PLUS at GeoSummit Bern 2012

From 19th to 21th June 2012, the GeoSummit 2012 will be held in Bern. This is an exhibition and congress for geoinformation. In addition to lectures by Adrienne Grêt-Regamey and Ulrike Wissen at GeoConf we are also at the GeoExpo with the Landscape Visualization Theatre and present a little insight into current projects.

Futher informations under: www.GEOsummit.ch

Madeleine Manyoky receives for her master thesis this year’s geosuisse/IGS-Award

This year’s geosuisse/IGS-Award was assigned on suggestion of the Notenkonferenz to Madeleine Manyoky, Master of Science ETH in Geomatic and Planning, for her master thesis “SoundLandscape – GIS-based landscape visualizations with integration of acoustic emissions of wind turbines”, which was supervised by Prof. Adrienne Grêt-Regamey and Prof. Hilmar Ingensand.

Capture landscapes and create visions

Adrienne Grêt-Regamey, professor for landscape and urban planning, informed members of the parliament at the presentation „ETH in federal Bern“ about the possibilities of innovative spatial development. ETH Life interviewed her beforehand about her research. Read Article »»

Martin Glaus receives for his master thesis first price at the Swiss Society of Applied Geography (SGAG)

In his master thesis entitled “Landscape visualizations in the land reform planning of Blauen (BL)” 3D landscape development scenarios were generated and their quality assessed with regard to their added value for opinion making of diverse actors and as discussion base. PLUS supervised this thesis, which was handed in at the unit Human Geography of the Department of Geography, University of Zurich.

The SGAG awards master and diploma theses, which are excellent with regard to high practical relevance, high innovative power (new approaches) and high feasibility. The highest award of CHF 500.- will be handed over by the judging panel at the SGAG-Annual General Meeting on January 26th 2012 in Olten.

Hydroserv in Ö1 broadcast

Listen to the broadcast Ö1 "Dimensions - the world of science" on "Between climate change and habitat conservation. The future of the Alps", by Mark Hammer on Monday, December 19th, 2011 at 19.05 in oe1.ORF.at.

Interview with Prof. Dr. Adrienne Grêt-Regamey about the HydroServ-project from minute 18:53.

IMLA Excursion to LVML

The International Master of Landscape Architecture (IMLA) study group visited the Landscape Visualization and Modeling Lab on October, 18th 2011. 

www.lvml.net

Tagung "Landmanagement im Speckgürtel"

Tuesday, 6. September 2011
ETH Hönggerberg, HIL E1

programme, information and application

How do we perceive wind turbines in our landscape? - Exposition at the Scientifica 2011

The "Scientifica - Zürcher Research Days" are taking place from August 26 - 28 2011, and researchers from the University of Zurich and the ETH Zurich will present their research areas. The topic of the current Scientifica is
"Energy".

With regard to the focus topic "Energy for our daily life" PLUS provides an exhibition of visual-acoustic 3D landscape visualizations and how these can be used for landscape impact assessment of wind farms. Equipped with 3D glasses and earphones you can explore yourselves where and how loud wind turbines are in the virtual landscape model and assess the landscape aesthetics. The interactive 3D model of the Mont-Crosin (BE) allows for exploring the rather realistic simulation of the real situation. But not only virtual visualizations are provided. Scaled models of the landscape show further visualization instruments that are suitable to support spatial and landscape planning processes.

Opening hours of the exhibition
Friday, 26.8.2011, 17.00–22.00 h
Saturday, 27.8.2011, 13.00–20.00 h
Sunday, 28.8.2011, 11.00–16.00 h

www.scientifica.ch

Dr. Ulrike Wissen Hayek received award at the Digital Landscape Architecture 2011 conference

At the 12th Digital Landscape Architecture 2011 conference, hosted by Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Dr. Ulrike Wissen Hayek gave a presentation on the „Interdisciplinary studio for teaching 3D landscape visualization: lessons from the LVML (Landscape Visualization and Modeling Lab)”. She received the 'Digital Landscape Architecture 2011 Award for Contribution to Information Technology Education in Landscape Architecture' for her presentation. The award was decided by vote of participants of the Conference and was handed over by Professor Erich Buhmann, Anhalt University of Applied Sciences.

