Integrative landscape modelling


	There is definitely a great need for scientific-based, user-friendly, game-like platforms for integrative landscape modelling, enabling either scientists or multiple stakeholders to test their landscape design and management ideas in the light of economical, ecological and environmental constraints. The development of such platforms needs to integrate knowledge from different disciplines in order to provide effective solutions for real-world problems. For this purpose, two projects have been set up within the 'plant' advanced thematic research network, entitled “Integrative landscape modelling” and “Towards a federative research on modelling and simulation platforms”. Their objective is to put together various teams, each of them having developed, with a specific scientific focus, its own model or platform for simulating landscape structure and functioning. The challenge is to manage to link these models and platforms in a general conceptual and modelling framework, enabling to consider the main biological, physical, geographical and socio-economical interactions impacting ecosystems and landscape functioning and management. These projects constitute a first step for all partners to share their background experience in their own discipline (ecology, agronomy, hydrology, socio-economy) and further try to define a roadmap for building an integrative modelling platform.

	Integrative landscape modelling
	The objective of this programme is to lay the foundations of an integrative and interdisciplinary (socio-economy, agronomy, biology, ecology, hydrology...) challenging project, aiming at developing a modelling platform of ecosystems and landscapes functioning under human influence. During the time-course of this preliminary phase (12 months), it is expected: to build a state of the art about integrative landscape modelling, with a particular focus on the conceptual issues raised by coupling socio-economical, biological and physical models; to identify the gaps and barriers that hinder scientists from different disciplines to share a common modelling platform; to evaluate the possibility of building a common conceptual structure for coupling interdisciplinary models, validated by the analysis of a real case study.

	Towards a federative research on modelling and simulation platforms
	This project is the methodological counterpart of the conceptual “Integrative landscape modelling” one. Indeed, several platforms have been developed independently by the various teams of the research network, with different focuses. The present project proposes to analyse these platforms, with a view to highlight their strengths and weaknesses, complementarities and interoperability. Finally, the objective is to draw a first map of existing solutions for developing synergies amongst these various platforms. Expected outputs of this methodological exploration are: to build a state of the art about software modelling and simulation platforms applied to landscape dynamics; to develop connexions among existing platforms; to specify a generic software framework for collaborative platform development.
	Workplan
	To achieve these goals, three workshops will be organised at the national level, closed by an international congress on “Integrative landscape modelling”. The first workshop will focus on modelling approaches, with an emphasis on multi-scale (time and space) aspects; the second one will focus on modelling objects and methods, while the third one will synthesize the state of the art on landscapes and ecosystems modelling and simulation platforms. These three national workshops will pave the way for the international congress which will gather leading scientists in each of the main disciplines dealing with ecosystems and landscape simulation and management. The main concerns of this congress will be: to discuss the objectives, priorities and expectations when modelling the functioning of landscapes; to share experience about landscape modelling and identify major existing conceptual and technological gaps; to discuss, validate and enlarge the ‘state of the art’ previously released; to start building an international network on integrative ecosystems and landscape modelling.