistics of

BC concentration in Magurele. The agriculture waste burning was evaluated using the Moderate

Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer carried out by the Terra and Aqua satellites that deliver

data with high resolution about active fires and with high degrees of confidence. The spatial and

temporal evolution of agricultural burning was investigated by identifying and classifying the

agricultural land using CORINE Land Cover inventory. For the intensive in-situ measurements,

BC was retrieved based on the light absorption principle using absorption photometer. In

Romania, the greatest influence from the biomass burning is recorded during summer due to

the active fires located in the southern part of the country, while, in winter, the BC emitted

during residential heating process is more important. This work was supported by PN-18N/2019;

Dgenv-WASTE 07027737/2018/788206/ENV.C.3; No.19PFE/2018.

Topic 7. Sustainable territorial planning

Understanding the profound social and economic changes of the last decade requires local

thinking aligned with global priorities. Faced with globalization, local landscapes must retain

their traditions and originality. For example, rural areas are being deeply impacted by the


polarizing effects of growing urban centers through migrations and aging of the resident

population. Thus, regional and local development can be sustainable only if we understand the

dynamics of various land uses in an effort to reach complementarity among uses.

The future of the Danube Floodplain – facing the challenges of a sustainable development.

Case study: the sector between Olt and Vedea

Iuliana Vijulie, Mihaela Preda, Ana Irina Lequeux - Dincă, Roxana Cuculici, Gabriela Manea,

Elena Matei, Anca Tudoricu, Alina Mareci


During Communist, wetlands were perceived as non-productive areas and were drained in an

attempt to increase Romania's agricultural surface, without acknowledging their ecological

functions. Presently, studies have expanded their sphere of interest to cover Danube Floodplain’

ecological functions. In this context, this paper aims both to analyse the anthropogenic changes

observed in the Danube Floodplain over the last centuries, and to propose viable solutions for

the sustainable use of this sector. The research methodology was based on direct field

observation, diachronic analysis, and the survey method (semi-structured interview). The results

showed significant anthropogenic changes in the Danube Floodplain after 1960, which consisted

of the drainage and artificial embankment of wetlands and transforming them into agricultural

ecosystems. The analysis of the two proposed methods for how land use should progress

showed the need for developing projects for the floodplain sector’s ecological restoration that

will ensure a harmonious relationship between nature and economic activities. After evaluating

decision making actors’ views on the Danube Floodplain’ present and future use, different

groups emerged each with their own agenda: small farmers and agriculture experts pleaded for

maintaining the status quo, NGOs showed interest in total ecological restoration, and smaller

farmers, local representatives, and environmental experts argued for partial ecological

restoration. The authors consider that a future consensus for the potential ecological

restoration of the Danube Floodplain can be reached if done based on the principles of

sustainable development, on conserving its biodiversity, protection against floods, and activities

such as agriculture, forestry, fishing, and ecotourism.

The residential satisfaction within the urban area of Bucharest

Mihaela Preda, IulianaVijulie, Alina Mareci, Anca Tudoricu, Ana Maria-Taloș, Gabriela Manea,

Ana-Irina Lequeux Dincă


Bucharest’s residential dynamics evolved in recent years towards a sharp development as a

result of an insufficient housing fund and fueled by growing demand. This study aims to measure

the residential satisfaction of those living in the new nuclei versus the old residential nuclei, in

relation to the current standards of the housing quality. The research methodology was based

on direct observation during the fieldwork, as well as the survey method (questionnaire). The


objectives of the study focused on: identifying the residential areas that experienced

accelerated development, highlighting their characteristics from an urbanistic point of view,

determining the inhabitants’ perception about the quality of their housing, and analysing the

respondents’ proposals about improving residential quality. The results of the study highlighted

the existence of a large number of areas that exhibit an increase in residential constructions,

with a tendency to expand to the suburban areas, possessing heterogenous urbanistic

characteristics, out of which some do not correspond to legislative requirements. Concerning

the issue of residential satisfaction, the respondents declared that the new housing satisfies

their requirements in terms of demand and price only, while their quality living is far from

satisfactory. After centralising the results of the fieldwork, the solutions proposed mainly refer

to investors and the authorities. As such, investors should be vetted better and respect the

legislation, and authorities should focus on developing the urban infrastructure prior to granting

building permits.

Consistency of Multi-level Spatial Plans to Support Transformations of Land Systems: the

Case of Bucharest

Simona Bacău1,2, Simona R. Grădinaru3, Anna M. Hersperger1 1Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Land Change Science Research Unit, Switzerland; 2Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich ETHZ, Department of Environmental Systems

Science, Switzerland; 3Centre for Environmental Research and Impact Studies, University of

Bucharest, Romania

Globally, planning instruments assist in shaping the development of places under uncertain

future conditions. In the context given by a multi-level planning system, both land-use and

strategic spatial plans are available, mandated by different policies and adopted by various

authorities. Despite the potentially large effect of consistent plans on urban transformations,

studies analysing how plans relate and work as a network for an urban region are rare. Since the

theory of networks prevailed as a means to cope with relational data, we revert to social

network analysis to evaluate external consistency between plans and use 10 plans of Bucharest

to test our approach. All plans have spatial implications, are currently in force, and refer to

different administrative levels and sectors. In our approach, we first develop a framework for

consistency assessment covering four categories of external consistency. Second, based on the

framework, we extract all relevant plan statements from all plans. Third, we assign one-way,

symmetrical and contradictory relationships between the extracted plan statements. Finally,

using directed and valued network analyzes we assess consistencies, inconsistencies and

contradictions between plans’ contents. Results indicate that consistency among Bucharest’s

plans is mostly found on a temporal scale since the oldest plans appear central in the networks.

Moreover, plans are highly consistent in terms of issues and descriptive measures, but fail to

address spatialized planning intentions in a consistent manner on both vertical and horizontal

scales. Consequences of these findings for the transformative capacity of plans are discussed.


The Reuse of traditional equipments towards a sustainable future. The case of hammams in

Constantine Algeria

Debache Samira, Benzagouta Yasser Nassim

University Constantine 3, Faculty Of Architecture And Town Planning, Laboratory ABE,

University Libre De Bruxelles, Belgium Facutly Of Architecture La Cambre Hortaulb, Research

Center HABITER

Constantine is an open window on Algerian history. Situated in North-East Algeria, this city is

spectacularly set upon a stone mountain overlooking the Rhumel Gorges, some 200 meters

below, and at an altitude of 640 meters above sea level. Founded by the Carthaginians,

Constantine was originally settled by Phoenician migrants then the Roman Empire, who rebuilt

the city to its original splendor after it had been levied. Since 1529, it was discontinuously part

of the Ottoman Empire who greatly embellished the city and built the majority of the Islamic

buildings, still visible today. Among these buildings is the hammam which occupies a very

important urban and social place in the heart of the inhabitants. Even if it is not used as it used

to be, it is considered as a monument and a part of Constantine heritage. It also constitutes an

intangible heritage; customs and traditions which still persist until today, it is still related to

festivals and is engraved and fixed in the residents’ memory. This traditional building used to be

a central place for social life and cultural heritage with complex urban and societal relations.

Besides its cultural heritage values, the hammam is an integrative part of the locals’ life as well

as an example of a singular architectural inheritance. This paper presents scenarios for the

adaptive reuse of the hammam as a public service centre. It also outlines strategies for adapting

the hammam features to contemporary life towards a sustainable future.

Mountain agricultural landscape change (1968-2018) in Southern Carpathians under the

pressure of rural tourism. Environmental conflicts and sustainability issues

Ionuț Săvulescu, Marina Vîrghileanu, Constantin Nistor, Bogdan-Andrei Mihai


Agricultural mountain landscape in Southern Carpathians in low-middle altitude platforms at

1000-1500 m follows the same transformation direction like in other European mountains as

the Alps and the Pyrenees, from variety and individuality to simplification and uniformity. Our

paper proposes two complementary case studies from the Eastern part of Southern Carpathians,

Poiana Mărului and Fundata areas featuring scattered villages. The study focuses on a remote

sensing approach, using Corona KH-4B (1968) and Rapid Eye (2018) images at 2.0 m, respectively

3.0 m spatial resolution for mapping agricultural plots pattern and size change. The landscape

transformation modelling is focused on 4 hectares sampled grid for both case study areas,

together with a landscape metric selective analysis. After validation of results, the statistical

analysis and field survey confirmed that rural tourism changed the landscape in two phases in a

strong relationship with mountain accessibility and economic force of the local community.

Fundata site shows the most transformed landscape, where agricultural plots and traditional

land use disappeared, being replaced by tourist developments, bringing also an enlargement of


the traditional cart roads to modern roads. Poiana Mărului site shows an earlier stage of

landscape transformation, but rural tourism started to develop more and more in the most

accessible areas. The replacement of traditional mountain resource exploitation, based on

experience and a sustainable land use with an intensive tourism around new developments

creates environmental conflicts to be analysed and mitigated.

Cultural heritage and sustainable territorial development in Dobrogea

Mirela Paraschiv

Ovidius University of Constanța; CICADIT, University of Bucharest

Cultural heritage in Dobrogea presents high value at national level, both from tangible and non-

tangible perspectives, given the multiple development stages of the territory and its

multicultural regional and local identity. The aim of the paper is to assess the archaeological

heritage of Dobrogea as driver for sustainable development within the framework of strategic

territorial planning. The analysis is based on field observations and additional investigation of

Greek and Roman fortresses in Dobrogea together with their present communities, and it

includes a four-layers approach to evidence the necessary directions for a sustainable territorial

development based on the valorisation of cultural heritage: spatial and sectorial diagnosis;

strategic development principles, vision and objectives; development models, local and regional

action plan; spatial development prognosis. The research findings underline the local and

regional issues that Dobrogea is facing in relation to its built heritage: fortresses’ dereliction and

abandonment, poor financing of archaeological works, poor public management and

investments, random tourist and urban developments, seasonal tourist activity and weak tourist

promotion. Outmigration and demographic aging represent additional socioeconomic

characteristics which contribute to the current heritage decline. Given its link with the blue-

green infrastructure of Dobrogea, the study concludes that heritage tourism represents the

opportunity to extend regional attractiveness beyond the core summer period dedicated to

seaside activities, involving additional target audiences and raising the complexity of the tourist

offer while bringing new development opportunities for the region.

Housing activism initiatives and land - use conflicts: pathways for participatory planning and

urban sustainable development in Bucharest City, Romania

Mariana Nae, Liliana Dumitrache, Bogdan Suditu, Elena Matei


The new development of Bucharest City after 1989 has had to meet the requirements of spatial

planning and to cope with the challenges of political and economic restructuring. The adoption

of new neoliberal urban policies has significantly shifted the logic of urban planning but has also

led to environmental conflicts arising from abusive land - use. The importance of stakeholders

in urban planning have changed, private actors becoming initiators of urban residential projects

that often disagreed with the norms and particularities of urban neighborhoods. Some private


investment projects mostly focused either on the construction of high-rise buildings in protected

areas or on small-scale residential units built in densified areas. Both cases have gradually

become the focus of civic action groups or have been the subject of spontaneous protests. In

order to have a more comprehensive perspective, we set out semi-structured interviews with

both experts in the field and representatives of NGOs in terms of urban law issues, the

emergence of possible conflicts, and the forms of organizing of these groups. The struggle for

urban sustainable development has often opposed the partisans of preserving the old city and

those who are keen on new developments, those who have supported the renovation of the

city centre versus those who have developed dwellings in the urban fringe, between activists

who support compliance with planning rules and the promoters of the urban derogations.

Housing activism initiatives are diverse in forms and manifestations and could be a key in

regional development and governance of local activities.

The assessment of restrictive environments: a pre-requisite for developing integrated spatial

planning and environmental policies in Romanian counties

Radu-Matei Cocheci1, Sebastian Guță2

1Urban Planning and Territorial Development Department – ”Ion Mincu” University of

Architecture and Urbanism Bucharest; 2Urban and Landscape Design Department – ”Ion

Mincu” University of Architecture and Urbanism Bucharest

The aim of this paper is to assess the situation of restrictive environments in Romanian counties

through the computation of an environmental restrictiveness index at NUTS 3 level. The

assessment of restrictive environments is based on previous research on the topic of restrictive

environments and their analysis at LAU level for Romania’s South-West Region. In this regard,

we defined restrictive environments as territories where environmental pressures (determined

by natural factors, anthropogenic degradation or legislative measures) affect the development

potential, determining the need of specific planning measures. Based on existing data regarding

several spatial planning and environmental policy areas – vulnerability to natural or

technological risks, air, water and soil pollution, biodiversity and natural protected areas, waste

management, less-favoured areas according to agricultural development potential, general

accessibility or social development -, we proposed a selection of indicators used in the

computation of an environmental restrictiveness index at NUTS 3 level for the entire national

territory. Considering the findings of the statistical analysis run on the resulting database, we

suggest the need for a better definition of relevant indicators to be used in baseline studies for

environmental policies and spatial planning documents. The current obsolete sectoral approach

of spatial planning documents at county level, as well as the lack of integration with

environmental planning documents determines a superficial consideration of environmental

policies in spatial planning at county level. Consequently, we need to re-think the current spatial

planning documents in order to better integrate the environmental policies necessary for a

sustainable territorial development.


