On behalf of the Workshop Organizing Committee,
we would like to invite you to the 4th Workshop on Regional Climate Dynamics:
Carpathian-Balkan Paleoscience Workshop 2021 (CBPW2021)
CÂRLIBABA, SUCEAVA county, Romania, 5-9 OCTOBER 2021
The workshop is an initiative of the Association of Applied Geography GEOCONCEPT, endorsed by Past Global Changes (PAGES), Mountain Research Initiative, Carpathian Convention and the Geography Department, University of Suceava and will be hosted in a traditional village in the picturesque region of Bucovina. This area of Romania is well known for its painted monasteries and uniquely preserved agro-forest-pastoral landscapes and nature, as well as for its amazing food, traditional music and dancing.
In the 4th edition of this PAGES-supported meeting, we propose an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary scientific event focusing on climate and environmental changes in the Carpathian-Balkan region since the Last Glacial Maximum. We envisage that this workshop will provide more insight into the most recent advances in paleosciences and help enhance regional collaboration in research, which is still understated, albeit significant steps have been taken in recent years.
CBPW21 can be regarded as a follow-up event on the previous PAGES-supported workshops organized by our team in 2011, 2014 and 2016, which have provided a good framework for sharing research and collaboration for further investigation of the Carpathian-Lower Danube-Balkan region.
Timescales covered
Late Pleistocene and Holocene. The goal of the workshop is to bring forward data for climate reconstruction from multi-proxy studies with a focus on the Last Termination (ca 22–11.5 ka), Holocene and Anthropocene in the Carpathian-Balkan region.
Topics of interest
of CBPW2021 include, but are not limited to, the following scientific subjects:
Characteristics and extents of former glaciation(s) in the Carpathian-Balkan region
Lake sediments and peat-bog deposits as paleoenvironmental archives
Past climate and history of vegetation changes
Karst and cave records as recorders of climate change
Dendrochronology
Geoarchaeology, geohistory and landscape archaeology
Climate variations and fluvial dynamics
Loess-Paleosoil complexes
Recent climate change modeling techniques
Human impact and pollution history
Land-use/land-cover changes and climate – modeling and analysis
NEW SESSION: Forest ecosystems and sustainable management in an era of global change
Within the CBPW2021 there will be a special session dedicated to sustainable forest management,
including adaptation to climate change and continued provisioning of the forest ecosystem services
communities depend upon. This session will emphasize research in the Carpathian-Balkan forest
domain, but will take a broad approach to topics in forest ecology, science, and management
relating to global change. Talks from a range of disciplines are welcomed, particularly those
addressing the challenge of sustaining forest ecosystems into an uncertain future.
The topics of interest include:
- forest disturbances, alteration of disturbance regimes, and associated management challenges;
- historic and contemporary forest change with implications for ecosystem services;
- opportunities and challenges for management of national parks;
- forest mapping, inventories, and surveys;
- human impacts on forest ecosystems and biological diversity;
- Carpathian-Balkan forests and carbon storage;
- forests and agro-pastoral / agro-touristic activities;
- Carpathian and Balkan old growth forests;
- forest management through time (e.g. traditional, Austrian-Hungarian, socialist, post-socialist,
modern); - deforestation, soil erosion, and other environmental impacts; and
- traditional forms of forest management by ethnic groups, etc.
Forest resources in the Carpathian-Balkan domain are increasingly vulnerable both to global
change – including climate disruption, alteration of disturbance regimes, and invasive species – and
increasing pressure for exploitable natural resources. And yet the goods and services these
systems provide are critical for rural livelihoods and warrant consideration by scientists, forest
managers, and policy makers. This special session will present robust research results with the
goal of promoting strategies for the sustainable management of forest ecosystems in the
Carpathian-Balkan region, particularly in the increasingly challenging context of present and future
global changes.
MINI-WORKSHOP:
Format
IMPORTANT:
Depending on the pandemic situation in Romania and in Europe at the time of the event, we would like to organize an on-site meeting, providing, of course, safety conditions for all participants in accordance with public health regulations and taking all necessary precautions to ensure the wellbeing of participants and workshop staff.
