Tartu WAVE Living Lab Team 2 2022
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| Area | Tartu Emajõgi Central Part | |
| Place | Tartu | |
| Country | Estonia | |
| Topics | The river and its Bridges uniting the landscape | |
| Author(s) | Kartik Padmanabhan, Pouria Malih, Kristina Kurash, Jose | |
| ||
Rationale
- Emajogi and all the rivers around the world are a mosaic of biotopes with different gradients needed for life to happen between Viljandi and Peipsi Lakes, with a diverse and dynamic presence of biological communities; including human beings. Rivers are more than just a line of water. Rivers also offer different ecosystemic services due to their capacity to transmit, control, and interact with the energy and matter, between the water and the soil (Doring, 2008).
- In this characterization, we use secondary information available online to describe the ecological connectivity and biodiversity, and the human relationship whitin the waterscape in the central part of the Emajõgi River valley, in the urban area of Tartu, Estonia - (From the TÜ sports hall / Kroonuaia bridge towards Sõpruse bridge / A leCoq sports hall).
- As a result, we expect to create a framework for sustainability (focusing in UN SDGs #14, 11, and 6) and connectivity of cultural practices connected with the river’s identity.
Location and scope
Emajõgi River valley, in the urban area of Tartu, Estonia - (From the TÜ sports hall / Kroonuaia bridge towards Sõpruse bridge / A leCoq sports hall). You can edit this map with the map editor
Water as a natural system
Geomorphology, typologies and dynamics of water areas
- The river is the space needed for its geomorphological dynamics to develop part of man’s cultural and sentimental heritage (Doring, 2008). In Tartu, the river divides the city, but at the same time joins it. Emajogi represents the dorsal of the city coming from the northwest to the southeast. Emajõgi River belongs to the class of medium-sized rivers, according international standards. It is the second largest river in Estonia by discharge (70 m^3/s) with a length of 100 km. River flows from lake Võrtsjärv into Lake Peipsi and is the only fully navigable river. River’s basin size is 9,740 km2 with little elevation changes of 30 meters. Emajõgi has 6 tributaries: Pedja, Laeva, Amme, Elva, Porijõgi and Ahja. River basin is divided in 3 distinct sections: 1. The upper course from Võrtsjärv to Kärevere bridge. It is large, flat and marshy areas, where Emajõgi lacks a clearly defined floodplains and floods can cover several kilometers. 2. The central course from Kärevere to Kavastu, where it goes through Tartu. In this section Emajõgi has a defined valley varying from 400m up to 1.4km. In Tartu it is 800m. 3. The lower course, the river flows through a swampy lowland Emajõe Suursoo. The fluvial system in Tartu can be considered as the transport zone of water and sediment conveyance; and sediment source, characterized by near-equilibrium conditions between the inflow and outflow of water and sediments. (Julien, P. 2002). During summer, the river sometimes causes floods in the city. The water level can fluctuate by 1.2-2.6 metres in a year [1]. Zoom in for the flood areas +3,00m. (Maaamet.ee) The flooding zone and its water connection will depend on the seasonal and inter-annual variability of the water level, and that is relevant in a bigger scale to understand it. The next image is useful to understand how can be connected the wetlands and the main aquatic ecosystems by their floodplains. Water connectivity - Emajogi Floodplain and Wetlands (Sipelgas et al. 2020) The fluvial system in Tartu can be considered as the transport zone of water and sediment conveyance; and sediment source, characterized by near-equilibrium conditions between the inflow and outflow of water and sediments. (Julien, P. 2002).
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The fluvial system in Tartu can be considered as the transport zone of water and sediment conveyance; and sediment source, characterized by near-equilibrium conditions between the inflow and outflow of water and sediments. (Julien, P. 2002). During summer, the river sometimes causes floods in the city. The water level can fluctuate by 1.2-2.6 metres in a year [1].
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Zoom in for the flood areas +3,00m. (Maaamet.ee)
Water as a living space
- There are many species found along the Emajõgi River both in the city center and nearest natural areas. They have different behaviors, diets and life cycles, but they often are dependent on water bodies and plant diversity. In the Emajogy river we can see that the biggest animal variety is in the habitats with high vegetation next to the water bodies - in Anne cannal, Botanical garden and Suppillina lake. Many animals need long, dense vegetation for hiding, transit, and hunting, they live in habitats suitable for that.
- Many birds are nesting near the water bodies during mating seasons and use a big variety of plants for nests. Usually they use soft plants, branches, flowers, etc. For example Remiz pendulinus, that was recorded in the northern part of Emajogi river, uses branches of willow, elm or betula, that are common in Tartu.
- Tall trees with dense foliage serve as hiding/nesting places for birds, like Pica pica, Corvus frugilegus, Dendrocopos medius and mammals, for example Sciurus vulgaris that lives in tree hollows.
- Life cycle of amphibians and reptiles are closely connected to the fresh water bodies. Animals like bufo bufo, rana temporaria lay egg in the water, which later hatch into tadpoles. After several months of growth and development, these sprout limbs and undergo metamorphosis into tiny toads/frogs. The juveniles emerge from the water and remain largely terrestrial for the rest of their lives.