Unexploited heritage and potential for sustainable development in small and medium cities

along Lower Danube

Angelica Stan

Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urban Planning

Danube is recognized as one of the most international rivers in the world, crossing 10 national

states and many more different social, economic, ethnic, cultural communities. At the same

time, at the collective level of representation, Danube is an umbrella – river, unitary as landscape

and atmosphere for this huge diversity, dominated by its water. But the reality is that between

the north-west of Danube’s path and its south and eastern extremity, the discrepancies are

significant, especially from the point of view of urban development and public services. This

contrast can be viewed from the opposite direction, pointing to the potential of development

existing in the Lower Danube area where the dominant typology is of small and medium-sized

cities, most of them having an uncertain functional profile, due to the loss the industrial activity

that largely marked their fate during the communist period. The paper focuses on several types

of cities located on Lower Danube, the development potential in relation to their intrinsic values,

but also to what represents a diffuse, unexploited heritage, due to the transition from the

communist to the democratic system. The scope is to direct to a truer and more generous image

of Danube, which have to nuance the contrast between different parts of it, as part of the

sustainability and equity of urban development policies in EU, and subsumed to the INTERREG -

DANUrB project aim (Danube Urban Brand - a regional network building through tourism and

education to strengthen the ""Danube"" cultural identity and solidarity).

Photovoltaic parks from Prahova County. Economic and environmental implications

Constantin-Razvan Oprea, Roxana Cuculici, Alexandru Nedelea, Marian Ene, Iulian Sandulache


At the world level, the use of renewable energy sources has become more and more consistent,

solar energy forming a leading role. In Europe, according to Solar Power Europe, it is estimated

that that solar energy demand will reach 30GW in 2022. In Romania, according to Transelectrica

data, the share of solar energy in total energy production was 0.41% in 2013. In 2018 it reached

2.19%. The South-Muntenia Development region currently holds 32.96% of the photovoltaic

energy production at the national level, being the first place. Within it, the Prahova county is

separated, which provides around 9,46% of the photovoltaic energy production at the national

level. That is why I considered it useful to analyze the situation of this county, which holds 31

high capacity photovoltaic parks. The photovoltaic parks were inventoried at the level of the

administrative-territorial units, the components of the Prahova County, following their

arrangement in relation to environmental conditions, their area, technical parameters, users,

the report with the regulatory authority. The relationship between economic benefits and social

implications and those related to changes in land use has been studied. Geospatial analysis

(images are taken from Google Earth Pro, 2019), based on GIS and remote sensing techniques,

has been linked to the analysis of statistical data obtained from different sources (Transelectrica,


National Institute of Statistics, The National Authority Regulating the Energy Field, Indesen). The

interviews carried out with the inhabitants of the area helped us to realize their perception of

solar energy from an economic, social, ecological point of view.

Suburbanization - a double-edged sword. A case study of the Bucharest suburban area.

Zamfir Daniela, Stoica Ilinca Valentina

University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography; Interdisciplinary Centre for Advanced

Researches on Territorial Dynamics (CICADIT)

After 1990, as in other former communist CEE countries, in Romania as well, within the new

politic and socio-economic landscape, the surrounding area of the big cities registered major

transformations under the impact of urban expansion process. Thus, the main purpose of this

paper is to investigate the spatial-temporal changes which took place in the suburban area of

Bucharest, emphasize the main driving forces of this process and its impact. The methodology

consists in three steps. First, based on statistical data there were analysed the dynamics of the

population and the dwellings in the suburban area of Bucharest. The second step assumed the

individualization of the main expansion phases and directions. The third stage involves applied

questionnaires addressed to local authorities, responsible with managing the process of

territorial development. The results showed a chaotic urban expansion, in the absence of clear

legislative rules in the field of territorial planning (mainly, in the first part of the analysed period).

In this regard, were identified different spatial-temporal pattern and some attractive areas

which changed over the time. The consequences of the urban pressure in terms of land-use

change were the expansion of built-up areas and the decrease of the agricultural and forest

surfaces. Simultaneously there can be noticed several transformations in the suburban area, like

a positive demographic impact but also a pressure on the local authorities for assuring public

services.

Impact of spatial planning on urban land changes: a multi-level assessment from local to

regional planning

Simona R. Gradinaru, Cristian Ioja, Ana Maria Popa

University of Bucharest, CCMESI

There is a wildly accepted premise that spatial planning influences land changes. Despite this,

studies have devoted little attention to the impact of spatial planning has on guiding

development trends, as well as influencing patterns and intensities of land use. The aim of this

study is to evaluate the impact of regional, county and local planning on two intertwined land

processes: built-up development and agricultural land abandonment. To conduct the research,

Bucharest - Ilfov urban region is chosen as study area. Over the past decade the urban region

has been increasingly affected by sprawling built-up development and decreased interest in

agricultural activities. Social (e.g. aging farmers), economic (e.g. low profit obtained from

agricultural activities) and spatial planning factors (agriculture not being included on the urban


planning agendas) has led to a high rate of abandonment of agricultural land and rapid

expansion of built-up land. In our research we resort to content analysis of spatial planning

documents (county plan and strategy, regional plans, general urban plans), land use mapping

using remote sensing data and spatial analysis. Land change data is derived from processing of

Landsat satellite imagery and field observations. Preliminary results show that land changes in

the study area are significantly interlinked with changes in urban growth boundaries, regional

investments and an overall growing interest in shifting the urban region`s profile towards a

service oriented one.

Landscape Plan Pavlov

Kristýna Kohoutková, Alena Salašová, Jozef Sedláček

Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Horticulture, Department of Landscape Planning

Landscape Plan Pavlov represents a long-term spatial plan for village in South Moravia, the Czech

Republic. Landscape Plan aims to develop a sustainable landscape with high economic yields

while preserving and protecting nature. Pavlov is a village heritage zone and is located in Pálava

Landscape Protected Area and is very popular among tourists. The area is dealing with several

issues ranging from overtourism, inappropriate building development, ecological instability

caused by water dam, erosion at arable land due to the location at the slopes, unstable slopes

prone to landslides, arable land on permeable subsoil, development on the highest quality soils

to lack of trees in the agricultural landscape. Landscape Plan brings solutions to important issues

of inappropriate building development and ecological instability caused by water dam. New

housing areas proposed in the urban plan are cancelled due to unstable slopes that are prone

to landslides. The increased load of houses and vehicles would pose a risk for the national

heritage site. Instead, production gardens should protect the geological layers. The ecological

stability of the area was highly influenced by the dams built during the communist era. Large

areas of floodplain forests were destroyed with no option of development behind the dam.

Landscape Plan is proposing a new floodplain landscape in the lowest parts of the study area.

The floodplain landscape will play a role as a biocorridor in the Territorial system of landscape

ecological stability and will have a great impact on the ecological stability of the landscape.

Limitations in the use of the CORINE Land Cover database in determining the dynamics of

forest areas. Case study, Apuseni Mountains-Romania

Adrian Gabriel Simion1,3, Iulia Daniela Nedelcu1,3, Răzvan Mihai Papuc4, Oana Simona Hudea4,

Marian Marin1,3, Cristian Mihnea Popa1,3, Mariana Banuta5, Mihaela Gadoiu5, Camelia

Teodorescu1,2,3, Daniel Peptenatu1,2,3 1Research Center for Integrated Analysis and Territorial Management, University of Bucharest; 2Research Institute of the University of Bucharest; 3Faculty of Geography, University of

Bucharest; 4Faculty of Administration and Business, University of Bucharest; 5Faculty of

Economic Sciences and Law, University of Pitești


The study aims at a comparative analysis of the CORINE Land Cover (CLC) dataset and other

spatial datasets in order to identify the limitations of the dataset in providing data relevant for

the analysis of forestry dynamics. The importance of this approach is high especially for the

regions in the European Union for which there is no official statistical reporting. Our study was

conducted in the Apuseni Mountains, a mountainous region where deforestation reached an

alarming rate in the past few years. Three data sources were used: CORINE Land Cover and

Global Forest Change (GFC) datasets (treecover of year 2000 and lossyear between 2001-2017

and the forest gain from 2012) and Landsat 7 images from the year 2000 for validating the data

sources. The analysis of the evolution of forest areas showed significant differences between

CLC and GFC. The complementary datasets provided much greater accuracy but have a small

temporal resolution. The results obtained have evoked the limitations of the CORINE Land Cover

dataset in obtaining accurate data on the evolution of the forest areas and the need for a

complementary approach to other spatial data sets in order to obtain information relevant to

the research.

Topic 8. Urbanization and territorial cohesion

Current approaches to territorial planning, largely driven by economic development, do not limit

development to the actual urban fabric, but promote it on the outskirts of large urban centers.

Recent research shows that urban areas are important drivers for development, but the speed

at which urban development progresses varies widely among the world’s cities. Thus,

understanding the role of cities in structuring functional landscapes surrounding them represents

an important research avenue to be pursued by local institutions and academics alike.

Agression of services' development on cultural heritage. Bucharest as case study

Merciu Florentina-Cristina, Ianoș Ioan, Tălângă Cristian, Braghină Cristian, Merciu George


After 1990, the city of Bucharest registered an urban dynamics dominated by the accelerated

development of services as a result of changing the political regime and the economic context.

The dynamics of service development has been aggressive, manifesting itself through massive

insertions in the urban landscape, often through the reuse of industrial spaces, sometimes

affecting cultural heritage elements. This situation was facilitated by passive urban management

and an institutional protection system outpaced by urban dynamics. The purpose of this study

is to analyze the impact of service aggression on cultural heritage elements, including their area

of protection. The methodology used is based on comparative analysis of Corine Land Cover

images (1999, 2006 and 2018) as well semi-structured interviews with urban planners. Case

studies reflect the effects of aggression, but also patrimony restoration initiatives, highlighting

their architectural and historical values. The functional conversion has generated more or less

successful projects (use of Orhideea water tower to serve for commercial activities,

transformation into commercial spaces: the Bragadiru brewery, public catering and shopping


facilities in many buildings from historic center). Some conservation actions aimed at demolition

and reconstruction, resulting in empty buildings of historical significance: house of report: Ion

Campineanu Street, no. 2. In other cases, the conversion of heritage buildings involved

demolition and construction of commercial premises: part of Grivita brewery site was turned

into a hypermarket. The practices of reuse of historical monuments must preserve real values

of cultural heritage.

Romanian metropolitan zones: a status without a specific approach?

Gavrilidis Athanasios-Alexandru, Niță Andreea, Niculae Mihăiță-Iulian, Rozylowicz Laurențiu

Centre for Environmental Research and Impact Studies

Since 2004 Romanian cities have organized in metropolitan zones allegedly aiming for coherent

and sustainable development of the urban centers and their nearby territories. These areas

were supposed to develop their infrastructures in order to enhance the quality of living and to

mitigate the effects of urbanization. However, not all 9 officially recognized metropolitan zones

included in our analysis succeeded in providing the expected quality of living or mitigation of

urbanization processes. These, flaws in metropolitan planning have the potential of decreasing

the quality of life levels within and further unplanned development could lead to environmental

and social conflicts. Our analysis aims in determining the level of collaboration between the local

authorities within the metropolitan zones and other public or private actors regarding their

efforts to enlarge the accessibility levels towards 12 public and private services. To test the

veracity of our results we have processed the official statistics to rule if the declaration of

metropolitan zones have accelerated the increase of accessibility levels towards several services

or not. The results have shown that the metropolitan status has not been a determinant factor

for sustainability and development, as the each of the 9 study cases has different stories to tell.

Thus, metropolitan concept has to be further promoted, backed by scientific studies in order to

be functional and bring benefits within the Romanian urban hubs.

Exploring the urban transformation in Baneasa neighborhood, Bucharest city

Scaunas Sofia, Merciu George


Urbanization is considered to be a dominant factor of land use and land cover change that has

determined the concentration of population as well as economic activities in urban areas, also

contributing to the deterioration of environmental quality. This aim of this study is to analyze

the changes in land use of the Baneasa neighborhood, located in the northern part of the capital

city of Romania. The choice of Baneasa as case study was justified by the rapid evolution of this

area for 300 years, highlighting its spatial configuration before and after the urban

transformation. Changes in land use have been analyzed since the 19th century to the present

(2016). The authors have used historical mapping using old maps and digitization of aerial

photographs using the Geographical Information System. There is an accelerated territorial


evolution over the last 70 years, marked by the impact of the socialist policy of intensive

urbanization. From a suburban commune in the interwar period, Baneasa became a Bucharest's

neighborhood during the communist period when urban-type systematization was applied

through the construction of collective dwellings, to which are added some important industrial

units. Also, the importance of the neighborhood is also due to the presence of the forest fund,

although the human pressure has been very high, especially in the last ten years. After 1990, the

dynamics of the tertiary sector generated significant changes in the physiognomy of the urban

landscape, observing the increase of the built space (new residential and commercial areas) at

the expense of green spaces.

The relation between the perception of the community and the statute of small industrial

town in the context of a sustainable development. Case study town: Fieni, Romania

Andreea-Loreta Cercleux, Florentina-Cristina Merciu, Irina Florea-Saghin, Mirela Paraschiv,

Elena Bogan


The aim of this study is to reveal the general perception of the local population about the current

socio-economic characteristics in their town, Fieni, a Romanian small industrial town, but also

of some directions of its evolution in the post-industrial era for a sustainable development. After

the beginning of the de-industrialisation process in the 1990s, the small industrial towns from

Romania found themselves having temporal delays and difficulties in the adaptation to the

market economy, which implied multiple negative consequences: loss of industrial jobs, the

difficulty of refocusing on other economic activities, emigration etc. In Fieni, the present-day

situation is the effect of the loose of industry that led to some negative phenomena: emigration,

population decline and ageing population. Following the application of qualitative methods and

in the attempt to frame the present experience and categorize alternative interpretations on

(post) industrial development in Fieni, the study allowed to achieve the result which is to identify

the main feeling that can be noticed about these issues at the town level. The result relies on

the analysis of street interviews for the local community, meaning an individual interpretation

of each answer and their correlation to better understand the connection between the

dominant feeling and the respondents’ profile in the framework of a more sustainable

development of the settlement. As a result of the street interviews, there is a sense of nostalgia

and pride for past industrial development and regret for the current situation of the town,

especially from an economic point of view.

