European Land Use Talks

Nicos Theodosiou joined us to discuss the power of the Europe-LAND Toolbox, a web-based GIS platform that serves as the key deliverable for Europe-LAND. Designed to support evidence-based decision-making, the Toolbox links spatial data to climate and biodiversity considerations. Whether you’re a researcher, planner, policymaker, or land user, this platform will empower you to better understand how land-use decisions, from the past and present, can shape future landscapes.

Nicos shares the unique features of the Toolbox, built with the needs of real-world users in mind and continues to evolve through ongoing feedback from across Europe and still building!

We talk with Joanna Ejdys to learn more about regulatory instruments impacting land-use in the EU. We unpack how different policy instruments work together to address some of today’s biggest challenges: climate change and biodiversity loss. Ejdys explains why no single policy is enough, and how combining regulation, financial incentives, and stakeholder engagement is key to creating sustainable land-use systems.

The episode also explores real-world examples from across EU member states, highlighting what works, what doesn’t, and why public participation and cross-sector collaboration are often overlooked but crucial pieces of the puzzle.

We sit down with Clemens Jänicke to explore the transformative impact of IACS agricultural land use data on European sustainability and policy. We discuss how this unique dataset, collected annually from millions of EU farmers, offers unprecedented insights into land management, biodiversity, and climate action. Clemens shares his journey from geography student to leading expert, revealing the challenges and breakthroughs in harnessing field-level data for scientific research. We also spotlight the emerging IACS Community of Practice, connecting researchers and policymakers to drive innovation.

In this first episode, we sit down with the coordinator and head of Europe-LAND, Prof. Dr. Walter Leal. Together, we explore the background and inspiration behind the EU-funded project Europe-LAND. What motivated the idea of the project? What role do such projects play in shaping political decisions in Europe? And what kind of impact can they have on politics and other areas?