NRP 54, Regional Closing Event

May, 23rd, 5-9 p.m. in Zurich, application deadline: May 19th

Sustainable Development of the Built Environment – from planning to managament
Six years after research started, the National Research Programme 54 „Sustainable Development of the Built Environment“ will come to an end in the middle of this year with the publication of the programme synthesis and several focal studies. The NRP 54 has during ist research and synthesis phases analysed current processes on a broad scale and gathered proposals for solutions. Simultaneously the programme has maintained the dialogue with professionals from the field of practice and incorporated their concerns into research and synthesis.
This invitation addresses mainly people from the academic area, from the administration on federal, cantonal, city and community levels, from organisations as well as from the field of planning and consulting.

programme, information and application

NRP project VisAsim goes to PLUS

In March 2011, the Swiss National Science Foundation has accepted the research proposal „VisAsim – Visual-Acoustic Simulation for landscape impact assessment of wind farms“.
Planning of wind farms appears to be a complicated matter in Switzerland and all over Europe, coming along with growing government and business frustration. As key problem, top-down planning approaches lacking the public’s judgment about the acceptability of a wind farm in particular places have been determined. Most significant factors explaining support or rejection of wind farms are their impacts on the visual aesthetical landscape quality and the sense of place in a specific landscape context and noise made by rotating turbine blades. Current planning tools including 2D maps, 3D visualizations and data for noise levels, however, fail to integrate these factors into site-planning for identifying suitable places for wind power technologies. We propose the development of a visual-acoustic simulation tool, which integrates the realistic soundscape of wind turbine noise into GIS-based 3D landscape visualizations of alternative wind farm scenarios for valuing their impact on the landscape quality.

New PLUS team member

Starting March 1st, 2011, our team has been strengthened by junior scientist Sven-Erik Rabe. Being an evironmental planner and engeneering ecologist he will support our project work and take part in the education.

Sub-project "Balancing of Ecosystem Services and Recommendations for Governance" for the German Federal Office for Nature Conservation, in cooperation with the Institute for Environmental Planning, Landscape Management and Nature Conservation in Munich and the University of Bayreuth

Following the international study The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), the current project investigates the economical value of biodiversity in Germany. How do preservation and development of biodiversity correlate with the ecosystem services they are based on? How can these ecosystem services be monetarily valued in the perspective of nature conservation and economy? Finally, what can practically be recommended to political decision makers regarding further development of society and nature conservation?

A useful monetary balancing of ecosystem services requires the development of methodological instruments, which are widely acceptable in order that ecosystem services will be taken into account in future planning and approbation processes.

Follow-up project "The value of biodiversity measured by the ecosystem services of dry grasslands and pastures" for the Federal Office for the Environment FOEN

In the context of the UNO convention on biodiversity and of the biodiversity strategy of the FOEN, this study investigates whether the monetary value of biodiversity can be defined by the concept of ecosystem services. It wants to answer the question if the concept of ecosystem services is a valuable political decision basis in order to maintain biodiversity in Switzerland. For this purpose not only the changed provision of ecosystem services under future land use must be estimated, but also an "insurance value" for dry grasslands and pastures must be calculated. This "insurance value" describes the capacity of the ecosystems to provide for their services in a sustainable manner.

The project focuses on the "insurance value" of the current dry grasslands and pastures, the change this value will undergo by fragmentation of these areas up to a critical point and on the question whether the value of biodiversity can be adequately expressed by a calculation of an insurance value.

New PLUS Team Member

We are happy to welcome graphic designer Ralph Sonderegger to our team, starting February 1st, 2011. He will take care of the PLUS website.

NRP 61 project HydroServ goes to PLUS

In October 2009, the Swiss National Science Foundation has accepted the research proposal HydroServ - Vulnerability of hydrological ecosystem services: Integrative analysis under changes of climate and socio-economy with an emphasis on adaptation submitted by the research unit PLUS for the NRP 61 project Sustainable Water Management.

People rely on the integrity of ecosystems to provide hydrological ecosystem services (HES) because they are essential to human existence, such as drinking water supply. Yet, human activities and global climate change are jeopardising the ability of ecosystems to deliver HES, which results in increasing economic costs. Within the framework of the NRP project, the full value chains of HES provided by terrestrial ecosystems under climatic and socio-economic changes will be analysed and simulated. Future developements in land use and adaptation mechanisms of the ecosystem to climate change will be simulated using integrated modelling systems.

The project aims at (i) analysing the consequences of climate and socio-economic changes on water resources and on the related HES in an integrative manner; and (ii) assisting policy makers in their decision-making through the design of innovative instruments for the public and private sectors and institutional regulations, which will be required to respond to the anticipated changes while preserving a balance between demand and supply of HES.