The functional profile of Romanian small towns. Case study: Oltenia Plain

Stoica Ilinca-Valentina, Zamfir Daniela, Burețea Emanuel, Nistor Petronela

University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography and Interdisciplinary Centre For Advanced

Researches On Territorial Dynamics (CICADIT)


Small towns topic gained attention on the last years on the international level, the debates being

focussed on their function and potential territorial role. In Romania there are 225 small towns

(under 20000 inhabitants), counting 10% of the country population. Oltenia Plain is located in

the South-Western Romania and represents one of the poorest area according to PIB per

inhabitant hierarchy. The economy has an agricultural profile, the productivity being affected by

land degradation on the background of an aridization process. In the south, the Danube

represents a natural border and. In the analyzed area, there are located nine small towns in

three counties (Mehedinți, Dolj, Olt). The purpose of this paper is to investigate the features of

these urban settlements and to identify their functional role for the surrounding rural area. The

results show a decline of industrial activities after 1990 and a high share of population involved

in farming occupations. Moreover, some of the small towns are not fulfilling the minimum

criteria’s for the town status (established by the law). In this context we can notice a

„ruralisation tendency” meaning some similar characteristics with the surrounding rural area

and as a consequence a reduced hinterland.

Urban shrinkage in a post-socialist context: patterns, determinants and a case study on

Romania (1992-2018)

Mihail Eva

Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi

It is now acknowledged that the EU post-socialist countries are the new global ‘hot spot’ of

urban shrinkage. However, one may notice a strange paradox. Despite the severity and high

prevalence of urban shrinkage in these countries, systematic assessments of patterns and

causes are surprisingly almost absent from the literature. Moreover, the issue is almost missing

from public and policy debates. This paper first delivers a comprehensive state-of-the art for

seven eastern EU countries, concerning the patterns and the causes of urban shrinkage for the

last three decades, as well as some explanations for the scarcity of subsequent public and policy

debates. Secondly, the paper documents the severity, prevalence, persistence and regional

incidence of urban decline in Romania - the second most affected country of the region, with

around 90% of its cities having suffered from urban decline during the last three decades. The

paper also adds to the literature insights concerning the manner in which different determinants

overlap and mix together to cause long term and highly severe urban decline trajectories.

The ecoducts efficiency from the highway A1 (Nădlac – Sibiu) for large carnivorous species

Ionuț Cristian Moale, Florian Bodescu

S.C. MULTIDIMENSION S.R.L

According to the Report ""The status, management and distribution of large bears, lynx, wolf

and glutton, part 1 - in Europe"" in 2012, the population estimated at the European level for the

bear species (Ursus arctos) was about 17000 individuals, and in Romania was estimated at about

6000 individuals, this one having a tendency of stability. In this article we will analyze whether


the distribution of ecoducts is sufficient to guarantee the structural and functional connectivity

of the population of large carnivores (Ursus arctos) on the A1 highway sector (Nădlac - Sibiu).

Highways can have a barrier effect on the bear population leading to their isolation and

subsequently to consanguinity. To estimate the population dispersal of Ursus arctos, an agent-

based model (ABM) dispersion modeling program for large carnivores was used. Agent-based

model (ABM), represents a class of computational models that simulate the interactions

between individuals, populations, groups in order to evaluate the effects on the whole system.

The modeling program was used in three scenarios: modeling the dispersion of the bear

population in the context of the absence / presence of the ecoducts, as well in the context of

the different location of the ecoducts. Thus, the placement of the ecoducts (sub- and above-

ground passages) as close to the species habitat, the integration in the landscape as well as the

allocation of a sufficient number of ecoducts, can ensure the structural and functional

connectivity of the bear population in the area of the A1 highway (Nădlac - Sibiu).

Implications of residential development in the city of Voluntari, Ilfov county

Coman Mihaela


The chaotic residential development around the Bucharest municipality has led to several

dysfunctions regarding the climate or the demography of the area. In this sense, it can be

observed that in the city of Voluntari there are such discrepancies, but also serious problems in

the field of territorial organization. It can be observed that the residential development around

the capital is more and more pronounced, in full swing. Exception is not the city of Voluntari

which has developed a lot from the urban point of view in the last ten years. The present paper

aims to analyze the implications of these dysfunctions, but also to offer solutions for diminishing

the negative effects that converge in these situations.

Topic 9. Tourism as a driver for sustainable development

Patterns of mainly tourism sectors by employee’s characteristics using multivariate clustering

analysis – Romania study case

Cristina Lincaru, Vasilica Ciucă, Draga Atanasiu

National Scientific Research Institute for Labor and Social Protection - INCSMPS

Tourism becomes more and more an engine to development for many countries’ economies

and labour markets. In a global world, with increasing travel opportunities, tourism offer both

labour intensive and knowledge intensive activities, across many economic sectors. Based on

the Methodology for tourism statistics and Tourism Satellite Accounts (TSA) and UNWTO

International Recommendations for Tourism Statistics 2008 the „mainly tourism" industries


includes the 4 digits detailed activities: H5110 Passenger air transport, I5510 Hotels and similar

accommodation, I5520 Holiday and other short-stay accommodation, I5530 Camping grounds,

recreational vehicle parks and trailer parks, N7910 Travel agency and tour operator activities.

We intend to explore patterns of employment in Romania’s mainly tourism sectors at 2 digits

(H51Air transport, I55 Hotels and other accommodation facilities and N79 Activities of tourist

agencies and tour operators; other reservation services and tourist assistance) at NUTS5 level

using 2011 Census data provided by NIS - National Institute of statistics. Multivariate Clustering

Analysis applied in Arc Gis Pro 2.3. allow us to create for mainly tourism employment data

attributes like gender (male, female), age (youth, adult and aged) and education detained level

(low, medium and high) clusters where the members have similar values. The cluster labels are

drawn as choropleth map illustrating spatial dependencies and heterogeneity within the

multivariate attributes. This analysis provides useful insights for Regions Smart Specialisation

Strategies in view to develop and valuate its innovation capabilities.

Specificity of structural dynamics of local economy in Romanian tourist resorts

Alexandra Grecu1,2, Andreea Karina Gruia1,2, Marian Marin1,2, Mariana Bănuță3, Cosmin

Olteanu4, Ionuț Constantin4, Mihaela Gadoiu3, Camelia Teodorescu1,2, Răzvan Cătălin Dobrea5,

Cristian Constantin Drăghici1,2

1University of Bucharest-Research Center for Integrated Analysis and Territorial Management; 2Faculty of Geography, University of Bucharest; 3Faculty of Economic Sciences and Law,

University of Pitești; 4Faculty of Administration and Business, University of Bucharest; 5Faculty of

Management, Bucharest University of Economic Studies

In the absence of coherent strategies in Romania, the contribution of tourism to the

development of the local economy was oscillating, being determined by local conjunctural

factors. In this study we aim to identify the patterns of tourism relations with the other

components of the territorial systems. Significant growth in tourism in recent years requires

new approaches relevant to understanding the role of tourism in increasing economic

complexity. Measuring the role of tourism in the development of local economy was achieved

by building an economic database for all tourist resorts from Romania (according to Government

Decision No. 107 of 2018), at the four-digit NACE code level (Classification of National Economy

Activities), for the economic indicators considered relevant: number of companies, number of

employees, turnover and profit, for the period 2000-2016, as well as at territorial administrative

unit level. The analysis of the data showed different patterns of evolution of the economic

profile, from one resort to another. Development of specificity elements for each resort, it

produced obvious differences between the tourist resorts from Romania. The capital

contribution, generated by capitalizing on the specificities of each resort, it has generated

multiplication effects, materialized in a sustainable evolution of the local economy. Study results

indicate different reporting patterns, identifying distinct categories of tourist resorts, depending

on the share of the tourism sector in the sustainable development of the local economy.


Spatial mainly tourism industries labour markets patterns identification using The Spatially

Constrained Multivariate Clustering – Romania study case

Cristina Lincaru, Speranța Pîrciog

National Scientific Research Institute for Labor and Social Protection – INCSMPS

Tourism is a complex economic activity that have double behaviour of a base an also non base

economic sector. Based on the Methodology for tourism statistics and Tourism Satellite

Accounts (TSA) and UNWTO International Recommendations for Tourism Statistics 2008 the

„mainly tourism" industries includes the 4 digits detailed activities: H5110 Passenger air

transport, I5510 Hotels and similar accommodation, I5520 Holiday and other short-stay

accommodation, I5530 Camping grounds, recreational vehicle parks and trailer parks, N7910

Travel agency and tour operator activities. We intend to learn more about underlying structures

in mainly tourism sector’s data. Therefore, we focus on the employment in Romania’s mainly

tourism sectors at 2 digits (H51Air transport, I55 Hotels and other accommodation facilities and

N79 Activities of tourist agencies and tour operators; other reservation services and tourist

assistance) at NUTS5 level using 2011 Census data provided by NIS - National Institute of

statistics. Applying the Spatially Constrained Multivariate Clustering analysis from Arc Gis Pro

2.3 we identify spatially contiguous areas that have similar physical and human resources

characteristics, for mainly tourism employment data attributes. We generate classes that are

spatially contiguous and have distinct multivariate properties (age, sex and education) by human

resources employed in mainly tourism industries. The main results are the locations of the

spatial tourism labour markets patterns.

The role of websites in promoting wine tourism. An evaluation of the Romanian wineries

Cristiana Vîlcea, Mihaela Licurici

University of Craiova, Faculty of Sciences, Geography Department

Romania builds the capitalization of its important vineyard surfaces (177,255 ha in 2017, which

place the country on the 5th position in Europe and on the 11th in the world) on its great natural

potential, as well as on ancient winery traditions infused with modern know-how, infrastructure

and substantial recent capital. In this framework, after undergoing profound changes, while

aspiring to become a valued member of the world wine community as a producer of high quality

wines, Romania turned its attention towards emerging tourist activities that connect the

valorisation of winescapes, wine products and winery events with local attractions and

traditions. Given the increasing role and the rapid adoption of various information services by

tourists, the present paper analyses the possibilities of an original development and promotion

of wine tourism in Romania. The focus is placed on the evaluation of wineries’ websites in terms

of design, data and interactive content, marketing and networking facilities. The findings show

that certain basic features are available in most web sites, while exclusive features that could

positively influence tourist preferences and experiences are insufficient in terms of design and

marketing characteristics. Moreover, the paper supports the idea that it is possible to project a


better wine tourism experience online while targeting strategic perception goals and boosting

winery visitations at the same time.

Climate conditions for tourism development in the Northwestern Region of Romania

Adina-Eliza Croitoru, Gheorghe Hognogi

Babes-Bolyai University, Faculty of Geography

This paper is focused on the assessment of climate conditions for tourism development in the

Northwestern Region of Romania. For this paper, we considered for calculation two climate-

tourism indices: the index for favourability for general tourism open-air activities and the index

for bathing activities in the area of water bodies in open-air. In order to calculate the indices,

daily data of temperature and precipitation, extracted from ROCADA database were used. The

main results are: the most favourable days for open-air tourism were recorded by the extreme

west area (100-110 days/yr). Hilly area are characterized by 60-100 days/yr., whereas in the

mountain area, the optimum conditions do not exceed 20 days/yr. Most of this favourable days

occur from March till November. The best bathing conditions in open-air during summer months

are specific to lowlands and hilly areas located in the west of the region and acceptable

conditions characterize the hilly area and depressions in the eastern half of the region.

Using tourist attractions for the development of rural areas: The case of historical heritage

Igor Sîrodoev, Irina Florea-Saghin, Natașa Văidianu, Mirela Paraschiv, Andrei Schvab, George

Cracu

Ovidius University of Constanța

Usually, in the economic context, the historical heritage is seen as a driver for tourist industry

or as an attractor for skilled in-migrants. Such studies are focused on world leading tourist cities

with important historical heritage in its center or in the outskirts or small towns with long and

reach history. The drawback of such an approach consists in the exceeding attention paid to the

impact of outstanding heritage, which attracts significant tourist flows and generates a strong

local tourist economy. In our paper, we moved the focus from outstanding world class heritage

to an “average” situation, which is formed of a mixture of the world-class, nationally and locally

important heritage, in which the former has quite a small share. We propose to analyze the

communities, in which activities related to the heritage can be quite prominent in the economic

profile of the community. That is why we focus on rural economies from Romania’s North-East

and South-East Development Regions. Moreover, rural communities are more conservative than

the urban ones, in such a case the sustainability aspect would become much more visible. Our

results show weak and variable response of local economy on the presence of heritage. At the

same time there are cases of successful use of historical heritage for local development. Such

examples should be incorporated in national and regional economic development policies and

extrapolated over territories with similar conditions.


