About us
Nowadays, in Romania the landscape has to be indentified and assessed to its real value based on a clear and coherent methodology. In this regard, Landscape Ecology could be a useful research and an educational direction.
The International Association for Landscape Ecology (IALE) is a free association of regional interest and professional organisations that make up a communication platform for scientists, managers, planners and organisations thematically oriented to the issues of landscape ecology and related disciplines. The objective of IALE is to reinforce the position of landscape ecology as a scientific basis to analyse, plan and manage the landscape in the world-wide framework. IALE strengthens international collaboration and international relations within landscape ecology, namely in a form of scientific, pedagogic and communication activities.
IALE Romania is a regional organisation of IALE in Romania.
The Association IALE Romania will contribute to examine how and why Romanian landscapes are changing and how Landscape Ecology can help in promoting sustainable planning for the future at local to regional scales. Stakeholders could also benefit from landscape analysis by a better understanding of the local issues through the scientific and technical knowledge provided by the environmental and territorial-sustainability studies. Landscape ecology represent a novelty for Romania in the areas of interest related to protecting, planning, or managing land, water or associated ecosystem goods and services. Many specific problems arising at regional or local level could be solved by using practical landscape ecological concepts.
A better dissemination and popularization of Landscape ecology (as the study of interactions, across space and time, between the structure and function of physical, biological and cultural components of landscapes) is needed in schools, in universities, as well as in important Romanian publications.
We are at the beginning and, from this point of view, we consider that in Romania Landscape ecology could contribute to better understanding the landscape changes and the need to integrate the landscape in environmental and territorial planning studies.
IALE Romania will provide opportunities of interactions between researchers, students, policy makers and practitioners. We believe that the interest manifested by researchers is an excellent support in developing the idea of multi-disciplinary and trans-disciplinary approaches of the landscape and of the environment where we live.
Ileana Stupariu and Mihai Sorin Stupariu,
Founding members of IALE Romania.