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The literature is rich in descriptions of different forms of commons in the later pre-industrial agrarian society of northern Sweden. The industrial era resulted in a noticeable shift in the use of forests and in the introduction of firmer property rights and rigid land boundaries. A large number of commons from the pre-industrial period has never been officially registered and can therefore partly be seen as 'hidden' resources. The objective of this paper is to discuss the concept of commons in relation to a variable archaeological record, mainly associated with the forested regions of Sweden. Is it possible to identify commons by an archaeological landscape approach and to what extent can a long-term perspective contribute to current theoretical discussions concerned with commons? Commons as Hidden Resources - Analysing the Shifting Roles of the Commons in Rural Development Processes

We review palaeoenvironmental proxies and combinations of these relevant for understanding hunter-gatherer niche construction activities in pre-agricultural Europe. Our approach consists of two steps: (1) identify the possible range of hunter-gatherer impacts on landscapes based on ethnographic studies; (2) evaluate proxies possibly reflecting these impacts for both the Eemian (Last Interglacial, Middle Palaeolithic) and the Early–Middle Holocene (Mesolithic). We found these paleoenvironmental proxies were not able to unequivocally establish clear-cut differences between specific anthropogenic, climatic and megafaunal impacts for either time period in this area. We discuss case studies for both periods and show that published evidence for Mesolithic manipulation of landscapes is based on the interpretation of comparable data as available for the Last Interglacial. If one applies the ‘Mesolithic’ interpretation schemes to the Neanderthal record, three common niche construction activities can be hypothesised: vegetation burning, plant manipulation and impact on animal species presence and abundance. Our review suggests that as strong a case can be made for a Neanderthal impact on landscapes as for anthropogenic landscape changes during the Mesolithic, even though the Neanderthal evidence comes from only one high-resolution site complex. Further research should include attempts (e.g. by means of modelling studies) to establish whether hunter-gatherer impact on landscapes played out at a local level only versus at a larger scale during both time periods, while we also need to obtain comparative data on the population sizes of Last Interglacial and Holocene hunter-gatherers, as these are usually inferred to have differed significantly.

In addressing the current climate crisis, research into how past societies have coped with risk and ecological uncertainty can provide old solutions to new problems. Here, we examine how human niche construction can be seen as risk management in the face of uncertainty by exploring the spatial patterning of land-use activities over time. Dalarna county, an agriculturally marginal boreal forest environment, provides the opportunity for addressing change in terms of agricultural responses and other activities. C14 archaeological records complied by Dalarna Museum were the base of this analysis. The spatial and temporal components of these Boreal Forest records were analyzed in the open-source software QGIS, guided by a historical ecology framework. Human niches diversified and intensified during specific periods in the Boreal forest environment, our focus has been on how humans managed resource risk related to the ecological uncertainty within this forest environment characterized by long winters and short growing seasons. We conclude that constructed niches shaped the Boreal Forest, spanning its environmentally unique upland and lowland regions, into a more predictable environment. Tracking the diversity, multi-functionality, and intensity of these past land-use activities can provide insights for best practices in land management, not only for the Boreal Forest area, but also for elsewhere. These insights will assist in policy-making decisions, as the methodology is adaptable and replicable for various landscapes.

In addressing the current climate crisis, research into how past societies have coped with risk and ecological uncertainty can provide old solutions to new problems. Here, we examine how human niche construction can be seen as risk management in the face of uncertainty by exploring the spatial patterning of land-use activities over time. Dalarna county, an agriculturally marginal boreal forest environment, provides the opportunity for addressing change in terms of agricultural responses and other activities. C14 archaeological records complied by Dalarna Museum were the base of this analysis. The spatial and temporal components of these Boreal Forestrecords were analyzed in the open-source software QGIS, guided by a historical ecology framework. Human niches diversified and intensified during specific periods in the Boreal forest environment; our focus has been on how humans managed resource risk related to the ecological uncertainty within this forest environment characterized by long winters and short growing seasons. We conclude that constructed niches shaped the Boreal Forest, spanning its environmentally unique upland and lowland regions, into a more predictable environment. Tracking the diversity, multi-functionality, and intensity of these past land-use activities can provide insights for best practices in land management, not only for the Boreal Forest area but also for elsewhere. These insights will assist in policy-making decisions, as the methodology is adaptable and replicable for various landscapes. Special Issue: Living with Unpredictability: Insights from Landscape Historical Ecologies

