Cultural Landscapes under Global Environmental Change: Monitoring and Assessment through Remote Sensing and GIS

Cultural Landscapes embody a profound connection between humans and nature in a rapidly changing world. Climate change and intensified human activity threaten the delicate balance necessary for their survival. This is especially true for sites with strong rural identities, where traditional agricultural and water management techniques are at risk. Enriched by nine articles published in international journals and one currently under review, this thesis aims to analyze the impacts of global environmental changes on a selection of representative rural Cultural Landscapes, through specific objectives (SO). It firstly examines two major climatic threats: drought and high temperatures (SO-A) and extreme precipitation events (SO-B). In the first, various Cultural Landscapes in Europe are analyzed, evaluating future climatic scenarios and proposing new methodologies for mapping and identifying at-risk areas to guide mitigation measures. For the second, innovative methods are developed for prioritizing maintenance interventions at field scale, alongside global analyses of cultural ecosystem services. Finally, SO-C explores how human management practices influence the resilience of Cultural Landscapes, with case studies on Argentine vineyards, traditional viticulture, and water management in steep slope terrains. The thesis concludes with an investigation of UNESCO World Heritage Cultural Landscapes, moving beyond “representative case studies” to globally analyze future climatic evolutions and their impacts on the identity of these landscapes. Thanks to the inherent flexibility of the Cultural Landscape’s topic, the thesis addresses the impacts of global environmental changes with a broad perspective, employing innovative spatial data analysis techniques and providing valuable insights for Cultural Landscape managers. This contributes to ensuring a future for these unique landscapes encouraging sustainable management.