ИСТИНА

Analysis of geoecological problems and evaluation of geoecological situations at different territorial levels (local, regional, national, macroregional, etc.) is necessary for sustainable nature management and development of territories. The algorithm of geoecological assessment is based on the concept of present-day landscapes as geosystems with interacting natural, economic and social subsystems (Romanova 2010). The procedure of geoecological assessment therefore includes the following stages: identification of natural regions and assessment of their resource potential; analysis of the history of human settlement and economic development of territories; analysis of settlement systems and economic activities, identification of natural-economic regions; identification of geoecological problems, selection of characteristic environmental indicators for each of them; identification of geoecological regions basing on the set and intensity of geoecological problems; integral assessment of geoecological situation within geoecological regions. Each stage of the assessment requires application of numerous qualitative and quantitative indicators from available global and regional databases (Geostat Population Grid, Global Land Cover, Corine 2010, European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register, etc.), national and regional maps and atlases. The main problem to solve is the conversion of data characterizing administrative and economic spatial units into parameters valid for particular natural geosystems. Application of the proposed algorithm and the resulting series of maps are presented for several European countries.