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Project title

C�pla-Tr�: Combining digital twin technology with landscape biography for environmental analysis of a coastal region

Primary Funding Agency

Environmental Protection Agency

Co-Funding Organisation(s)

n/a

Lead Organisation

South East Technological University (SETU)

Lead Applicant

Robin Stubbs

Project Abstract

The research project’s title is Cúpla-Trá, which translates from Irish to “Twin Beach or Strand” and is derived from Tramore’s Irish translation of Trá Mhór (Big Strand). The project will combine the technology of the digital twin platform with a landscape biography methodological framework to enable an assessment of the natural environment of the Back Strand in Tramore, to establish, better understand and communicate the competing influences and priorities for the region. This will comprise of incorporating and integrating existing relevant environmental datasets that have been compiled along with socio-economic data from inter alia, national and local governing bodies, community grassroots organisations and publicly-funded organisations. In doing so, this will allow for a predictive analysis of differing levels of influence and impact from these various inter-dependent factors, the balance of human and ecological, which will be able to feed into future policy to ensure responsible and appreciated usage to protect and restore the local environment. The project is timely as the local population has increased and is forecasted to continue to grow being actively marketed by Waterford City & County Council as an attractive place to live and visit. This growth will inevitably have an impact on the footfall to the beach and Back Strand, being already a valued leisure destination, popular for walking and fishing. This project will allow for a projected forecast of the impact of this increase in use will have on the Back Strand’s delicate and dynamic ecosystem, to enable its protection. The project will adapt novel concepts and approaches to existing technology and methodology to create a model that could be replicated in other potentially at-risk regions to work towards the protection and restoration of the natural environment. The objectives of the project are to develop and implement a digital twin platform of the region which will map the current natural environment of the area, including human and non-human behavioural patterns and use, using existing datasets. It will build predictive forecasted scenarios for the region using the digital twin technology and related third-party datasets, to allow for effective monitoring and future planning of the natural and human activity in the region, to enable the protection and restoration of the region’s fragile ecosystem, whilst balancing the often-conflicting users and actors within, and impact upon, the natural environment. A novel methodological framework will be developed for an environmental landscape biography approach to the region, which will be specific to the use and demands placed on this region and its environmental focus. This methodology is based on the identification of the human and non-human actors, both past and present, and identifying the transformations through which the landscape has passed. The project’s data and outputs will be freely accessible to all stakeholders. This will be partly achieved by building an immersive and interactive dashboard or “mission room” using the digital twin and its related datasets to be situated and made available in the local area.

Grant Approved

�590,558.00

Research Hub

Natural Environment

Research Theme

Harnessing Data and Digitalisation for the Environment

Start Date

01/03/2024

Initial Projected Completion Date

28/02/2027