THE ROLE OF A LANDSCAPE REHABILITATION STUDENT PROJECT IN CURRENT LANDSCAPE EDUCATION – HEALING URBANIZATION’S FOOTPRINT

Ildikó LIHĂT 1,2, Klaus BIRTHLER 1,*, Endre VÁNYOLOS 1,*, Anna Imola HENNING 1, Noémi Melitta HEGEDÜS 1, Zsolt SZEKELY-VARGA 1, Endre KENTELKY 1
1 Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Technical and Human Sciences, Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania, Calea Sighișoarei 2, 540485, Târgu Mureș/Corunca, Romania
2 “Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urban Planning Bucharest, str. Academiei 18-22, Sect.1, Bucharest, Romania

The Giurgeului Depression has been significantly impacted by human intervention, resulting in numerous scars on the landscape. A comprehensive rehabilitation plan is imperative for the Suseni quarry area to restore its natural features. This initiative, spearheaded by the local council and municipality, collaborates with the Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania’s Department of Horticulture and the Babeș-Bolyai University’s Faculty of Biology and Geology. They’ve launched a research scholarship program for students focused on a research and landscape rehabilitation plan tender within Suseni’s administrative region. Large scars created by human activities, adjacent to a valuable natural environment, significantly alter the natural landscape features and are detrimental to the visual and ecological relationship systems. Those need urgent rehabilitation. Student projects serves as a potential model for transforming natural landscapes affected by human actions. It aims to teach landscape design through experimental approaches, aligning with modern research-driven design methods for strategic planning. Moreover, it seeks to enhance student projects for practical implementation by local authorities, contributing positively to the area’s ecosystem and landscape. Much has already been taken from this landscape, and it is now time to give something back to the area, the local ecosystem, and the landscape.

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.2478/abmj-2023-0014