„Aquascopie“ is a made-up word, designed in the content of my activities – derived from the Latin word ''aqua'' [water] and the Greec word „skopeín“ [surveying]. „Aquascopie“ describes the scientific approach to explain the interrelations of ecosystem functions via the water, or the land’s water balance respectively. Whereas in the classical context the role of land’s water balance is mostly reduced to the consideration of natural groundwater replenishment, and of surface water’s quality and quantity, water in the „aquascopie“-approach plays a much more comprehensive role, including climate regulation and regulation of soil fertility.
This approach results primarily from a scientific explanation model about the sustainability and effectiveness of natural systems, developed by a research team directed by Prof. Wilhelm Ripl from the former Institute for Limnology at the Technical University of Berlin.
„Aquascopie“ facilitates the development of actions towards the regeneration and the sustainment of the so-called „Ecosystem Services“. The „Ecosystem Services“ are „the fundamental live-support services provided by natural ecosystems, without which human civilization would cease to thrive“ (Australian Government 2008). „Ecosystem Services“ include
- climate stabilisation,
- the production of clear, potable water,
- the generation of soil fertility as basis for the production of food, feed and bio-resources,
- the development of spaces for human regeneration.
Sustaining the „Ecosystem Services“ is the basis for combating hunger and poverty, and for the development of a stable societal and economic system (UN 2006).