The number of participants will be limited and remains to be established depending on national regulations at the time of the event. Participants will be accepted according to the order of their submissions and will be informed in due time of any change.
If a full on-site meeting is not recommended, the format of the workshop will be hybrid: keynote speakers (who will lead online sessions) and a number of young researchers will be invited to participate on-site in a safe environment and in compliance with the legislation in force in Romania and the EU, whereas the rest of the participants will have access to the online sessions.
PANDEMIC CONTEXT:
The current pandemic context requires significant changes in the classical format of scientific gatherings. Consequently, the organizers of CBPW2021 are fully committed to providing participants with the highest standards of safety and ensuring that both the participants and the staff are under no health risk.
For this upcoming event (whether in on-site or hybrid format) we propose a concept of a ‘green scientific event’ adapted to current public health requirements, but also in line with our goal to support local communities:
- remote location in a traditional rural community in a mountain area of northern Romania;
- contained event which will take place in a dedicated space with accommodation and meals provided at the venue (all inclusive);
- limited contact with staff and the local community (to the degree that this will be necessary);
- leisure options at the venue;
- the vast majority of expenses go to the local rural communities (accommodation, meals, transportation, cultural events, coffee breaks etc.);
- small to medium scale event with opportunities for interaction between participants under safety conditions;
- event venue is located in an uncrowded and environmentally sound area.
GUESTS:
The workshop will bring together leading researchers and experts in paleoscience from the Carpathian-Balkan region, and welcomes posters and oral presentations. The event will feature keynote lectures from well-respected scientists providing state-of-the-art overviews of main topics and open debates on a wide range of topics related to the regional climate dynamics of the Carpathian-Balkan region during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. CBPW2021 also comprises a session dedicated to sustainable forest management. The poster session provides the opportunity to discuss results in more detail, both online or on-site.
Keynote speakers
Angelica FEURDEAN is a senior researcher at Goethe University and Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Center Frankfurt am Main in Germany. She received a PhD in Quaternary Geology from Stockholm University in 2004 and was subsequently awarded a Marie Curie Fellowship at the University of Oxford, UK. Her research uses sedimentary archives to reconstruct past vegetation response to recurrent climate fluctuations and disturbance by fire and human impact in various ecosystems in Central and Eastern Europe, with increasing focus on boreal and arctic systems. Recent work combines fossil data with plant functional traits and statistically ecological modeling to understand the role of plant traits in ecosystem resilience to disturbance by fire.
Zoltán KERN works as a research fellow at the Institute for Geological and Geochemical Research, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences in Budapest, Hungary. The focus of his research interest is environmental and climate change in the Quaternary. He has research experience related to dendroclimatology, dendrochemistry, application of environmental isotopes, cave ice, time series analysis, and geomorphology.
Eniko MAGYARI works at Eötvös Loránd University, Department of Palaeontology in Budapest, Hungary. Her main research focuses on the environmental history of the Carpathian-Balkan region during the last 30,000 years. Using pollen, plant macrofossil, and multi-proxy paleoecological methods, she studies how rapid climate change events and human impact have shaped the forest and steppe environment, what was the amplitude of climate change during the last glacial termination and what are the region’s climate change characteristics. Her studies also address questions connected to the protection of Hungary’s semi-natural landscapes. She seeks baseline conditions in the lowland forest steppe environment prior to major human transformation of the land, studies natural forest composition in the mid mountains and focuses on Holocene land-cover reconstruction, tree and timberline changes in the Carpathians, and the refugial role of the Carpathian Basin for temperate and boreal tree taxa during the Last Glacial Maximum. She also applies novel ancient DNA techniques to reconstruct past vegetation from soils and lake sediments.