Infield systems originated during the early Iron Age and existed until the 19th century, although passing many transitions and changes. The core features of infield systems were enclosed infields with hay-meadows and crop fields, and unenclosed outland mainly used for livestock grazing. We examine the transitions and changes of domesticated landscapes with infield systems using the framework of human niche construction, focusing on reciprocal causation affecting change in both culture and environment. A first major transition occurred during the early Middle Ages, as a combined effect of a growing elite society and an increased availability of iron promoted expansion of villages with partly communal infields. A second major transition occurred during the 18th and 19th centuries, due to a then recognized inefficiency of agricultural production, leading to land reforms. In outlands, there was a continuous expansion of management throughout the whole period. Even though external factors had significant impacts as well, human niche construction affected a range of cultural and environmental features regarding the management and structure of domesticated landscapes with infield systems. Thus, niche construction theory is a useful framework for understanding the historical ecology of infield systems. Contesting marginality: the boreal forest of inland Scandinavia and the worlds outside, AD 1-1500’ (UTMA), funded by the Swedish Research Council (2017-01483).

In this article, we present ongoing archaeological research into Scandinavia's forested inland region, suggesting that its people and communities were socially and economically integrated into systems of trade and in close interaction with the worlds outside, as early as the first centuries of the Common Era. The article presents a range of archaeological evidence, from ca. 500 to 1400 CE, for processes of ecological globalization, manifested by the exploitation of local landscapes and the extraction of valued products that could be transformed into commodities through crafts and trade. These forested landscapes were reliant on—and also shaped by—complex social and economic relations reflecting interrelated socio-economic systems of extraction, production, and consumption. Our main argument is that these landscapes are crucial to identifying and understanding the contours of the premodern global North.

This is the first out of three white papers from the project TERRANOVA the European Landscape Learning Initiative an Innovative Training Network consortium of the European Union’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.1 TERRANOVA investigates the deep history of human-environment interactions and how these interactions have shaped European landscapes as a foundation to design sustainable environmental policies in Europe. In 2019–2023, fifteen PhD students will be trained to conduct interdisciplinary research around this topic in order to promote a long-term understanding of the structure and functioning of European landscapes to meet current challenges caused by reduced biodiversity and climate change. TERRANOVA seeks knowledge through landscape energy regimes and transitions, which will help in the transition to future low-carbon society. In this paper, we will present our starting point and briefly describe the project design and expected outcomes of the project. RECOMMENDATIONS - POLICYMAKERS TO RECOGNISE AND SUPPORT: The importance of a nuanced understanding of the deep history of European landscapes and past changes in human-environment interactions that are required in order to address the climate and the biodiversity crises. Potential reservoirs of knowledge and experience that landscapes encompass, for nature conservation, landscape planning and sustainable livelihoods, which now remain unexplored. Sustainable research and training networks, like TERRANOVA, which means shifting academic curricula to demonstrate intelligent and innovative solutions for problems of land abandonment, landscape management and stewardship, rewilding and the process of transitioning to a low-carbon society.

This is the first out of three white papers from the project TERRANOVA the European Landscape Learning Initiative an Innovative Training Network consortium of the European Union’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. TERRANOVA investigates the deep history of human-environment interactions and how these interactions have shaped European landscapes as a foundation to design sustainable environmental policies in Europe. In 2019–2023, fifteen PhD students will be trained to conduct interdisciplinary research around this topic in order to promote a long-term understanding of the structure and functioning of European landscapes to meet current challenges caused by reduced biodiversity and climate change. TERRANOVA seeks knowledge through landscape energy regimes and transitions, which will help in the transition to future lowcarbon society. In this paper, we will present our starting point and briefly describe the project design and expected outcomes of the project.

This is the first out of three white papers from the project TERRANOVA the European Landscape Learning Initiative an Innovative Training Network consortium of the European Union’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.TERRANOVA investigates the deep history of human-environment interactions and how these interactions have shaped European landscapes as a foundation to design sustainable environmental policies in Europe. In 2019–2023,fifteen PhD students will be trained to conduct interdisciplinary research around this topic in order to promote a long-term understanding of the structure and functioning of European landscapes to meet current challenges caused by reduced biodiversity and climate change.TERRANOVA seeks knowledge through landscape energy regimes and transitions, which will help in the transition to future lowcarbon society. In this paper, we will present our starting point and briefly describe the project design and expected outcomes of the project.

This paper will discuss a pedagogical approach to integrating the humanities and the natural sciences. Our approach calls for extended collaboration between the two fields and a capacity to integrate the experimental and deductive lines of reasoning within the natural sciences with the holistic and critical perspectives of the humanities. This paper will describe and discuss how this notion is applied to the construction of a pedagogical framework or a learning environment constituted from landscape theory, GIS, and pedagogical principles derived from EBL and PL. The paper highlights how a landscape approach in combination with the interactive and dynamic properties of GIS can be used as an active learning environment crossing the interfaces of the disciplines.