Tourism Development and Landscape Sustainability

Enache Cristina, Hărmănescu Mihaela, Necșulescu (Popa) Andreea

University of Architecture and Urbanism Ion Mincu Bucharest, Faculty of Urban Planning,

Department of Urban Design and Landscape Planning

In last decades tourism development has emerged in Eastern European Countries due to

European accession and policies. As a consequence of this trend also tourist area or potential

tourist areas developed, by attracting new investments as well mass tourism. In all these cases,

tourism is related to landscape as being one of the most valuable resources for development of

these areas, but massive and rapid development attracts in most cases landscape consumption

or alienation. This new tourist development increases the attractiveness of a region (an area, a

city, etc.) both for activity location and people. Development of mass tourism induces a

profound alteration of the landscape, loss of local specificity and characterizing features. Some

of these landscapes are consumed and deeply transformed. Finally, these territories lose their

attractiveness and also their tourists. The article asses the recent development trends for

several tourist areas at national level and debates landscape dynamic referring to its long term

sustainability. It also discusses the implications of tourism on landscape, outlining the main

landscape changes due to mass tourism. The papers outlines a set of possible measures

necessary to develop tourist areas at national level in a sustainable way, with accent on theirs

most valuable resource, the landscape.

Civic center in Romanian middle size cities - attraction pole for local and regional tourism

Manea Vasile Sorin

„Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urbanism

The civic centers appeared in Romania in a certain political context, as a symbolic manifestation

of a new society, the communist type social order, being created by political will. Their creation

coincided with the major operations of middle size cities urban restructuring and were, along

with the construction of houses, one of the favorite architectural-urban planning programs.

There were new assemblies, somehow imposed within the city, which should have meant

reaching a level of urbanization higher than the previous historical period. Built on the site of

historical centers or adjacent to them, civic centers have become for many of Romania's cities,

the most important point, the place where the social-cultural, economic and political life of the

city is concentrated. In this regard, the article aims to bring into question the tourist importance

of civic centers and their value as a public space for the cities in which they were built, from the

economic and social-cultural perspective. More precisely, starting from an analysis of the

architectural-urban, environmental and social value as well as the analysis of the changes that

have occurred over time over the space, the article focus to investigate how the civic centers

can be understood as reference entities for local and regional tourism.


Annals of the Professional Association of Geographers of Romania - studies on the tourist

heritage

Tălângă Cristian, Florentina Cristina Merciu


The "Annals of the Professional Association of Geographers of Romania" mainly address to the

researchers in the field, to those who want to express an idea or a set of original ideas and which

would provide additional systematic information, a method or methodology, a start to tackling

a very complex issue related to space, nature, society, economy, behaviour of human

communities, etc. The magazine also supports dialogue and cooperation with other specialists

from related fields, who can find their place among the authors of this publication. A good part

of the scientific contributions are related to the exploitation of the elements of industrial tourist

heritage. The present paper aims to carry out a brief analysis of these contributions and their

role in local and regional development processes.

The importance of accommodation and public food units in the development of red tourism

in Sighetul Marmației

Cireașă Cristina; Irimia Radu


The Red tourism, through the Memorial of the Victims of Communism and Resistance in Sighetul

Marmației, contributes to the diversification and development of tourism in the municipality.

This fact is determined by a constant increase, in the last 10 years, of the number of tourists

arriving in the area and the number of overnight stays in the city. The study argues the

importance of accommodation and public food units in increasing the number of overnight stays

in the municipality of Sighetul Marmației. Statistical data provided by the National Institute of

Statistics of Romania, processed and exploited by a series of tourist indicators, were used. In

order to outline the overview, the method of analysis and opinion poll were also used. As a

result of this study, the economic agents involved in the accommodation and food services may

realize that the red tourism contributes to the economic development of the city, but it must be

supported by diversifying the services and raising their quality level.

Touristic evaluation of the geomorphosites from the Southern area of Tazlau-Casin

Depression and the Eastern sector of the Nemira Mountains

Mihaela Damian, Radu Irimia


During the last two decades the evaluation of the geomorphosites has attracted a great interest

in research. This paper contains the evaluation of the main geomorphosites from the Southern

area of Tazlau Casin Depression and from the Eastern sector of the Nemira Mountains. The

purpose of this paper is to show the interest for the intensely requested tourist areas in the past

and to offer a current study regarding the conditioning of the relief on the tourist activities. The


evaluation is based on the method developed by J.P. Pralong. Using this method has given an

overall view of the study area. Mainly based on the field research, as well as laboratory research,

it results the tourist classification of the most visited geomorphosites. In this paper, the

geomorphosites are classified taking into consideration the tourist importance, as well as the

strengths and weaknesses according to each value evaluated by the method used. The obtained

results demonstrate that the geomorphosites support the main tourist activities in the study

area.

A walk on moving sands. Place names and Tourism in Romania

Cezar Buterez


As static and stable as they sometimes seem, place names are always evolving. In the last

decades, through the influence of some questionable publications and the World Wide Web,

but strongly assisted by a widespread historical-geographical ignorance, many Romanian place

names are today frequently incorrectly pronounced, misspelled, wrongly located, and even

replaced by others of doubtful origin. Surprisingly, the errors became increasingly difficult to

notice with the growth of tourism, which, nowadays, is rarely sewn around scientific research.

Using methods from historical geography, social history and literary geography, this paper aims

to find and explain the typology and patterns of place names uses in Romanian Tourism over

the last century. It will also tackle the problem of the emerging fabricated toponymy and its

relation to the actual place names. Finally, the paper will argue about the trouble and confusion

that an inaccurate toponymy can cause, not only to tourism, but also to present and future

scholars.

Topic 10. Novel teaching strategies for Geography and Environmental Sciences

(Section in Romanian language)

Learning geography based on scientific research under the guidance of the teacher

Vasile Octavian Cosmescu

“Hariclea Darclee” Vocational High-School of Arts, Braila

Scientific research, under the guidance of the teacher, both in the laboratory and field, is

beginning to play an increasingly important role in the formation of students. This is due to the

fact that students acquire both knowledge and skills much easier in practice than in theory. From

my own 20 years of experience as a teacher, I have observed that students, even if they come

from disadvantaged backgrounds and attend a vocational school, can achieve superior

performance when participating under the coordination of a teacher in research activities. This

is because students can more easily understand abstract theoretical notions and at the same


time, they can form competences and practical skills. Through the scientific research, I managed

to stimulate students with a lower level of education, with a very poor school situation, and to

lead them on the way of performance, obtaining a special prize at the national phase of the

Session of Geographic Scientific Communications, for students from high school. Thus, students

can become useful to the current requirements, of our society characterized by a continuous

adaptation and transformation.

Strategii didactice interactive în predarea unei unități de învățare ,,dimensiunea și domeniile

globalizării

Voicu Cătălin-Tudor

Colegiul Național Ion Luca Caragiale

Pentru a realiza acest obiectiv, am ales ca lectie ,,Dimensiunea si domeniile globalizarii’’. Am

decis sa aplic metoda lotusului, iar pentru efectele globalizarii sa aplic metoda brainstorming.

In prima parte redau caracteristicile de ansamblu ale strategiilor interactive si in special celor

doua metode didactice interactive(brainstorming si tehnica lotus), in a doua parte continutul

lectiei urmarit si in a treia parte aplicarea propriu-zisa a metodelor interacive si ce avantaje si

dezavantaje am observant. Globalizarea este procesul dinamic de crestere si adancire a

intredependentelor dintre state ca urmare a cresterii legaturilor dintre state ce genereaza

peobleme ce nu mai pot fi rezovate de catre un singur stat,ci la nivel global (incalzirea climei

,terorismul). Globalizarea inseamna practic extinderea unui fenomen la nivel global.

Globalizarea este un proces suprastatal. Cauzele globalizarii: 1. Transferul de capital si

tehnologie dinspre tarile dezvoltate spre cele in curs de dezvoltare. 2.Extinderea informatiilor

la nivel global prin intermediul mass-media dar mai ales prin Internet. 3.Extinderea limbii

engleze ca limba de circulatie internationala datorita internetului,muzicii,filmelor si unor posturi

tv. 4.Pietele financiare devin globale, 5.extinderea societatilor transnaționale. 6.aparitia unor

orase globale.

Abordarea principiilor dezvoltării durabile în lecțiile de Geografia mediului-clasa a XI-a

Monica Flutar

Colegiul National Spiru Haret

Dinamica socială a ultimelor decenii aduce în fața lumii contemporane o serie de provocări față

de care domeniul educației nu poate rămâne indiferent. Competențele, valorile și atitudinile de

care au nevoie elevii pentru reușita personală și socială nu pot fi formate decât prin apropierea

procesului educațional de viața cotidiană și de nevoile comunității în care aceștia trăiesc.

Programa de geografie pentru clasa a XI-a, centrată pe dimensiunea geografică a problemelor

fundamentale ale lumii contemporane, favorizează realizarea unor activități educaționale axate

pe dezvoltare durabilă, prin abordarea transdisciplinară a conținuturilor legate de populație,

resursele naturale și dezvoltare economică. Strategiile didactice utilizate în demersul

transdisciplinar sunt de predare – învățare bazate pe proiect. În cadrul lecției: “Gestionarea


resurselor, dezvoltarea economică și dezvoltarea durabilă”, elevii grupați pe echipe discută

măsura în care cele 17 Obiective de Dezvoltare Durabilă (ODD), pentru perioada 2016-2030, se

corelează cu principiile dezvoltării durabile. În urma discuțiilor în echipe, elevii vor elabora un

plan de dezvoltare durabilă a unei firme de exercițiu avînd ca specific promovarea produselor

tradiționale românești, pentru următorii 10 ani. Strategia de dezvoltare va avea la bază cel puțin

5 principii ale dezvoltării durabile care să asigure responsabilitatea socială a firmei, eficiența

economică și protecția mediului. Lucrând în perechi/echipe, elevii devin mai atenţi şi mai

preocupaţi de problematica dezvoltării durabile, fac legătura între problemele locale de mediu

şi cele globale, îşi dezvoltă capacitatea de a lua decizii, devin protagonişti ai propriei lor educaţii,

prin responsabilizarea față de propriile lor acțiuni.

Optionalul integrat – o provocare pentru invatamantul gimnazial din Romania

Mioara Clius1, Ioana Rucăreanu2 1Faculty of Geography, University of Bucharest; 2Secondary school No.1, Lehliu-Gară, Călărași

În anul 2016 Ministerul Educației Naționale (MEN) a adoptat Planul-cadru pentru ciclul gimnazial

în care există pentru prima dată în învățământul românesc o disciplină numită ""Opțional

integrat la nivelul mai multor arii curriculare"". Această inițiativă a permis inserarea

transdisciplinarității în actul educațional. În România disciplinele opționale sunt încadrate în

Curriculum-ul la Decizia Școlii (CDȘ) și, teoretic, cadrele didactice pot propune conținuturi în

funcție de dorințele elevilor, de resursele școlii și de cele ale spațiului social și cultural în care

se află aceasta. Temele transdisciplinare sunt foarte puțin reprezentate în oferta suport a MEN.

Spre exemplu în anul 2019 din cele 169 de auxiliare didactice (care sunt cel mai adesea suport

pentru discipline din CDȘ) aprobate prin OM 4696, mai puțin de 10% au abordări integrate ale

unor discipline și cele mai multe dintre ele aparțin învățământului primar. Cauzele identificate

de noi sunt: constrângerile legislative și administrative, specializarea unică a cadrelor didactice,

numărul redus de programe de formare profesională, dar și lipsa colaborării profesorilor în/inter

arii curriculare. Deoarece interesul elevilor pentru învățarea transdisciplinară și pentru medii

outdoor e relevat de numeroase studii, iar profesorii au nevoie de materiale suport pentru

Opționalul integrat, am propus un model de curs care are drept scop observarea orizontului

local din și din proximitatea unui sit Natura 2000. Acesta conține 11 activități de învățare

complexe, care se desfășoară indoor și outdoor, acoperă 5 arii curriculare și 9 discipline de

gimnaziu și este implementat în patru școli din județul Călărași încă din anul 2017

Integrarea GIS în strategiile didactice la geografie

Cristina Petre-Ghiță1, Daniel Anghel2

1Inspectoratul Școlar Județean Ilfov, 2Colegiul Național „Neagoe Basarab” Oltenița

Sistemele informaționale geografice pot reprezenta instrumente importante în realizarea

activităților de învățare la disciplina geografie. Alături de posibilitatea interacțiunii directe a

elevilor cu datele spațiale, GIS creează premisele dezvoltării gândirii critice, folosind o abordare


interdisciplinară. Este evidentă capacitatea GIS de a contribui la dezvoltarea unor competențe

regăsite în domeniile de competențe-cheie (exemplu: competentele digitale) stabilite la nivel

de UE. Considerăm însă, că cel mai important și puternic argument pentru utilizarea GIS în

activitățile de învățare este capacitatea sa de a îmbunătăți abilitățile de gândire spațială,

împreună cu abilitățile de utilizare, în viața de zi cu zi, a unor aplicații sau sisteme ce integrează

produse GIS. Astfel, geografia poate forma mai ușor abilitați de viață necesare cetățenilor din

societatea de azi și din viitor. GIS poate fi integrat în cadrul strategiilor didactice utilizate în

cadrul curriculumului obligatoriu sau poate fi abordat în cadrul unui curs opțional inclus în oferta

de curriculum la dispoziția școlii. În acest sens, propunem, cu titlu de exemplu, un set de

competențe specifice armonizate cu o serie de conținuturi și activități de învățare, utilizând date

si software ușor accesibile și adaptate resurselor din școlile românești. Devine necesar

dezvoltarea unor resurse curriculare și a unor programe de formare, având ca scop introducerea

pe scară mai largă a GIS în activitățile de învățare a geografiei. Pe de altă parte, se pot crea noi

căi pentru dezvoltarea relației dintre învățământul geografic preuniversitar și cel universitar la

elevi, dar și noi oportunități pentru consolidarea și repoziționarea geografiei în curriculum

românesc.

