LANDSCAPE LAB

Function: agricultural and landscape research base

Location: Dabas (Hungary)

Year: 2014

Type: university diploma project

Consultant: Mihály Balázs DLA

Hauszmann Award 2014 – diploma prize

Central-Hungary, which lies between the two main rivers (Danube and Tisza) of the country, was born by the ancient alluvium of the Danube river and different kind of sandy soils are found in the region. The territory between Budapest and Szeged is called “Homokhátság” (homok=sand, hát=back), because there are small sand dunes on the landscape). This region was full with water in the early 1940’s, but people wanted to creat more pastures, agricultural lands and urbanized areas, therefore they started to drain the swamps and the water-covered territories. Some decades later it had a serious consequence, because the lack of water caused droughts. Nowadays only some swamp forests reminds us for the region once rich in water.

The climate has changed and agriculture of today has to give answers for the question, how can people cultivate the lands and in the same time protect the environment with these changed climate conditions. Farmers have a great influence to the landscape (as we can see in the past decades), so they need help to recognize their responsibility.

Landscape Lab is an institute, where researchers can explore the region’s climate and biodivesity and they try to give possible solutions to stop the change of the local mikroclimate. The plot of the project (in Dabas) is located next to a swamp forest, which works like a natural ’cooling system’ in summertimes and the North-East wind can cool the small plot of agricultural lands along it. Greenhouses, research laboratory, visitor’s centre and granaries are all open for the public (for local farmers and every curious people), so landscape lab can combine production, research and education, too.