- Several species of mammals have been recorded in Tartu near Emajogy river. One of them is castor fiber or eurasion beaver. They build dens in the rivers and ponds, their diet mainly consists of soft deciduous trees like willow and birch. Lutra lutra is an endangered species in Estonia, but there are several records of them in Tartu. They are territorial carnivorous animals that live near the coastline. They need large individual territory and can compete with each other if there are shortages of food.
- Insects play an important role in the biological chain - they provide food for birds, small mammals and pollinate the plants. But some need specific plants, for example, Aglais urticae butterflies and caterpillars feed on Urtica dioica and Urtica urens.
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Blue and Green Infrastructure
- What are the major potential elements of a green/blue infrastructure network? Are these likely to change/disappear? Why is that?
- You find my background material on green infrastructure in our reading list
- add 1-2 graphical representations to the image gallery, you can add more if you like
- Your case green blue infrastructure1.jpg
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Water as a cultural space
Land use and water
- map the land uses along your water areas: settlements, infrastructure, agriculture, resource extraction, natural areas, energy production...
- describe in particular the historical evolution of land use pattern, please make use of historical maps
- description evolution, status quo and driving forces, is the land use likely to change? Why is that? (approx 200 signs)
- add 1-2 graphical representations to the image gallery, you can add more if you like
- Yourcase landuse1.jpg
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Cultural and spatial typologies of water areas
- The Emajogi River joins Lake Vortsjärv and Lake Peipus and is Estonia's only totally navigable river. The majority of the Emajogi River area is accessible to people with the exception of areas under natural protection. Pedestrian paths are more prominent as compared to vehicular access.
- Comparably, access points on the eastern part of the river in our catchment area are more interactive due to the well-organized access paths stretching almost into the river making you have a more natural feel of the place. Facilities like the Delta building, sitting areas strategically positioned, makes the whole area relaxing and comforting to stay. Moving along the river deep into the heart of the city, vehicular access becomes more prominent with less space for pedestrians to gain access to the river but further up along the vaike turu sadam towards the sopruse bridge, human interactions become very minimal with fisher folks and other traders along the river going about their daily activities.
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Sacred spaces and heritage
- Which places/elements hold cultural value and to whom?
- You may add a map and some images, please also explain in your caption why these elements are valuable
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Visual appearance and landscape narrative
- Which elements are essential for the landscape character?
- Has the landscape been painted or otherwise depicted, when and whom? Which elements are essential?
- Which narratives exist? Who has written about this landscape or depicted it in some way?
- You can add text and images
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Water and People
Accessibility and usability
- Where are your water areas accessible, and where not? How strong are spatial obstacles preventing access?
- Who is using the spaces and how?
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Community Mapping
What is to be mapped here?
- Social groups from within the community, for example the youth, kids, students, parents, the retired etc. Typically, these groups have specific needs, which you can also make explicit on the map. These people might not be organized in any way, but they are usually present in the context you are observing
- Local stakeholder groups: these groups are organized in one or the other way. They only exist within the community context you are observing. For example: the local community center, local churches, local interest groups, the landowners, small businesses and retailers
- External stakeholder groups are not necessarily present in the environment you are observing, but they may have strong stakes and interests. These can be local authorities, politicians, associations, care services etc.
- For each group, you may identify their needs, objectives, power and capacities
- You may also identify gaps and power conflicts
- Please try to redepict these elements in an integrated way and in relation to your water landscape. What is the relationship between these groups? Are they close or distanced from each other? Who is more powerful? Which voices are hardly heard? Do they have any shared concerns?
- Your case your community map1.jpg
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Possible Futures
- You can summarize your findings with a SWOT diagram and a DPSI(R) Model
- Link back to the Sustainable Development Goals: Which goals are at risk?
- What is your worst case scenario for this landscape?
- What is your best case scenario for this landscape?
- Present your scenarios in the form of a collage or sketch
- Add text and visuals
- Your case your spider diagram or dpsir model.jpg
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- Your case yourworstcase visual.jpg
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Collaborative Goal Setting
- Define strategic planning objectives based on the evaluation findings from your analysis
- Ideally, involve the community of your living labs into this process
- Link back to your original targets from section one and the Development Goals
- 150 words text contribution
Spatial Strategy and Transect
- translate your strategic goals into a vision
- develop a spatial translation of your vision
- exemplify your vision in the form of a transect with concrete interventions
- add map(s) and visualizations
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- Your case transect.jpg
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From Theory of Change to Implementation
- For implementing your vision: Which partnerships are needed? Which governance model is required?
- Who needs to act and how? Draw and explain a change/process model/timeline
- Which resources are needed? On which assets can you build?
- add 150 words text and visuals
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References
- give a full list of the references you have used for your case
Process Reflection
- Reflect in your intercultural and interdisciplinary team on the outcomes of your study
- Which limitations were you facing?
- What have you learnt from each other?
- What did you learn in the Living Labs?
- What would you do differently next time?
- You can also use diagrams/visuals
- 250 words text