Dealing with ecological education in primary school

Annemarie Ioja

Scoala Gimnaziala Grigorie Ghica Voievod Bucharest

Ecological education is a tool to promote sustainable development in our society. It need to be

considered for all age group, starting with children to eldery people. Chidren ecological

education is one of the most widespread form because it benefits from the framework offered

by the school curriculum. The presentation shows the results obtained in different projects

promoted in primary school and show critical aspects that need to be considered to increase

the efficiency of ecological education for this age group.

PhD session

Using cutting-edge methods in Geosciences and Human geography to gain a deeper

understanding of Planet Earth. The session is dedicated to PhD students which can use it as a

platform of debating the methods, techniques and approaches they are using or experiment in

their thesis. Critical thinking and communication of partial results, errors, barriers and drivers in

the research for the PhD thesis are encouraged.


The effectiveness of Environmental Impact Assessment process in Romania: the potential to

increase urban sustainability

Cristina Gabriela Mitincu, Ioan-Cristian Ioja


Due to the fact that urban areas are subject to continuous and rapid change, characterized by

the expansion of the socio-economic and technological systems complexity, it is necessary to

identify integrated, efficient and sustainable solutions in order to develop a coherent planning

process. This must involve a complex analysis that takes into account both the diversity of the

natural environment and the population requirements, and aims to study the environmental

impact of the plans, programs and projects that are to be implemented. The purpose of the

study is to conduct an evaluation of the general characteristics of Environmental Impact

Assessment process and the concrete information contained in the environmental approvals.

Thus, were analyzed the environmental approvals issued by the environmental protection

authorities for the projects proposed, in urban areas, in Romania. So, was analyzed the spatial

and temporal distribution of environmental approvals, as well as the activities most frequently

subject to Environmental Impact Assessment process. Also, we analyzed the potential of

environmental approvals to integrate environmental protection measures which have the

potential to increase urban sustainability and resilience. The results revealed an ascending

evolution of the environmental approvals quality, determined by their increasing complexity, as

well as legislative and institutional changes. In addition, they indicated that most environmental

approvals address urban development activities (industrial, residential, tourism, etc.). The

results can be a support for environmental protection authorities in order to improve the

effectiveness of Environmental Impact Assessment process and the quality of environmental

approvals for reaching integrated growth and stability.

Integration of Water-Related Ecosystem Services to Spatial Planning

Mehmet Ali Derse, Hakan Alphan

Landscape Architecture Deparment, Architecture Faculty, Cukurova University Turkey

Human intervention into semi-natural ecosystems that surround urban areas is one of the most

challenging spatial planning issues as they lead to serious environmental consequences.

Sometimes, these semi-natural areas are not directly exposed to human intervention. However

they still suffer from pollutants and disturbance resulting from human activities that take place

far outside of these areas. Therefore, realistic management models that consider human-nature

interactions and that quantify associations between human activities and ecosystem responses

are strongly needed. In this respect, contemporary approaches for quantification of ecosystem

services (ES) studies, are one of the important means that contribute to above mentioned

management scheme. In ES approach, human activities and natural resources can be evaluated

together, as this approach relates to the services provided by natural resources to humans as

being the principal beneficiary of these services (and goods). There are many different types of

ES. To this end, water-related ecosystem services are one of the strongest components of ES


concept. The aim of this study is to develop a sustainable a green infrastructure system to

enhance quality and efficiency of water-related ecosystem services in urban landscapes in the

case of Mediterranean town located at the southern coast of Turkey.

Strategic targets for promoting urban sustainability

Ana-Maria Popa

Doctoral School "Simion Mehedinți - Nature and Sustainable Development", Faculty of

Geography, University of Bucharest

Sustainability is one of the most important themes of the last research studies in terms of use

of resources, the existing stock of resources and the disproportional between them. Global

changes and all processes in this direction of sustainability indicate the necessity of developing

human society, especially built environment. United Nations have elaborated a sustainability

strategy on several domains meant to guide all the states to have a moderate consume of

resources and energy and well-being of all the people. The purpose of this study is to

determinate which are the strategic targets which promote urban sustainability in Romania.

There were inventoried all strategic targets form National Sustainability Strategy and grouped

by domains and scale. A set of simple statistic tests were applied for determining the

percentage, if the targets are convergent or divergent. The results indicate that from 192

strategic targets of Romanian strategy almost 80% represents qualitative targets and less than

5% can be applied at urban scale. Most of the targets are for social problems, about 55%, and

less for environmental problems, economics or governance. The next step for the study is to

identify which indicators can be used in Romania and to create a framework for determining the

sustainability of cities, including developing and monitoring of the strategic target indicators.

A comparative analysis of the disaster risk management practices: the case of Bucharest,

Ciudad de Mexico and Istanbul

Glod-Lendvai Ana-Maria


Natural disasters represent a major problem for many big cities. The biggest part of the

population is in cities, which makes the concept of urban planning be a significant problem for

the decision makers. For risk management to be effective it can no longer be a separate aspect

of urban management; it must become a component of integrated programs that are designed

to respond to the wider objectives of urban sustainability. In this paper, there are presented the

results of a comparative analysis of the disaster risk management practices between Bucharest

and Ciudad de Mexico in South America; and Istanbul in the euro-Mediterranean region. The

analysis shows that all three cities have made considerable efforts regarding the risk analysis,

especially in earthquakes. The elements they took into consideration are: the political

engagement, identifying risks, the institutions and managing knowledge. Following the analysis

of these projects, we can say that the most complete risk management project is in Istanbul.


Project, which can be taken as example to improve the risk management situation for Bucharest.

Risk analysis and assessment, especially earthquake risk, does not seem to be a problem in the

studied cities. All these cities have a good understanding of the dangers they face and major

social and structural vulnerabilities have been identified. Consequently, the associated risks are

fairly well known and accurately mapped. However, serious limitations of governance have

occurred in most cities.

Regional differences in the distribution and environmental consequences of photovoltaic

farms in southern Romania

Alexandra Vrinceanu, Monica Dumitrascu, Ines Grigorescu, Irena Mocanu, Cristina Dumitrica

Institute of Geography, Romanian Academy

Along with wind energy, photovoltaics (PV) are the main technology options for the shift to a

decarbonised energy supply towards a low-carbon economy. Thus, the increasing share of solar

energy has been one of the main instruments to be considered under the EU energy efficiency

targets, Romania has also assumed. Romania has important solar energy resources to be

exploited in the lowlands and low hills in southern and south-eastern parts of the country mainly

in relation to the high values of the radiation and sunshine duration parameters. However, apart

from the clean and sustainable energy they provide, PV farms also involve some environmental

consequences (e.g. land degradation, soil erosion, biodiversity loss). The current paper is seeking

to identify and analyse the main regional differences and environmental consequences of PV

farms installation and use in Southern Romania based on several indicators: the share/surface

of PV farms at County level; the share of PV farms of each land use/cover category; distance to

forests, waters, protected areas (SCI, SPA); share of PV farms of main soil types. The resulted

statistics enabled the authors to identify the existing and the potential environmental impacts

of PV farms on specific natural and man-made environmental components (e.g. land use/cover,

soils, water bodies, forests, settlements, roads).

The phenomenon of modern pilgrimage in Romania - an expression of faith

Giusca Madalina-Cristiana, Dumitrache Liliana


This paper presents a preliminary study that aims to achieve a parallel between the

phenomenon of modern pilgrimage and religious tourism in Romania. Studying literature, it

appears that pilgrimage has been practiced since Antiquity, it developed in the Middle Ages and

has become a habit in the contemporary Era. The religious practice has been in a continuous

change over the past 25 years, making the phenomenon of pilgrimage nowadays as an ascending

trend on a growing scale, without reaching the maximum potential yet. Pilgrimage and

pilgrimage destinations have been linked to political phenomena, regardless of religion or

geographic location. They are centers of religious (spiritual) power, in which people constantly

spend money and time. An example of interweaving politics with pilgrimage policy is by


supporting the infrastructure, the construction of the facilities of the pilgrimage site

(accommodation, food, law enforcement). Thus, the pilgrim proved to be the person for whom

pilgrimage is the connection with divinity, while for the tourist with religious preoccupations is

a way of seeking especially the touristic part of travel.

Actors involved in promoting Nature based Solutions through urban reconversion projects

Pânzaru Mariana Diana Rodica, Cristian I. Iojă, Andreea Niță

University of Bucharest, Center for Environmental Research and Impact Studies

Urban reconversion in post-industrial areas is a process that requires the participatory approach

along in its various stages of evolution. Stakeholder relationships have a direct impact on

information sharing and decision-making, by having with the ability to limit or promote the use

of Nature-based Solutions. The paper uses Social Network Analysis (SNA) to assess the

stakeholder’s network, involved in urban conversion projects based on Natural based Solutions

in European post-industrial landscapes. The major findings have proven that the most influential

stakeholders in promoting Nature-based Solutions in urban reconversion projects are urban

municipalities and individuals, with an eigenvector greater than 0.64 units. Understanding the

critical importance of public institutions in the urban environment can stimulate cooperation

between actors from science, policy and practice in order to provide simultaneous benefits for

society, the economy and nature.

Distance Perception in Bucharest

Ionescu Radu, Glod-Lendvai Ana-Maria, Armas Iuliana


Our research in Bucharest has identified the most vulnerable areas in the city in case of an

earthquake. The mental map of the city, as present in the minds of its inhabitants, is not the

same as the one on Google Maps. We hypothesize that persons in vulnerable areas will perceive

various points in the city to be significantly further away than they really are, when compared

to persons from resilient areas. We can then use these perceived distances to push and pull the

real map and generate a ‚distorted’ map showing how the city is represented in the minds of its

inhabitants. What we now want to observe is if there is a link between the city’s mental

representation and various aspects pertaining to vulnerability.

Using the SPI to identify the meteorological drought in the Arges River watershed

Alexandra Chelu


Meteorological drought is the main phenomenon determining hydrological, agricultural and

socio-economical droughts and therefore it is fundamental to characterize periods of rainfall

deficit. The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) is one of the most widely used indices due to


its simplicity and flexibility, representing drought conditions at different time scales by only

using precipitation data. The main objective of this study is to analyze the occurrence of

meteorological drought within the Arges watershed. Precipitation data from the E-OBS gridded

dataset was used to compute the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) at accumulation periods

of 3, 6 and 12 months in 11 locations. Drought duration, severity, frequency and trends were

identified for the 1950-2018 period. The results of this study outline several main drought events

observed in all locations.

The relationship between the climate and transport infrastructure on the territory of

Romania

Gheorghe Lixăndrescu, Iulian-Andrei Bărsoianu


Climatology applied in transport is very essential because it is less approached in the literature

and more emphasis should be placed on its importance. Air temperature is especially important

during the cold season. In order to demonstrate the impact on air temperature, the minimum

temperature of January was determined, and based on this variable, the vulnerability to freezing

phenomena was also determined. For transport infrastructure, frost is one of the biggest winter

climatic problems, affecting both the road and rail network and the shipping traffic, forming

various ice formations (ice bridges, ice needles, ice on the shore, etc.) creating in this way

difficulties in moving the ships. Neither air traffic is shielded from this phenomenon, in this case

it is also called aircraft icing, a phenomenon that affects the conduits of the aircraft. Also, due

to these phenomena, accidents often occur with victims, including deaths, due to the glazed

frost on the road. Precipitation is a restrictive factor for transport routes. These are major

problems when they fall into the form of rain showers or act for a long time. In some episodes,

atmospheric precipitation may also be beneficial and restrictive for road traffic because they

have a direct influence on river flows. If they have a very low flow, this parameter is a favorable

element; Otherwise, when rivers have sufficient flows, excess rainfall leads to floods and floods.

In the case of Romania, the biggest speeches were at the level of the Danube and the Siret in

the years 2005, 2006 and 2010. They produced a number of damaging materials, including the

destruction of roads and railways.

Preliminary Results on Research of Tourists’ Perception Regarding Potential Conflict Issues

Generated by the Demands of Sustainable Tourism in the Oltenian Subcarpathians

Marius-Nicolae Truțescu


The recent research and development of the sustainable tourism tendencies, experts’

investigations turned to tourists’ perceptions. The purpose of this study is to analyze the

potential conflicts of tourists, on one hand, and local population, local authorities and local

traders in the Oltenian Subcarpathians. Researching methods consisted of questionnaire applied


on a sample of tourists in the selected area. Data have been processed in Microsoft Office Excel

2016 and ArcGis 10.4.1 was used to create the map images. The results show that the main

problems are related to the behaviour of the tourism employees, the lack of compliance with

the requirements of the sustainable tourism regarding the energy, the consumption of water,

the management of the waste, all reflected in the quality of the tourist experience but also in

the price and the time of their acquisition by the economic agents. In terms of locals’ outlook

there have been registered a series of limitations regarding interaction with them and the

touristic circulation. The most notable conflict is with the local authorities, being related to the

poor development of the infrastructure but the feedback with them is indirect. The preliminary

results show the lack of vision of the stakeholders in order to develop sustainable tourism. This

study is useful to the local authorities in order to increase sustainable tourism, to economic

traders in obtaining the expected benefits, and also tourist satisfaction enhancement. As a

conclusion, the tourism destination has potential direct and/or indirect conflicts, but which by

means of legislation and financial support given by the EU funds could be solved within the next

ten years between 2020-2030.

