Landscape use and climate change presented to the public

JOLANDA BOS
the ReCollective, The Netherlands

On the North Shore of lake Qarun in the Fayum region of Egypt, the UCLA/RUG Fayum Project is researching landscape change and agricultural development through time. A large component of this research encompasses land use in various historic periods in relation to climate change. The sites the Project researches are all located in the North West of Egypt, on the edge of the Fayum depression. The region is also famous for its change from a maritime environment in other geological time periods to the present day Western desert. The region also includes the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Wadi el Hitan or 'Valley of the Wales'. Research on lake level rise and fall around lake Qarun has been ongoing in the past decades. Especially human reaction to climate change is a present research focus.

Close to the Greco-Roman site of Karanis in the same area, an abandoned excavation house is currently being restored by the Project to be used as a site museum or visitor center. Here, the Project aims to present a new museum topic for Egypt, encompassing ancient landscape and its use in relation to climate change. The focus will lie both on the past and on the present. Climate change in prehistoric times is represented by the archaeological finds. The contemporary effects of climate change are shown by the detrimental effects on the ancient sites, and the conservation measures of the current site management. In the visitor center the results of archaeological research are presented on site level and landscape level, while the building itself shows a combination of ancient and modern building techniques and sustainability through eco-architecture.