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Researcher

Tim Soens

  • Research Expertise:Tim Soens is an expert in Landscape and Environmental history, with specific emphasis on - climate history (Little Ice Age to Anthropocene) - coastal and riverine landscapes - wetland management - urban waters - traditional agriculture - natural disasters, risks and their management - urban food provisioning and the role of urban agriculture and urban commons in urban food supplies - evolution of urban and rural landscapes (using historical GIS) - long-term evolutions of inequalities
  • Keywords:RIVER DIKES, AGRICULTURAL HISTORY, CLIMATE CHANGE, LANDSCAPE HISTORY, URBAN AGRICULTURE, COASTAL WETLANDS, History
  • Disciplines:Historical theory and methodology, History, Other history and archaeology, Product development, Study of regions, Other humanities and the arts
  • Research techniques:Tim Soens is coordinating the GIStorical Antwerp centre, which is a leading centre of expertise in the field of historical GIS and digital landscape reconstruction: https://www.uantwerpen.be/en/projects/gistorical-antwerp/ His work is based on intensive interdisciplinary collaboration, often with archeologists, soil scientists and architects (see https://www.uantwerpen.be/nl/projecten/vijf-eeuwen-doel/) With the Belgian State Archives, the GIStorical team launched the DIGHIMAPS-project in 2019, which explores the unique collections of pre-1800 local maps in the Belgian State Archives as spatial key to the past. GISTorical Antwerp is also the cornerstone of our particiapation in the European Time Machine project, which turns the unique cultural heritage of Europe into 'big data of the past' and brings inspiration for Europe's development in the 21st century. Apart from GIStorical Antwerp and more traditional historical methods and sources, experimental methodologies are used to investigate the role of Urban Agriculture and urban food supplies in the past, see the Hofstad-project: onderzoeken: https://www.uantwerpen.be/nl/projecten/hofstad/
  • Users of research expertise:Building with the Past! Landscape and Environmental history is an important asset for: - landscape heritage and its preservation - archeological surveys (often in the context of new building activities or infrastructural developments) - historical soil pollution - biodiversity and the conservation and/or restoration of landscape/natural qualities. - coastal and riverine management - recreational valorization of landscapes - strenghtening of social cohesion and societal integration - sustainable food supplies in town and countryside