Preliminary research regarding the perception on conflicts affecting the state of cultural

heritage of genius people in Romania

Daniela Nicolaie

University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography, "Simion Mehedinti" Doctoral School

The prodigious personalities of a people's culture and civilization can trigger the revival of

cultural assets as part of the national cultural heritage. Masterpieces of art, science, technics,

architecture, sculpture, painting, literature, history, medicine, and other fields of knowledge, as

a legacy of human mind's imagination, ingenuity and innovation, can become an attractive

resource for sustainable tourism development. The aim of this article is to analyse the conflicts

which affect the state of Romanian people of genius' tangible heritage. Thus, the main objectives

of research consist in selection of people of genius and the tangible heritage elements inside

Romania using residents' perception, identifying the conflicts which affect the state of this

heritage and sketching some directions for a sustainable way of revaluation. The research

methods were based on two surveys, a semi-structured questionnaire and an interview. The

survey data analysis were performed in SPSS and manually, and direct observation and analysis

of official documents. The preliminary results show that resident population consider Romanian

people of genius along with their masterpieces a tremendous resource for cultural tourism

development, feeling of patriotism and national pride revival. It also revealed that national and

local authorities have failed to engage in their rehabilitation, protection and conservation.

developing a special touristic product to include Romanian people of genius and subsequently

accessing the European Funds for this cultural heritage, adding a strong involvement of host

communities could be sustainable directions to solve these issues.


Mapping social-ecological dynamics in protected areas in order to improve resilience and

management. A complexity science approach

Stefan-George Kudor

Bucharest University, Faculty of Geography

Given the recent trans-disciplinary research based on complex systems science, there is an

emerging need for developing alternative methods in understanding and interacting with social-

ecological systems. The purpose of this paper is to emphasize a set of techniques that can help

protected area managers and stakeholders with alternative views on the internal dynamics,

patterns, areas of equilibrium, instability, change, fluctuations, errors, illusions and general

qualitative behavior of a defined dynamical and complex system. Such tools might improve

conservation and development practice, in times of rapid change and considerable pressure on

biodiversity, geodiversity and on the classical sustainable development views. To facilitate a shift

from exclusive linear, cause-effect approaches (usually rigid and stereotypical in social-natural

contexts), towards ideas of dynamical management of non-linear feedback-based networks and

systems, researchers must provide effective tools for the involved actors, that can neatly

simplify aspects of complexity. Such tools, like phase space, dimensionality reduction, artificial

neural networks, social ecological dynamical models, or network and relationship mapping

software can be easily used to better define a protected area’s states of health, crisis, stability

and more.

Analyzing the differences between the accessibility of the population to public and private

healthcare services in Bucharest

Florin-Alexandru Zaharia

Faculty of Geography - Department of Human and Economic Geography & Ministry of

Transports, Intermediate Body for Transport, Project Evaluation Unit

The paper has the purpose to present the differences between the accessibility of the

population to different public and private healthcare services. By using a Geographical

Informational System, we created the databases with the healthcare services by categories in

order to assess the territorial distribution for each type of healthcare services. The main part of

the analysis was to compute a series of spatial and temporal accessibility indicators and compare

them for each type and category of healthcare services. The analysis is a methodological

approach that uses network analysis to reveal the territorial variations of accessibility of the

population to private and medical services in the biggest city of Romania. The results of our

study showed a difference regarding the indicators of accessibility of the population to the

private medical services between better quoted areas within the city, than less quoted areas,

aspect which motivates us to try in the future to correlate some social-economic indicators with

these geographical indicators that define accessibility.


Land use conflict potential in Timisoara: residential vs. industrial and residential vs.

commercial

Raluca Vaduva, Mircea Voiculescu

West University of Timisoara

Urban settlements are facing different types of environmental conflicts. Land use conflicts

reveal the evolution of cities. In addition to improperly planned and managed growth, one of

the primary causes of contemporary land use conflicts is the interest of different stakeholders.

Changes in social conditions are also increasing the potential for land use conflict. This research

is aimed to analyse potential land use conflict in Timisoara mainly caused by the incompatibility

between the residential areas and non-residential areas. Two situations of land use conflict

potential are presented: (i) potential conflicts related to the residential areas and to industrial

areas and (ii) potential conflicts related to the residential area and to commercial areas. We

used GIS to map a range of potentially land use conflicts by using data from content analysis of

local media and social networks and field observation. The findings were used as an insight to

develop a conceptual framework for conflict management.

Workshop 1. SURE

The workshop has five main sections, aiming to cover a wide variety of topics related to nature’s

contribution in coping with urban challenges and it is organized in the project PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-

2016-0635 – Nature-based solutions for increasing cities resilience and sustainability. Section 1

– A decade of results in the Society for Urban Ecology. Section 2 – Challenges for nature-based

solutions application in our cities. Section 3 – Planning for eco, smart, resilient and sustainable

cities. Section 4 – The great green divide – conflicts involving green and protected areas. Section

5 – Indicators and techniques for “evaluating nature”

In need for green: Nature-based solutions for Romania's urban challenge

Badiu Denisa, Hossu Constantina-Alina, Ioja Ioan-Cristian

University of Bucharest, Centre for Environmental Research and Impact Studies, Romania

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are one of the key concepts that aims at the sustainable use and

conservation of nature. It is generally accepted that indicators are valuable tools to assess the

contribution of NBS to urban sustainability. Therefore, our study proposes an evaluation

framework built on 13 ecological, socio-economic and political indicators to evaluate the need

of Romania's cities for NBS. We used the Eklipse NBS assessment framework to relate our

proposed indicators with the key societal challenges faced by cities. 320 Romanian cities were

selected for analysis and a multiple correspondence analysis was used to determine the most

appropriate NBS according to the cities needs in this matter. Our preliminary results show that

small cities lack urban parks and a low level of engagement in the community's civic life. This is

necessary information when trying to implant NBS in such cities.


Planning for the green infrastructure: lessons from studying its dynamics in Poland and

Romania

Alexandru-Ionuţ Petrişor1, Lidia Mierzejewska2, Andrei Mitrea3, Krzysztof Drachal4, Ion C.

Andronache5, Liliana Elza Petrişor6, Ana-Maria Ciobotaru5, Daniel Peptenatu5 1 Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism, Romania; 2Adam Mickiewicz University in

Poznań, Poland; 3Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism, Romania; 4University of

Warsaw, Poland, 5University of Bucharest, Romania, 5Independent researcher

The presentation joins two studies, one published and another one ongoing, attempting to look

at the dynamic of the urban green infrastructure, as a reflection of the urban nature discussed

by urban ecologists. The start point is the existence of Urban Atlas data, which allows for carrying

out analysis at the urban scale. Unfortunately, the frequency of updating the data is not

sufficient for pinpointing phenomena occurred at the urban temporal scale. For this purpose,

the two studies had to develop complex methodologies, involving fractal analysis, numerical

taxonomy and mathematical modeling in conjunction with statistics. The exercise of comparing

Polish and Romanian cities, considered adventurous in the beginning due to the differences

between the two countries, proved to be quite productive. While the analysis of the drivers of

change did not always lead to conclusive results, the results revealed an alarming phenomenon:

despite the differences – particularly in the planning system – the green infrastructure of Polish

and Romanian cities is lost and fragmented everywhere. Perhaps one of the most surprising

results was the fact that the derogatory planning of Romania and the Polish system, where plans

are produced only if they are needed (and, therefore, some parts of the territory are not covered

by plans) lead to the same end. Starting from the supposition that most likely this is happening

because the planning process does not account sufficiently for the green infrastructure the study

was able to yield important recommendations for the planning actors (planners, city managers,

policy developers, and scientists).

Everlasting transition: long term land cover and use changes in Romania and their

transitional dynamics

Alexandru-Ionuţ Petrişor1, Igor Sîrodoev2, Ioan Ianoş3, Liliana Elza Petrişor4

1Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism, Romania; 2Ovidius University of

Constanţa, Romania; 3University of Bucharest, Romania; 4Independent researcher

The presentation attempts to summarize the results of several published and ongoing studies

attempting to look at the long term land cover and use changes of the Romanian territory in an

attempt to identify, in relationship with the socio-economic drivers of each period covered by

the CORINE data used in the studies, patents that could characterize the post-socialist transition

in Eastern Europe and explain the differences from the western world. Although some trends

were identified, consisting of the main transitional dynamics – urbanization, deforestation, and

abandonment of cropland, all related to the property dynamic, the process proved to be

challenging. The location of hotspots corresponds to the resources lost in the process, and it is


hard to find statistically significant long-term trends. The changes in the methodology for

obtaining the data, combined with institutional changes in deriving the Romanian data set, cast

additional shadows over the results. However, it is more likely that changes are explained by the

lack of planning or derogatory planning and decrease of the terms used in strategic planning,

which overall explain the prevalence of immediate and local interests over the long-term

regional or national ones. The main consequence is that, for example, agricultural croplands are

abandoned somewhere, while in other areas natural land is devoted to the development of

agriculture, with negative global outcomes. In a nutshell, the process explains the consequences

of low environmental awareness associated with the decline of economy during the post-

socialist transition, and prevalence of private interests over the national one.

Negative anthropogenic influence on the hydrological regime in the Svitava lake

Adriana Planinić1, Ivančica Ternjej2, Svjetlana Stanić-Koštroman1

1Faculty of Science and Education University of Mostar; 2Faculty of Science University of Zagreb

Svitava lake is located in the south of Bosnia and Herzegovina and belongs to the lower course

of the Neretva River. It is hydrologically connected to the Hutovo Blato. Nature Park Hutovo

Blato is a submediterranean swamp protected by the Ramsar Convention in 2001. Svitava lake

was changed and transformed into the reservoir of the hydroelectric power plant in Čapljina in

1979. and has been under constant anthropogenic influence ever since. River Krupa drains

Deransko lake, the biggest lake in the Hutovo Blato swamp, and receives waters of the Svitava

Lake on its way to the Neretva River. During the high water levels of the Neretva River, Krupa

flows in the opposite direction. Since the construction of the hydroelectric power plant, the

natural hydrological regime is changed. Planktonic crustaceans Copepoda and Cladocera were

studied in Svitava lake from June 2012 to May 2013. The obtained results clearly show that the

current regime of water discharge affects the dynamic of the zooplankton community. The high

water discharge rinses large plankton biomass that can not withstand the water current.

Zooplankton is an essential component of the food web in lakes, and its drainage is likely to

reflect on higher trophic levels. Justified fear exists that the negative anthropogenic influence

spreads to protected swamp Hutovo Blato through the river Krupa when a large amount of

water is discharged.

Assessing the environmental permits from the perspective of promoting sustainable

development and nature-based solutions: Case study Romania

Cristina-Gabriela Mitincu, Ioan-Cristian Iojă, Constantina-Alina Hossu

University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography, Center for Environmental Research and Impact

Studies

Environmental permits contain measures to prevent, reduce and, where possible, compensate

the significant impacts of the proposed objectives on environmental factors such as water, air

and climate change, soil, subsoil and groundwater, biodiversity, landscape, goods and human


beings. The purpose of the study is to identify the characteristics of the conditions imposed by

the environmental authorities and to suggest recommendations for the integration of nature-

based solutions in order to promote sustainable urban development. In order to evaluate the

213 environmental permits issued in urban areas, in Romania we apply an protocol with 55

items. In the analyzed environmental protection regulatory acts, there are no direct references

to nature-based solutions. It can be pointed out that the national legislation is a limiting factor

in the promotion of nature-based solutions as there are no documents to which they can relate

directly. Thus, the decision makers must establish evaluation methodologies and address

concrete measures aimed to urban management, viewed in terms of environmental impacts.

Our results showed that the most important number of environmental protection measures

addresses the overall impacts of investment planning and implementation. A number of

measures have been identified that have the potential to integrate different categories of

nature-based solutions, mainly into domains such as: air quality, adaptation and control of

climate change, water management, biodiversity, natural hazards, transport, agriculture and

landscape.

From urban vegetable gardens to edible city–a comparative study on urban human-food

connection and pro-environmental food behavior

Martina Artmann, Katharina Sartison

Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER)

Our society is living in a world characterized by rapid urbanization, technological advancements

and mass media colonization leading to an extinction of nature experiences. Consequently, it

needs more research on interventions and their potential to strengthen urban human-nature

connection (HNC) and thus human well-being and pro-environmental behavior (PEB). This

comparative study tests German urban food initiatives and their impacts on human-food

connection, as a sub-system of HNC, and PEB by comparing 1) vegetable gardens on agricultural

land in Munich with b) the edible city concept Andernach. Results of questionnaires in both cities

show that in the edible city of Andernach citizens are mainly passively engaged in urban

agriculture, while in the vegetable gardens the residents are obviously more engaged. This is

also the reason why urban human-food connection and PEB in Munich is significantly stronger

than in the Andernach case. As a consequence, vegetable gardeners show a high degree of deep

human-food connection which shows a positive and significant relationship with PEB (r=.35,

p<.01). These results indicate that local interventions such as the vegetable gardens bear a high

potential for PEB and shall be fostered in order to be up scaled on city level. To strengthen PEB,

the study suggests that the edible city concept needs to include an engagement strategy for

residents as well as to secure good access to areas with edible plants across the entire city. In

the end, the contribution discusses the role of urban ecology research in fostering sustainability

transformation.


