Research project Joined-up land use strategies tackling climate change and biodiversity loss
General introduction
What land use and management changes are occurring in local landscapes in Europe, and especially what drivers are behind these changes? The MOSAIC project explores this through six Policy Labs in Belgium, Denmark, Portugal, Hungary, Switzerland and the European Union, with the aim of (better) relating quantitative and qualitative trends in space use to European sustainability goals, related to renewable energy, climate adaptation and biodiversity. Researchers, policy makers and stakeholders work together in the labs based on the realization that the challenges of the local landscape, both today and in the future, are great, but that clear information for the best possible land use policies and practices is often lacking.
Research approach
Through space use modeling, driver research and digital support tools, policy pathways are created in the Policy Lab environment. The land use modeling in MOSAIC combines social, economic and environmental factors to gain a more thorough understanding of the development of space use in different regions. Using the modeling tool, we test the extent to which different policy scenarios would achieve our stated policy goals for renewable energy, climate adaptation and biodiversity, and in a long-term perspective. Both quantitative (surveys, choice experiments, etc.) and qualitative research on the drivers of land use change, including the decisions of private land users, are building blocks in the modeling work.
Relevance/Valorization
Through the six MOSAIC Policy Labs (Belgium, Denmark, Portugal, Hungary, Switzerland and the European Union) researchers, policy makers and stakeholders jointly explore the local landscape challenges, today and in the future. This to set-out new pathways for policy, building on the work of land use modelling, research on drivers and digital support tools. ILVO is involved in both the Belgian and European policy lab. The Belgian policy lab feeds into the policy work on landscape parks, while the European policy lab builds knowledge on private land conservation.
