The sessions > Climate, Environment and Societies: lessons from the past

The Mediterranean region faces rapid changes associated with human activities from increasing temperature and acidification to other anthropogenic stressors such as contamination and eutrophication. Our ability to achieve more sustainable human-environment relationships depends on our capacity to bridge disciplinary expertise and generate inter-disciplinary knowledge (natural and social sciences) to reduce human-driven pressures.

Past societies, from non-centralized rural societies, small city-states and villages, to large empires have experienced and sometimes challenged the complex dynamics of rapid climate changes and socio-environmental transformations. In this session we explore through several research projects conducted within the MISTRALS program key lessons learnt from past experiences of human societies and civilizations living around the Mediterranean. We also look at how the so-called “traditional” rural societies today adapted to recent past and present climate risks.