International Association of Landscape Archaeology

IALA has become a founding member of the European Landscape Consortium, an association of associations whose role is to envigorate and promote the European Landscape Convention, marking the 25th anniversary of its creation. The members of the Consortium include:

• European Council of Landscape Architecture Schools
• International Association of Landscape Ecology – European Chapter
• International Association of Landscape Archaeology
• International Federation of Landscape Architects – European Region
• Landscape Research Group
• LE:NOTRE Institute – Linking Landscape Education, Research and Innovative Practice
• UNISCAPE – European Universities Network for Landscape Studies

The Consortium has drafted and sent a statement to members of the EU Parliament and European Commission, as well as other institutions and representatives including, of course, the Council of Europe. You can find the Statement here: European Landscape Consortium_EU Statement September 2025

IALA was represented at the 2025 ECLAS conference in Nitra (Slovakia), titled agriCULTURAL landscapes – 30 years of landscape architecture educ

ation in Nitra. Landscape Architecture has always been about understanding, managing and designing the landscape, so it is a natural fit for Landscape Archaeology of any type. Future collaboration between IALA and ECLAS is being planned, so make sure to stay informed.

I hope to see ECLAS represented in Bamberg for LAC2026.

The second joint session between IALA and the IALE Europe Working Group on Historical Landscape Ecology, as well as the IHOPE network, has taken place on September 4th a the IALE2025 conference (https://iale2025.sav.sk/) in Bratislava (Slovakia). It is a continuation, or rather second iteration of the session that took place in LAC2024. The session, titled Tracing Back Historical Land-Use and its Legacies: Common Insights and Perspectives of Landscape Archaeology and Historical Landscape Ecology was designed by Marianna Biró, Sjoerd Kluiving, Valentina Pescini, Giovanna Pezzi and Guillermo Reher, and chaired by Guillermo Reher and Rebekka Dosche.

The papers presented were:

• “Legacy of historical charcoal production in vegetation and soils of pine forests” (Anna Kowalska; Ewa Kołaczkowska; Krzysztof Szewczyk; Jerzy Jonczak; Vincenzo Barbarino; Barbara Gmińska-Nowak; Agnieszka Gruszczyńska; Agnieszka Halaś; Dominika Łuców; Mateus).
• “Analysing long-term environmental change driven by post-medieval crofting in the uplands of north-east Scotland” (Louise Smith; Jeffry Oliver; Gill Plunkett; Kate Britton; J. Edward Schofield).
• “Tracing back historical changes in a Medieval rural landscape: a case study of Staffarda Abbey (Piedmont, North-West Italy)” (Paola Gullino; Federica Larcher; Paola Greppi; Enrico Pomatto; Fabio Meloni; Andrea Nasi; Vincenzo Lombardo; Luigi Provero).
• “Layers upon layers. Past, present and future trends of the landscape in the World Heritage site of Las Médulas” (Guillermo Reher).
• “Historical cultural landscapes in the Czech Republic” (Markéta Šantrůčková).
• “Enhancing the identification of cultural heritage in relic landscapes using GeoAI and landscape characterisation approaches” (Akseli Tolvi; Niina Käyhkö; georg.haggren@utu.fi; Veerle Van Eetvelde).
• “Exploring causality and legacy effects in land use dynamics using oral history interviews (OHI) within a mixed methods approach: a case study from Terras de Trás-os-Montes, Portugal” (Lien Imbrechts; Rebekka Dossche; João C. Azevedo; Peter H. Verburg).
• ““Tell me about the landscape…” – landscape management and transitions in local memories: the Sudetes case study, SW Poland” (Agnieszka Latocha-Wites).
• “Archaeobotanical and Archaeological Analysis of a Pit Feature from the Hradisko-Neštich Site” (Natália Hurajtová; Július Vavák; Ivanka Hristova).

In addition, there were an array of short poster presentations.

A Sentinel 2 picture from August 13th reveals the extent of the wildfire destruction in the UNESCO cultural landscape of Las Médulas (Spain).

The beauty and majesty of the largest Roman gold mine as it can be seen today, inmersed in a sea of chestnut trees, has been terribly devastated due to a problem which is endemic in many places of Southern Europe. Drier and warmer summers, together with an increasingly abandoned countryside, have become a terrible combination for some of the most delicate landscapes.

In addition, this tragedy hits close to home…and heart.

Image: Grupo de Investigación EST-AP (CSIC)