Simon M. HUTCHINSON works at the School of Science, Engineering and Environment (SEE), University of Salford, UK. Paleoenvironmental science necessitates an interdisciplinary approach to research. He has worked with a range of talented specialists during his career across Europe, and in China and Russia. As a postgraduate student, his introduction to sediment-based environmental reconstruction began with lake sediment studies focused on the post-industrial. However, subsequently ‘playing with mud’ has led to research in not only lacustrine, but also peat, floodplain, saltmarshes and estuarine sediments as well as bat guano; at a decadal to whole Holocene timeframe. Predominantly he focusses on abiotic proxies of environmental change and human impacts (e.g. environmental magnetism and geochemistry), but, through collaboration, has also been introduced to wider paleo work in biotic parameters. Moreover, he is currently looking at the aDNA of deposits at the cutting edge of paleoenvironmental research, and trying to use paleoenvironmental tools to tackle applied environmental management questions.
William KEETON is a Full Professor of Forest Ecology and Forestry at the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Vermont, USA, where he directs the Carbon Dynamics Laboratory and is a Fellow in the Gund Institute for Environment. He also serves as Chair of the IUFRO (International Union of Forest Research Organizations) Working Group on Old-growth Forests and Reserves. His research focuses on forest disturbance dynamics, riparian ecology, forest carbon, old-growth forests, ecological silviculture, and sustainable forest management in the US Northeast and Pacific Northwest, but also travels frequently to Central and Eastern Europe where he serves on the board for Science for the Carpathians and as a Fulbright Specialist. He has ongoing research also in Chilean Patagonia and Bhutan as well. In the US, he serves on the Board of Trustees for the Vermont Land Trust and on the science advisory committee for the Forest Ecosystem Monitoring Cooperative. Dr. Keeton has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications, including 70 journal papers. His new co-edited book “Ecology and Recovery of Eastern Old-Growth Forests” is published by Island Press (Washington, DC). He holds a BSc in Natural Resources from Cornell University (1990), a Masters in Conservation Biology and Policy from Yale University (1994), and a PhD in Forest Ecology from the University of Washington (2000).
Petr KUNEŠ works at the Department of Botany at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, where he also was awarded a PhD in 2008. His doctoral research focused on the paleoecology of late-glacial and early-Holocene vegetation. Between 2009 and 2011, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Geoscience, Aarhus University, Denmark, studying past interglacial dynamics. His primary research interests lie in Quaternary paleoecology, which he translates mainly as a connection between ecology, geology, and archaeology on various timescales. He is interested in studying past ecosystem dynamics and recognizing baseline conditions before human impact. He also focuses on the determinants of ecosystem change, such as climate or disturbances (fire and human impact), and on linking these processes with modern times.
Registration and abstract submission
For registration
please contact us by email
at marcel.mindrescu@gmail.com.
Registration dates:
Early-bird registration – 1 June 2021
Late registration – 30 September 2021
Abstract instructions:
Abstracts will be submitted upon registration (deadlines: 1 June 2021 for early-bird registration or 10 September 2021 for late registration).
Acceptance notifications will be sent to participants after submission by email.
Abstracts will range from 1 to 4 pages (extended abstracts) for both oral and poster submissions.
Authors are advised to use the formatting settings provided in the attached abstract template.
All accepted abstracts will be published in a book of abstracts as a special issue of GeoReview Journal and will also be available online.
Registration fee
The ONSITE WORKSHOP registration fee for CBPW2021 includes:
- all registration costs (workshop materials),
- coffee breaks, accommodation and meals for the duration of the event.
Participants will need to cover transportation costs.
Amount:
- EUR 150 (RON 750) for early bird registration (by 1 June 2021)
- EUR 170 (RON 850) for late registration (by 1 September 2021)
The ONLINE WORKSHOP registration fee for CBPW2021 is EUR 30 (RON 150)
Early-career researchers (ECR) can apply for financial support for participation at CBPW2021.
The registration fee must be paid using one of the options provided below:
- Paypal (EUR)
- IBAN: RO07BTRL03404201198285XX (EUR).
Bank name: BANCA TRANSILVANIA.
Bank BIC/SWIFT Code: BTRLRO22
Account holder: Marcel MINDRESCU - IBAN: IBAN RO68 PIRB 3500 7469 9300 1000 (RON and EUR).