Urban green mountains and citizen preferences

Akbar Rahimi, Jurgen Breuste, Ramin Sabouri

University of Tabriz

Urban green space has many benefits for cities and creatures. So It is obvious that these benefits

are for everyone. We have different categorization for urban green spaces from the past till now

around the world. Promenades made artificially are very important because they need to be

present in urban planning. Any promenade or urban forest must meet the wishes of the visitors

and meet their expectations. Eynali promenade is case study in this research, it is located in

northern Tabriz. The research has two parts, Part I: What are the expectations of people from

Eynali and compare with the current situation. If so, the expectations of people with the current

status of the promenade can be said to be close to sustainable development in urban landscape.

In Eynali, according to the results, they are not aligned with the level of visitors' expectations

with the current state of there for example, there are a lot of costs to improve the main access

to Eynali, but visitors are concerned about how to get to it (external access and public

transportation system). In the second part. Which of the elements do people like in urban

forests? The results showed that the vegetation and natural elements were more attractive. So

that visitors see nature in green space and plants. One of the reasons for this is the lack of green

space in semi-arid regions (such as Iran).

Urban Trees & Air Quality

Cigdem Coskun Hepcan, Serif Hepcan

Ege University

Air quality has become major concern in many cities. Poor air quality is a serious threat to human

health, causing problems for the respiratory system and cardiovascular diseases. Green areas

and trees are important components of the urban ecosystems and they provide valuable

ecosystem services. They improve air quality by filtering atmospheric particulates such as

nitrogen dioxide (NO2), particulate matter (PM2.5-10) and sulphur dioxide (SO2). They also act

as a sink for carbon dioxide (CO2) by fixing carbon during photosynthesis and storing carbon as

biomass. This paper aims to discuss the benefits of urban trees in the city of Izmir.

Insect habitat-systems integrated in façades - Impact on building physics and nature

protection potential

Meier Linda, Raps Johanna

Institute of Acoustics and Building Physics, University of Stuttgart

Deforestation, intensive farming and sealing of green spaces are supposed to be main reasons

for the global decrease of biodiversity. Up to now, the built environment, in particular vertical

surfaces are a highly underestimated aspect to counteract. Whereas it is acknowledged, that

greened surfaces have beneficial effects e.g. on microclimate, the vast majority of buildings is

still not biodiversity-friendly. Artificial nesting boxes help birds and bats adapting to the change


of their habitats. However, insects with their tremendous significance for insectivorous species

as well as for humans are mostly neglected or even threatened. The purpose of this holistic

approach is to investigate interactions between integrated insect habitat systems in façades and

building physical aspects to create test objects. Heat transfer coefficient, thermal heat bridges

and the risk of condensation in the construction interior were simulated in different

arrangements of nesting boxes for wild bees. Conclusions on heat and humidity protection in

ventilated façades and external thermal insulation composite systems resulted. Subsequent

outcomes showed the maintenance of indoor comfort and energy efficiency as well as a low risk

of mold. Further investigations analyzed the sound reduction index and fire protection. The

building physical point of view is that integrated insect habitat-systems could be part of the

constructed environment. Further challenges and opportunities are now rather seen at a socio-

ecological and technical level. Without respecting civil society and ecological demands, habitat-

systems for insects will miss the objective. High priority will address the skepticism and

unawareness, which first pre-tests for surveys showed.

Cites on the move: Migration and unexploited frontiers for cultural ecosystem services

Salman Qureshi

Department of Geography, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany

This research mainly concerns the application of the science of cultural ecosystems services to

the management of urban areas under the pretext of socio-ecological complexity, large scale

migration and sustainability issues in real city situations. To progress our understanding and to

assist in the design of appropriate environments, requires exchange of information between

researchers and investigation into the parameters which affect the performance of human’s

environment; to decipher the complexity of the relationships among individuals, stress, trauma

and their environment. The challenge is to decipher the underlying factors which cause an urban

system failing to deliver the services that moving population needs and the challenges it brings

to an existing urban system. The urban areas under the influence of large-scale migration create

completely new urban cultural landscapes. Therein, the unique cultural services the environs of

these urban areas could provide adopting an approach which is focused on and underpinned by

the science of Ecosystem Services. The target here is to address societal issues through

interdisciplinary scientific methods – to examine the diversity of the socio-ecological services

that impact upon individuals. It helps identifying their functional demands and interim services

for the development of an integrative framework, moving towards a functionally inclusive city.

The response of edaphic predator mites to the urban environment

Manu M.1, Băncilă R.I.2,3, Bârsan C.1, Dumitrache C.A.1, Mountford O.4, Onete M.1 1Romanian Academy, Institute of Biology Bucharest, Department of Ecology, Taxonomy and

Nature Conservation; 2Faculty of Natural Sciences, University Ovidius Constanţa; 3Department

of Biospeleology and Soil Edaphobiology, “Emil Racoviţă” Institute of Speleology, Romanian


Academy; 4Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Maclean Building, Benson Lane, Crowmarsh

Gifford, Wallingford, Oxfordshire

Soil invertebrates are an important component of biodiversity. They influence the nutrient

cycling and the litter decomposition. Predator mites (Acari-Mesostigmata) are free-living species

which occupy variated niches from different types of ecosystems. Based on their ecological

requirements and to the fact that they are very sensitive to the environmental/anthropogenic

disturbance, soil mites were often used as soil bioindicators. The present study will bring new

data, concerning the Mesostigmata soil mites’ communities from managed and unmanaged

urban areas from Bucharest city, through a more extensive study. It includes also, one of the

few urban protected areas from Europe (Văcăreşti Natural Park). The study was made in April

2017, in twelve urban green areas from Bucharest. In this context the present study established:

(1) the effect of management type of urban areas on structure, abundance and species richness

of soil mites; (2) characteristic species for urban areas; (3) the differences between mites

communities from managed and unmanaged green areas; (4) some urban environmental

variables (air and soil temperature; air and soil humidity; soil pH; resistance of soil at

penetrance) and (5) the influence of the specific environmental variables on the structure of

mites’ communities from urban green areas. The present research demonstrated that edaphic

mites’ populations had characteristically responses to the urban environment.

When ecology goes to town: a research project in Switzerland

Salomon Cavin Joëlle, Chalmandrier Maud

University of Lausanne, Institue of Geography and sustainability

In 2015, the first two chairs in urban ecology were created in Switzerland. They illustrate

moments of institutionalization of a hitherto minor field of research in this country compared

to other national contexts. After long prioritizing the study of non-urban environments, the

science of ecology is giving renewed attention to cities. However, particularly in Switzerland,

knowledge on urban ecosystem is still scarce. The vast majority of publications in the field of

scientific ecology still focus on areas out of the city and supposedly the most preserved from

human influence. Because of this ""urban bias"", the city would still appear to be a (relative)

unknown in ecology. In this project, we seek to interrogate the changing societal values and

institutions that previously restrained, and now promote the production of urban ecological

knowledge. While ecological researches engage more and more with the urban ecosystem and

produce conceptual frameworks and empirical knowledge on the built environment that aim to

be useful for the implementation of urban strategies, we need to analyze these processes in

order to understand how scientists and ecological knowledge influence the production of urban

space. In this communication or poster, we will present in detail the objectives and very first

results of this 4 years research project (2018-2022).


Using NBS for dealing with societal challenges of Romanian counties

Mihai-Razvan Nita, Alina Constantina Hossu, Cristian Ioan Ioja, Ana-Maria Popa


Nature-based solutions (NBS) are an umbrella term used in response to various societal

challenges, and a useful instrument in the search for sustainability and resilience. In this paper

we evaluate how NBS are used and integrated in the Local Environmental Action Plans (LEAP) of

Romanian counties. Using a standard coding procedure and an evaluation matrix we extracted

information from 39 LEAPs linked them with societal challenges of the Eklipse NBS Framework.

Results reveal the most common societal challenges where NBS are used (and their spatial

dimension), the types and categories of indicators used for their implementation and

monitoring, and the distribution of stakeholders involved in NBS actions. Although the term

itself is not that used, the principles and measures of NBS are present across challenges, but

there is a lack of coordination between authorities to implement NBS and a lack of tools at

institutional level to support such investments in innovative NBS and sometimes the funding for

NBS is unclear.

Urban protected areas – a way to manage human-nature linkage in smart cities?

Ioja, Cristian, Breuste Jurgen

University of Bucharest, University of Salzburg

Urban nature is a completely designed, based on urban structures and their care and

management. Nature is shaped in the city, so it can be increased or reduced. All kinds of nature,

including new wilderness, can be found in cities. A high richness of species is especially found in

areas where human influence either is low, or rarely occurs, or has ceased after abandonment

of uses. Protected areas become urban protected areas by their location. They are situated

either in or at the edge of large population centers. The presentation illustrates how the

offerings of very different wild (urban) nature are used, what nature types are preferred, and

which social groups behave in which ways in different urban protected areas. A deeper

knowledge on these issues will better support planning and decision-making in the process to:

1) improve contact with nature; 2) protect and manage urban nature; and especially 3) use the

special qualities and potential of suburban protected nature.

Assessing the potential of conflict emergence in urban parks. The case of elderly people.

Onose Diana Andreea, Iojă Ioan Cristian, Niță Mihai Răzvan, Vânău Gabriel Ovidiu, Popa Ana

Maria


Urbanization and ageing are the two main processes that currently shape the social environment

according to the World Health Organization. Therefore, creating age friendly cities should be an

important target, especially in developed countries which have the highest rates of elderly

population. For example, Bucharest, our case study, has a percent of population over 60 years


old of 24.5%, compared with 12% which is the world average. Our study focuses on the use of

urban green infrastructures and aims to establish which aspects related with elderly people’s

behavior or perception may create problems or conflicts and how can they be managed. We

analyzed the spatial planning of several parks in Bucharest to assess the ratio of surfaces

dedicated to elderly people and the endowments they can use. We also conducted an extensive

survey between elderly people using urban parks in order to establish aspects related with their

behavior when using the parks, their preferences and things they dislike. We compared their

characteristics with those of general population and other groups to highlight potential

problems that may arise. The results highlighted problems related with the planning and

management of urban parks, insecurity, inadequate equipment, the behavior or activities of

other users and accessibility. Our results may be useful when planning or redesigning age

friendly urban parks in order to enhance the social equity of their use.

The city: laboratory for studying climate change based on urban biodiversity

Marilena Onete1, J. Owen Mountford2, Roxana Nicoară1, Ciprian Bîrsan1, Minodora Manu1 1Institute of Biology Bucharest; 2CEH Wallingford, Oxfordshire, UK

Studying urban biodiversity of the cities, scientists can bring faster new knowledge about the

changes in plant and animal (including human beings) species in the context of climate change.

In natural ecosystems, the changes occur slower, in accordance with the ecosystem complexity

and maturity. As the city expand in space, as ‘hit island’ and also as system managed by human

being, the natural and semi-natural ecosystem shrink in space and are transformed in simplified

ecosystems managed by humans but with high input of money. Our studies developed in

Bucharest city reveals that the urban “jungle” and its historical development comprise some

remnant natural species but many are introduced species adapted at the environmental

conditions of urban spaces. The city might be the field for present time actions of conservation,

for understanding and preserving the species of the future. Based on knowledge of the ecologic

processes and species biology, of the structural and functional role of the urban biodiversity,

people can understand the functioning and dynamic of the urban system as a whole, and its role

within the dynamics of the rural areas and of the neighboring natural ecosystems. Thus, looking

at climate of the future, people may advance solutions based solely on the knowledge of the

benefits brought by biodiversity.

An assessment of nature conservation activity in Moscow

Konstantin Zakharov

Laboratory of geoecology Moscow State Region University

Problems of nature conservation in Russia are attracted an attention of scientists.

Unfortunately, a nature conservation work in Russia’s cities isn’t including in focus of

investigation however an interesting story has. Moscow would be convenient subject for that

investigation. In spite of construction bum there are fully fledged natural ecosystems remaining


in Moscow. The goal of my work is an understanding what namely assist to it. As object of

investigation was selected 89 projects of various economic activities in period 2000-2016 that

were associated with obvious negative environmental consequences. Each project could be

implemented or not implemented. In the latter case, we could speak of the success of

environmental activities. The result of environmental activities was recognition as depend

variable, the legal statuses of nature protection, type of vegetation, environmental protection

activities and types of violation were recognition as independent one. The GLM-models used for

analysis. So, to answer the question of the paper, we can say that the wildlife in Moscow has

been preserved due to the active nature protection activity. Consequently, the legal

mechanisms, including the SPNR status, and environmental laws cannot be regarded as a sort

of guarantee that protects natural territory from environmentally harmful economic activities.

The opportunities of government officers are more than society. Two variables (forest and rare

species) increase the attention of Muscovites to nature conservation problems, whereas

predictors for officials weren’t found.

Landsat-derived analysis of urban lakes influence on land surface temperature in Bucharest

(Romania)

Sorin Cheval1, 2, 3, Ana-Maria Popa4, Ionuț Șandric4, Cristian Iojă4 1“Henri Coandă” Air Force Academy, Brașov, Romania; 2National Meteorological

Administration, Bucharest, Romania; 3Romanian Association of Applied Meteorology and

Education; 4University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography

Built-up areas trigger major changes of the regional environment, creating a different setting,

quite homogeneous as whole, but holding a considerable internal heterogeneity. Most

meteorological parameters are modified, so that cities are characterized by higher temperature,

lower humidity and diverse wind speed and directions. However, the well-known Urban Heat

Island (UHI) – the positive thermal disturbance of the city from the neighboring rural areas – has

many facets within an urban area, due to variations of land cover and land use. The urban blue

areas can potentially reduce the heat stress in urban areas, and have a consistent role in

diminishing the UHI and in improving the air quality. This study investigates the influence of the

urban lakes on the Land Surface Temperature (LST) in Bucharest (Romania), based on remote

sensing information. The daytime LST retrieved from Landsat was calculated using the thermal

bands. For the analyse we applied a filter for the LST data using Support Vector Machine

classifications and Corine Land Cover using a set of criteria. The data obtained was analysed in

relation with the land cover categories at different distances from the lake shores, i.e. 30, 90, 60

and 120 m. The results show that the LST values increases with the hinterland for all the land

cover categories.