The conventional view on the Kalahari in southern Africa expresses that the area is unsuitable for livestock herding. For this reason, it is argued that livestock herders avoided the Kalahari in the past and were only able to establish themselves in the later half of the twentieth century, when deep-reaching boreholes were introduced in the area. An effect of this concept was that the archaeological record of pastoralists in the Kalahari either was perceived as non-existent or received little attention from scientific enquiry. Based on an archaeological survey in the Kalahari of the northeastern part of Namibia, the purpose of this study is to construct an alternative approach to the archaeology of livestock herding. The aim is to contribute to a better understanding of the areas unrecorded land-use history. I depart from the notion that the main ecological constraint for dryland pastoralism is the availability of dry season water and fodder resources. For this reason, the fundamental basis for a pastoral land-use system is places that contain dry season resources. By reviewing recent ecological research, historical and anthropological accounts and previous archaeological research, I establish a link between livestock herders’ procurement of dry season key resources and the practice of digging wells. The link can be motivated from the pastoral ambition of accumulating livestock and high water requirements in the restrained dry season. On this basis, I suggest that artificial wells are useful indicators of pastoral land use in the Kalahari. The most crucial task for the study is to address the archaeological visibility of pastoral well sites. By a research approach integrating the theoretical understanding of pastoralism and a methodology including ecology, archaeology, history and the knowledge of the people who keep livestock in the region today, the archaeological survey revealed 40 well sites, including nearly 200 well structures that have all been used for watering livestock. However, it would be unfortunate if a study of pastoral wells would solely address the ecological foundation and the archaeological visibility of pastoralism. I suggest that the wells signify the labour of peoples with common or separate histories, with or without own herds, but probably talked about in relation to herds. I will also argue that the wells can be used for tracking and reconstructing a pastoral land-use system that predated the colonial era. Furthermore, the wells can be used to identify changes of the land-use that took place during the twentieth century, which involved that livestock herding was more or less abandoned in large parts of northwestern Kalahari. The study surmises that the critical historical perspective is valuable for development projects and conservationist interventions active in the region, especially in the light of the recent trends in the dryland ecology, which shows a larger appreciation for the indigenous understanding of the management of dryland ecosystems. With modifications, the developed approach can be applicable for land-use historical research elsewhere in southern Africa.

This is the second out of three white papers from the TERRANOVA project, The European Landscape Learning Initiative an Innovative Training Network consortium of the European Union’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. Between 2019 and 2023, fifteen Early Stage Researchers (ESRs - ie. PhD students) are trained within this project to envision ‘nature-based' landscape developments for Europe, relying on an integrated and multidisciplinary approach. TERRANOVA seeks to outline the necessity to promote good communication skills in research to transfer efficiently ‘landscape knowledge’ to policymakers and the public. This white paper presents TERRANOVA’s vision on landscape transformation and stakeholders’ engagement in knowledge production. First, we reflect on the relevance of engaging with stakeholders in research. Second, we present the outcomes of a workshop conducted with practitioners in nature conservation and reflect on the challenges they reported to integrate interdisciplinarity in their practice. We conclude that the inclusion of stakeholders and practitioners at every stage is key to ensure that research outcomes have a societal impact. Strengthening this approach will ensure that TERRANOVA ESRs’ research outputs are understandable and useful for land managers and decision-makers. HIGHLIGHTS: RECOMMENDATIONS Establishing connections between TERRANOVA and stakeholders involved in landscape management is crucial to ensure the relevancy and usefulness of ESRs’ research. TERRANOVA researchers and stakeholders met to discuss how research can be tailored to stakeholders’ needs during a workshop on Friday 26th February 2021. TERRANOVA’s ESRs collected recommendations for their own research practices that reinforced their willingness to engage with stakeholders, connect with practitioners and rely on participatory methods for landscape management interventions. Stakeholders identified the engagement of different local stakeholders, the coexistence of diverging visions about conservation goals, the unexpected outcomes of top-down policy incentives, and the difficulty of setting conservation goals priority as main challenges in conservation practices.

This is the first out of three white papers from the project TERRANOVA the European Landscape Learning Initiative an Innovative Training Network consortium of the European Union’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.1 TERRANOVA investigates the deep history of human-environment interactions and how these interactions have shaped European landscapes as a foundation to design sustainable environmental policies in Europe. In 2019–2023, fifteen PhD students will be trained to conduct interdisciplinary research around this topic in order to promote a long-term understanding of the structure and functioning of European landscapes to meet current challenges caused by reduced biodiversity and climate change. TERRANOVA seeks knowledge through landscape energy regimes and transitions, which will help in the transition to future low-carbon society. In this paper, we will present our starting point and briefly describe the project design and expected outcomes of the project. RECOMMENDATIONS - POLICYMAKERS TO RECOGNISE AND SUPPORT: The importance of a nuanced understanding of the deep history of European landscapes and past changes in human-environment interactions that are required in order to address the climate and the biodiversity crises. Potential reservoirs of knowledge and experience that landscapes encompass, for nature conservation, landscape planning and sustainable livelihoods, which now remain unexplored. Sustainable research and training networks, like TERRANOVA, which means shifting academic curricula to demonstrate intelligent and innovative solutions for problems of land abandonment, landscape management and stewardship, rewilding and the process of transitioning to a low-carbon society.

This is the second out of three white papers from the TERRANOVA project, The European Landscape Learning Initiative an Innovative Training Network consortium of the European Union���s Marie Sk��odowska-Curie Actions. Between 2019 and 2023, fifteen Early Stage Researchers (ESRs - ie. PhD students) are trained within this project to envision ���nature-based' landscape developments for Europe, relying on an integrated and multidisciplinary approach. TERRANOVA seeks to outline the necessity to promote good communication skills in research to transfer efficiently ���landscape knowledge��� to policymakers and the public. This white paper presents TERRANOVA���s vision on landscape transformation and stakeholders��� engagement in knowledge production. First, we reflect on the relevance of engaging with stakeholders in research. Second, we present the outcomes of a workshop conducted with practitioners in nature conservation and reflect on the challenges they reported to integrate interdisciplinarity in their practice. We conclude that the inclusion of stakeholders and practitioners at every stage is key to ensure that research outcomes have a societal impact. Strengthening this approach will ensure that TERRANOVA ESRs��� research outputs are understandable and useful for land managers and decision-makers. HIGHLIGHTS: RECOMMENDATIONS Establishing connections between TERRANOVA and stakeholders involved in landscape management is crucial to ensure the relevancy and usefulness of ESRs��� research. TERRANOVA researchers and stakeholders met to discuss how research can be tailored to stakeholders��� needs during a workshop on Friday 26th February 2021. TERRANOVA���s ESRs collected recommendations for their own research practices that reinforced their willingness to engage with stakeholders, connect with practitioners and rely on participatory methods for landscape management interventions. Stakeholders identified the engagement of different local stakeholders, the coexistence of diverging visions about conservation goals, the unexpected outcomes of top-down policy incentives, and the difficulty of setting conservation goals priority as main challenges in conservation practices.

This is the second out of three white papers from the TERRANOVA project, The European Landscape Learning Initiative an Innovative Training Network consortium of the European Union’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. Between 2019 and 2023, fifteen Early Stage Researchers (ESRs - ie. PhD students) are trained within this project to envision ‘nature-based' landscape developments for Europe, relying on an integrated and multidisciplinary approach. TERRANOVA seeks to outline the necessity to promote good communication skills in research to transfer efficiently ‘landscape knowledge’ to policymakers and the public. This white paper presents TERRANOVA’s vision on landscape transformation and stakeholders’ engagement in knowledge production. First, we reflect on the relevance of engaging with stakeholders in research. Second, we present the outcomes of a workshop conducted with practitioners in nature conservation and reflect on the challenges they reported to integrate interdisciplinarity in their practice. We conclude that the inclusion of stakeholders and practitioners at every stage is key to ensure that research outcomes have a societal impact. Strengthening this approach will ensure that TERRANOVA ESRs’ research outputs are understandable and useful for land managers and decision-makers. HIGHLIGHTS: RECOMMENDATIONS Establishing connections between TERRANOVA and stakeholders involved in landscape management is crucial to ensure the relevancy and usefulness of ESRs’ research. TERRANOVA researchers and stakeholders met to discuss how research can be tailored to stakeholders’ needs during a workshop on Friday 26th February 2021. TERRANOVA’s ESRs collected recommendations for their own research practices that reinforced their willingness to engage with stakeholders, connect with practitioners and rely on participatory methods for landscape management interventions. Stakeholders identified the engagement of different local stakeholders, the coexistence of diverging visions about conservation goals, the unexpected outcomes of top-down policy incentives, and the difficulty of setting conservation goals priority as main challenges in conservation practices.