Bank name: First Bank.
Bank BIC/SWIFT Code: PIRBROBU.
Account holder: ASOCIATIA DE GEOGRAFIE APLICATA GEOCONCEPT.
Important
Early-career researcher (ECR) grants.
We offer partial or full financial support for early-career researchers (under 35) who apply to participate in CBPW2021. The number of grants will range between 10 and 20, depending on the number of applicants and the quality of their submitted work.
Applicants for grants (covering registration fee and/or transportation costs) are required to specify their age and to submit the title and abstract of their presentation (see attached template), a letter of application highlighting the most relevant contributions of their research, and a letter of recommendation from an experienced researcher no later than 1 June 2021.
Official Language
The official language of the workshop is English. Translation facilities will only be provided for a planned event involving the local community.
Publication
Based on our experience from previous workshops, we expect that, provided a sufficient number of high-quality contributions are submitted for CBPW2021, we will publish a dedicated volume in a Web of Science journal: Paleoclimate in the Carpathian-Balkan Region and Forest in the Carpathians. We have already made a preliminary agreement in this regard.
Special requests
Participants who have specific dietary restrictions or requirements are kindly asked to communicate this upon registration.
We would like to inform you that the accommodation will be made in twin rooms. Participants who prefer to occupy a single room will pay a supplementary accommodation fee. However, we do not encourage this due to the limited number of rooms available at the venue.
If supplementary rooms are necessary we will make arrangements with hotels located in the vicinity.
How to get there
Cârlibaba, Suceava County, Romania
Further information
Further information concerning the workshop, the detailed scientific program, field trip costs and accommodation will be included in the Second Circular, available on 1 September 2021 via email and on the PAGES website: http://pastglobalchanges.org/calendar/upcoming/127-pages/1996.
Preliminary program
| 5 October 2021 | Arrival and check-in |
| 6-8 October 2021 | Presentations and field activity |
| 9 October 2021 | Check-out and departure |
Workshop Organizing Committee
Chairman
Marcel MINDRESCU,
Department of Geography, University of Suceava, Romania, and Applied Geography Association Geoconcept,
+40 742 051 475
marcel.mindrescu@gmail.com
GENERAL SECRETARY
Applied Geography Association Geoconcept, Romania
Past Global Changes (PAGES) Office
Scientific Committee
Marie-France LOUTRE, Past Global Changes (PAGES), Bern, Switzerland, marie-france.loutre@pages.unibe.ch
Angelica FEURDEAN, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum & LOEWE Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Frankfurt am Main, Germany and ”Emil Racoviţă” Institute of Speleology, Romanian Academy of Science, Cluj Napoca, Romania, angelica.feurdean@gmail.com
Enikő K. MAGYARI, HAS-NHMUS Research Group for Paleontology, Budapest, Hungary, emagyari@caesar.elte.hu
Simon HUTCHINSON, University of Salford, School of Environment & Life Sciences, United Kingdom, S.M.Hutchinson@salford.ac.uk
Ian S. EVANS, University of Durham, Department of Geography, United Kingdom and University of Suceava, Department of Geography, Romania, i.s.evans@durham.ac.uk
Sorina FĂRCAȘ, Institute of Biological Research in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, soryna001@yahoo.com
Zoltan KERN, Institute for Geochemical Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary, zoltan.kern@gmail.com
William KEETON, Forest Ecology and Forestry at the University of Vermont’s (UVM) Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, USA
Petr KUNEŠ, Department of Botany, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic
Daniel VERES, “Emil Racoviţă” Institute of Speleology-Romanian Academy/Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj, Romania, dsveres@gmail.com
Gabriela FLORESCU, Department of Geography, “Ștefan cel Mare” University of Suceava, Romania, gabriella.florescu@yahoo.com
Aritina HALIUC, Department of Geography, “Ștefan cel Mare” University of Suceava, Romania, aritinahaliuc@gmail.com
Viorica NAGAVCIUC, Department of Geography and Forest Department, “Ștefan cel Mare” University of Suceava, Romania,
Supported by:
