Summer School in "Ecosystem Restoration"

Dal 19 al 26 Luglio a Matera, nella sede delle Monacelle, si terrà una Summer school dal titolo: "Ecosystem Restoration and Nature Conservation - Interdisciplinary Approaches ", che ospiterà iscritti provenienti da tutto il mondo.

Location:
The summer school will take place in Matera, Basilicata (S Italy) which was just announced as European Cultural Capital in 2019. The city has a unique history and architecture, which is closely related to the geological feature of the Karst landscape, where houses have been built into the stone (so-called Sassi).
Organizer:
Prof. Dr. Stefan Zerbe (UNIBZ, Italy): botanist, vegetation and landscape ecologist with focus on restoration ecology
Cooperation partners:
Prof. Dr. Jasmin Mantilla Contreras, Dr. Florian Goedecke, Dr. Nina Kirchhoff (Univ. Hildesheim, Germany): expertise on general restoration ecology, coastal grassland restoration in Central Europe and restoration of tropical and Mangrove forests
Dr. Tiemo Timmermann (Univ. Greifswald, Germany): expertise on peatland restoration and environmental ethics
Prof. Dr. Cristos Xiloyannis (University of Basilicata): Agriculture in Southern Italy with focus on fruit tree physiology, general fruit growing and nursery techniques
Course description:
The restoration of ecosystems has become a challenge of the 21st century throughout the world. This international and interdisciplinary summer school addresses basic and applied aspects of restoration ecology and ecosystem restoration. Additionally, general nature conservation topics, such as the sustainable use of natural resources, ecosystem functions and services, interaction between land use and landscape, and ecosystem assessment will be outlined. General concepts of restoration ecology will be communicated by specific ecosystem examples, such as forests, mires, rivers, grassland, and urban-industrial sites. As ecosystem restoration is an interdisciplinary task, we also integrate environmental ethics. Additionally, the students will present specific ecosystem restoration as well nature conservation projects in their countries of origin.
The course will acquaint the students with environmental problems and the importance of ecosystem restoration, nature conservation, and sustainable land use in and outside of Europe, will provide students with information, in particular on the restoration and management of ecosystems, and will promote transdisciplinary thinking within sustainable land-use development.
The course consists of lectures, presentations by the students on specific topics on the basis of case studies, and excursions in the region of Basilicata and the Murgia.
The course language will be English.
Participants
The course is open for students of all disciplines with a basic knowledge in ecology/landscape ecology and of all higher education levels (bachelor, master and PhD).
Preparation and basic literature:
For preparation and during the course, please consider the textbooks from Van Andel & Aronson (eds., 2nd ed., 2012) Restoration ecology. The new frontier, Blackwell Publ., Oxford and from Zerbe & Wiegleb (eds., 2009) Renaturierung von Ökosystemen in Mitteleuropa, Springer, Spektrum Akad. Verlag as basic information.
Accomodation:
The accomodation during the summer school is the hostel Le Monacelle (via Riscatto 9/10, 75100 Matera, http://www.visitmatera.it/le-monacelle.html) where Bed & Breakfast is offered directly in the famous Sassi.
Funding:
The summer school is financially supported by the Stemmler Foundation within the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft within a program for international student exchange in higher education.