Recent developments have raised questions about what the landscapes and ecosystems of Yorkshire may have looked like in past millennia, how they functioned, and how the absence of now-missing animals and processes might affect current ecologies.

This in turn raises questions about what future landscapes and ecosystems in Yorkshire could, and should, look like.

This network will spark conversations between disciplines in social and natural science and humanities, and across time periods from past to present to future.

It will instigate new lines of enquiry that emerge precisely from thinking across these boundaries, and will link this to policy issues. It will place the White Rose universities as a centre of excellence for this type of research, and this network as the go-to place for insight into policy.