Urban development and smart mobility in Cluj Metropolitan Area

Titus-Cristian Man, Raularian Rusu, Ciprian Moldovan, Elena-Manuela Bîrsănuc

”Babeș-Bolyai” University of Cluj-Napoca, Faculty of Geography


Recent housing developments show increasing pressures on urban and suburban areas. Often,

these developments generate additional flows of commuters to urban attractors impacting

mobility due to the condition of the road infrastructure which does not develop at the same

pace. Cluj Metropolitan Area is a mono-centric system polarized by Cluj-Napoca City which

concentrates 45% of the total county population. Since 2011, the population of the metropolitan

area increased by 15.7% (almost 14 000 persons) while the population of Cluj-Napoca remained

relatively constant. Thus, increasing values of car traffic are registered requiring optimal

solutions for a better urban mobility management (volume-capacity ratios less than 75% for

road segments and junctions) including but not limited to: public transport development

(infrastructure and dedicated bus lanes), car-sharing and carpooling solutions leading to limited

usage of private cars and green transportation. Nowadays, at global and European scale, the

main solutions are focused on the use of hybrid cars, alternative means of transport such as

bicycles or electric scooters. Although these are mainly individual choices, they could be

adopted by the local authorities and integrated in urban development strategies and transport

policies.

Coupling spatial planning and food provision in urban regions: mismatches and potential

Grădinaru Simona R., Iojă Cristian, Niță Mihai

University of Bucharest, CCMESI

The role of urban agriculture is becoming more and more important in the context of increasing

interest in urban sustainability and resilience. The reasons behind this rising interest can be

placed within wider concerns about global food security due to declining food production areas.

At the same time, the creation of multifunctional spaces, capable of providing a wide range of

services, including food production, is one of the challenges to be addressed in the context of

socio-ecological systems. However, there is still a need to advance the knowledge on the rapidly

changing capacity of urban regions to provide food through its various forms of agriculture. The

aim of this study is to evaluate mismatches and potential for coupling spatial planning and food

provision in urban regions. A particular focus of the research is placed on food provision changes

induced by abandonment of agricultural lands and this process` interlinks with spatial planning.

Bucharest Ilfov urban region is chosen as study area. Research methods include land

abandonment mapping using remote sensing data and content analysis of spatial planning

documents.

Perceptions, expectations and preferences of Istanbul residents related to nature and nature

experience

Hayir-Kanat, Meryem; Breuste, Jürgen

This research focuses on people's perceptions about and expectations from nature and nature

experience, and their preferences of nature types. One-on-one face-to-face interviews were

conducted with 500 respondents using a paper-pencil survey questionnaire. Our results show


that the most frequently cited meaning of nature was fresh air and green space. Overall, the

majority of the respondents associated the concept of nature with green areas, coasts and

panorama. Psychological dimension of nature was also mentioned by about one-third of the

respondents. The most beloved part of being in the nature reported by the respondents was

being away from the city life and work. The respondents had strong preferences for being near

water, primarily by seaside. It is concluded that for many people nature and biological

components of nature help to recover from the work stress and city hassle. Also, the favorite

environments of people living in coastal cities are primarily coastal sides.

Workshop 2. Health

Perception of young people from urban Romania on issues of mental health and depression

Alina Mareci, Anca Tudoricu, Mihaela Preda, Iuliana Vijulie, Ana Maria Taloș

Faculty of Geography

Multiple studies proved that problematic mental health is usually correlated to other health and

behavioural shortcomings. In a 25-year longitudinal study, Fergusson et al. (2005) found

significant associations between the extent of depression at ages 17 to 18 years and rates of

subsequent major depression, anxiety disorder, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts. One of

the main problems in investigating mental health in general, especially in Romania, apart from

a limited number of mental health professionals and their sometimes-limited qualifications is

the considerable stigma that comes with this subject. Our study aims to breach the issue of

depression and mental health issues among young people in Bucharest and Romania. The

objectives of the study included obtaining an image of what exactly depression means for our

target group and what could be, in their opinion, its triggering factors. In addition, we measured

how the target group would go forward and deal with their own or someone else’s depression.

The methodology had two major stages: a series of discussions with mental health professionals

in order to create a questionnaire, the questionnaire’s testing and its dissemination online to a

total number of 1.192 participants. The second step was quantifying and analysing the results.

The primary conclusions showed that the Romanian youth have a solid understanding of the

importance of the issue but mostly lack the mechanisms to address it themselves.

Lifestyle influence on elderly population health status in the context of active ageing. Case

study: Ialomița County (Romania)

Ana-Maria Taloș, Florin-Alexandru Zaharia, Mihaela Preda


In the last years, the interest about active ageing and lifestyle has increased. While the concept

of active ageing refers to the achievement of an active life of older population in different

domains of their personal, family, social and professional life, lifestyle is related to personal


choices (eating, physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption, medication). The aim of the

present study is to assess the impact of lifestyle on elderly population health status in Ialomița

County, in the context of active ageing. The main objectives refer to the identification of the

elderly population lifestyle according to the concept of active ageing, highlighting several

problems among lifestyle components and assessing the degree of satisfaction among elderly

population with their personal lifestyle. The methodology is based on a survey conducted in

Ialomița County (men and women over 65 years old according to Romanian legislation). For a

complex analysis adapted to a large sample size data were processed using SPSS program. The

results show that lifestyle (diet, physical activity, stress level, unhealthy behavior and medical

behavior) is an important determinant of elderly population health status, many important

variables determine territorial inequalities (income, education, living environment, gender) and

the role of lifestyle in the context of active ageing is a major one. It is important for the elderly

population to adopt a healthy lifestyle in order to prevent disease and functional decline, extend

longevity and enhance one’s quality of life.

Re-shaping role of primary health care (PHC) to achieve universal health coverage principles.

Lessons from Romania

Liliana Dumitrache, Mariana Nae


Meeting population health care needs at sustainable cost is representing one of the principle of

Universal Health Coverage. Placing primary health care-oriented health systems strengthening

in the context of Universal Health Coverage also is representing one of the strategic directions,

found on the WHO regional agenda. Numerous studies demonstrated that healthcare systems

configured around primary care produce healthier populations at lower cost. The recognition of

the role of primary health care as a cornerstone of the health systems has led, in many countries,

to various attempts to integrate or to reform primary health care delivery. However, delays in

reforming primary health care(PHC), inequities and inefficiencies in health care delivery at

primary level are still affecting the entire population. Geographic conditions, economic or social

inequalities create also disparities in healthcare access. Many regions remain underserved while

rural population from remote areas creates an added demand for healthcare. This paper

identifies current issues and causes of health system inefficiencies in a former socialist country,

after numerous attempts to transform a hospital-based health system, into a more performing

one, based on primary health care. Romania has achieved progress in improving its health

system, but still faces several challenges. The standard of healthcare in Romania is well below

than in other EU countries, due to a combination of systemic failures and chronic under-funding;

structural reforms in health care to enhance the efficiency, quality and accessibility of the

system, especially for the disadvantaged remote and isolated communities are still needed.


Disparities in oral health and dental service use in Romania: exploratory research on the

remote areas

Mariana Nae, Liliana Dumitrache


Oral health is an essential part of general health, most often interlinked with quality of life. Oral

health and general health status are dependent on multi-layered social, economic and

behavioural factors. The objective of the study was primarily to describe the oral health status

and treatment needs of adult and elderly population in Danube Delta region. Taking into account

that dental services in Romania are predominantly provided by private dentists, an additional

objective was to determine whether oral health attitudes and behavior are affected by socio-

economic factors. The emerging findings of a pre-test sample demonstrated that the age of

respondents was significantly associated with the daily oral dental hygiene, as well as the habits

of frequent dental care visits to the dentist. The education level in elderly patients and the

gender of population were usually associated with the time that had passed since their last visit

to the dentist (p<0.05). Income, education level, age, cultural factors, ability to perform daily

oral health care could influence the population oral health status. Unhealthy behaviors such as

neglecting to brush and floss and bad dietary habits could adversely affect the dental health.

Preventive dental services should be introduced as well oral health promotion programs are

required for population living in remote areas.

Geographical accessibility of the population to medical facilities in Neamt County, Romania

Mihai Ana Maria Adelina


Access to health care, one of the essential humans right, helps people to prevent and manage

the disease, to reduce disability and premature death. It has a considerable impact on physical,

social and mental health status, on quality of life of the population and on maintaining social

stability. The physical accessibility of the population to medical services is a topic of interest for

geographers, previous studies showing numerous inequalities at the national level. The present

paper analyzes the differences in access to health care facilities in Neamț County by using open

data sources. The objectives of the paper are: to evaluate the health care provision at the county

level, pointing out the availability of health care facilities and medical personnel; to correlate

their spatial distribution with the population potential needs; to evaluate physical access of the

population to health care facilities-hospitals and GP offices. It is based on secondary data from

INSSE and DSP Neamt, related to population structure, medical personnel and medical units

(2000-2017). All medical facilities-hospitals, GP offices are geo-coded, and the distance and

access time in minutes between the village and the nearest hospital or GP office are determined

by using API from Google. The analysis of the distribution of the medical personnel and the

medical infrastructure at the level of the Neamt County highlights many inequalities, especially

between urban and rural areas, the health care resources being concentrated mainly in Piatra

Neamt, the largest city of the county while smaller towns or rural areas are deficient.


Lack of medical facilities in proximity limits the access of the local population to medical

services. The older people and children are the most affected, and they have to travel

relatively long distances to benefit from treatments.

Access of population to pharmaceutical services in municipality of Bucharest

Daniel Bucur


The Study presents an analysis of dynamics and coverage degree with pharmaceutical units in

Municipality of Bucharest, as well as the differences upon territorial level, both from perspective

of coverage degree with pharmacies as well as from the perspective of the access of population

to pharmaceutical services. The presentation includes the specific factors and conditions

contributing to appearance and development of pharmaceutical units and not at last the

consequences of the changes produced by the increase of number of pharmaceutical units. The

main objective of the paper is represented by the analysis of dynamics and territorial

distribution of pharmaceutical services in Municipality of Bucharest. The secondary objectives

were: analysis of dynamics of pharmaceutical units during the period of time 1995-2017,

analysis of territorial distribution of pharmaceutical units as well as the analysis of some specific

indicators indicating the coverage degree and access of population to pharmaceutical services.

The highlighting of pharmaceutical units on cartographic materials was made using the QGIS

software and their representation using the points method. There was also processed the data

contained by the excel database consisting in INS data and highlighting their evolution. The

obtained results have indicated major discrepancies of coverage degree with pharmaceutical

units as well as access differences of the main vulnerable categories and consumers of

pharmaceutical products, i.e. children younger than 9 years and persons older than 65 years.

Dasymetric mapping of population density – the foundation for analysis health care needs in

the Bucharest metropolitan region

Gabriel Simion1, Florin Zaharia1, Oana Simion2

1University of Bucharest; 2Romanian Academy - Institute of Political Sciences and International

Relations

The rapid spatial growth of post-socialist cities requires the identification of population

distribution at the high granular level, both in the inner cities and suburban areas. The traditional

methods based on census data are not sufficient, since the planners and stakeholders involved

in the territorial planning have to know the exact spatial distribution of the population.

Dasymetric mapping involves the disaggregating of the population using ancillary data – often

land cover data – to an enhanced granular unit of analysis. The current study uses the open

source datasets – particularly the vector layers from OpenStreetMap and manual digitization of

the high-resolution satellite images – on residential building types and floor numbers to

disaggregating census population data in relation with the gross building areas (GBA)


distribution. The presentation reveals that granular geospatial population datasets may offer

valuable information for different stakeholders in the field of health care.

Evaluating the geographical access of the population to the emergency medical services in

Bucharest

Florin-Alexandru Zaharia, Ana-Maria Taloș, Gabriel Simion

Faculty of Geography - Department of Human and Economic Geography

The purpose of the paper is to have an analysis regarding the geographical response of the

emergency healthcare system in relation to the resident population of the city of Bucharest. The

analysis is carried out in a Geographical Information System (GIS) that uses and integrates a

database with the localization of the emergency medical services, the road-transportation

network, the residential built-up area and the population data. This analysis focuses on the

relationship between the localization of the population of Bucharest and the spatial distribution

of the intervention points of the authorities responsible in an emergency situation, as well as

the medical emergency reception units. The geographical response of the medical emergency

system is assessed using some specific transport geographical methods in order to compute

some access indicators. This approach helped us identify the spatial variations in a big-sized city

as Bucharest of the response of the emergency medical services with in it. The paper creates a

methodological first step in looking forward of how we can assess the demographical dimension

and impact of the territorial efficiency of services localization (emergency medical services in

this situation) within a city.

ECOSMART – 2019 / International Conference Environment at …€¦ · Applied geomorphology and pedology The integrated analysis of land and soil processes in the context of extreme

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