The centenary of the Great War has amplified the voices that advocate the preservation of remaining war traces in the Belgian landscape. Modern technologies, such as Lidar, have recently highlighted that much war heritage is still preserved either at or below the surface, including mine craters, shell holes and trenches. However, these traces are largely hidden from the human eye. Less is known about the impact of the Great War on the overall landscape properties and the changing experience of the rural landscape. In this study, changes in land use and landscape structure since the mid-19 th century were reconstructed for four study sites in Flanders that experienced the Great War differently. Historical maps and aerial photography were combined to produce time series of landscape properties, time depth maps and landscape fragmentation and diversity metrics. The interpretation of changes in land use and landscape patterns reveals that the Great War and postwar land recovery did only mark a break for some landscape elements. For two study sites along the Belgian front that were intensively degraded by the war activities, no significant difference in landscape evolution could be identified compared to two study sites that hardly suffered during the Great War. For the most part, long-term socioeconomic developments eroded the significance of the war as a short-term cataclysmic event.
Contemporary society is plagued by a number of issues and inconsistencies on both an environmental and a socio-economic level. Reliance on bank loans forces debtors to seek means to repay their debts, thus facilitating the current boundless economic growth in which
long-term, environmental considerations typically come second. On the individual level, since virtually nothing is free, everyone has to ensure his or her own livelihood, mostly in the form of wage labour. For fear of poverty, the unemployed must adjust to the needs of the job market and risk
not being able to fully explore their potential. Other socio-economic groups also face stigmatisation, and inequality is rampant as a result of the pervasive market-based pricing mechanisms. In view of these issues, it seems unjustified to accept these terms and conditions in the future, especially
since the West has to cater to its ageing population and the ensuing pressure this will exert on welfare systems. Therefore, as a transdisciplinary team assisted by various experts and armed with insights from a wide <target target-type="page-num" id="p-2"/>variety of sources, we propose
an alternative model of society based on the values of fairness, inclusion and transparency, with the goal of developing a representative systems map for a future, resilient and equitable society. The exact workings of this society are captured by several
building blocks, which together endeavour to cover the full range of functions and responsibilities associated with society today, and jointly promote democratisation while guaranteeing equal political representation for all members of society.
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