ANTHROPOCENE TRANSFORMATIONS: RECONSTRUCTION OF ADAPTIVE INFRASTRUCTURES FOR RESILIENCE TO NATURAL DISASTERS

• Grant number: 25/22147-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: April 01, 2026
• End date: October 01, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences - Physical Geography
• Principal Investigator: João Osvaldo Rodrigues Nunes
• Grantee: João Osvaldo Rodrigues Nunes
• Host Investigator: Andrea Yuri Flores Urushima
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia (FCT). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Presidente Prudente. Presidente Prudente , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Fukui Prefectural University, Japan

Abstract

The socio-environmental transformations generated by human beings along the historical time scale have caused profound changes in the various terrestrial ecosystems, whether in urban or rural environments. These changes have caused impacts on geographic spaces that are often irreversible, generating new forms of technogenic reliefs, consisting of manufactured materials (technofossils) and remobilized materials. In this aspect, the investigation of the 'human geological agency' encompasses its interference in the natural systems and dynamics linked to the relief. This debate underpins the discussion about the Anthropocene, in which it is considered that it differs from the Holocene in process, genetics and stratigraphy, and the technogenic landforms, in addition to the material aspects, are also expressions of different historical forms and cultures of understanding human actions on the dynamics of nature, adapting according to their characteristics. The central focus of this Research Fellowship Abroad, which is intended to be carried out at Fukui Prefectural University, is to understand how the city of Fukui, located in the coastal area of Fukui Prefecture-Japan, on the island of Honshu, after two remarkable episodes in its contemporary history: the aerial bombing in July 1945, during World War II, and later, the earthquake suffered on June 28, 1948, was rebuilt and modernized with adaptive infrastructures for resilience to natural disasters, with the concept of the Anthropocene as its central perspective. In both events, the urban site of Fukui City was rebuilt and transformed in a short time. As goals of this proposal for a Research Scholarship Abroad, we intend to: 1) carry out an analysis of the transformations of the georelief and the water systems (fluvial and lacustrine), as human achievements, which led to the current configuration of the urban site of the city of Fukui; 2) to deepen the theoretical and epistemological debate on the concept of the Anthropocene and its relationship with cultural landscapes.Keywords: Anthropocene. Urban Site. Geographic Space. Reconfiguration. (AU)