The Europe-LAND project is enhancing sustainable land use decision-making in Europe, addressing the complexities of food production, biodiversity, and climate change

As Europe faces growing pressure to produce food, restore biodiversity, mitigate climate change, and expand renewable energy, land-use (LU) decisions have become increasingly complex. Agriculture, forestry, urban development, and nature conservation compete for limited space, while climate change and biodiversity decline are reshaping landscapes. Addressing these interconnected challenges requires a deeper understanding of the drivers behind LU decisions and innovative, evidence-based solutions that balance environmental, societal, and economic needs.

These solutions, however, are not made in a vacuum. Rather, they are shaped by complex policy, environmental, economic, and social factors that create difficult deliberations. The Horizon project Europe-LAND is helping to meet this challenge by bringing together expertise from across the natural and social sciences to improve land-use decision-making. The science-based consortium unites 13 partner universities from 12 EU Member States to produce novel harmonised datasets, innovative frameworks, and pioneering digital tools to support sustainable strategies for more sustainable land uses.

Running from 2023-2027, Europe-LAND seeks to facilitate targeted interventions in European land use by broadening the scientific knowledge base and stakeholders’ understanding of the drivers behind LU decisions.

Why the work in Europe-LAND matters

Europe-LAND combines novel European datasets with eight regional case studies spanning diverse environmental and governance contexts across Eastern and Western Europe. A defining feature of the project is its strong commitment to stakeholder engagement. Sustainable LU decisions cannot be developed by science alone; they require the knowledge, experience, and perspectives of those who shape and are affected by Europe’s landscapes. For this reason, the project actively seeks to provide its insights to researchers and academics, planners, policymakers, and land users. Beyond the consortium, Europe-LAND liaises with EU institutions such as the Joint Research Centre, the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change, and other Horizon projects to maximise impact and knowledge exchange.

Europe-LAND advances scientific understanding, informs policy, and supports sustainable LU strategies through scientifically robust methods tested and grounded in diverse real-world contexts across Europe.

The project’s ambition extends beyond scientific research. Europe-LAND is committed to maximising practical impact.

Cornerstone one: Building Europe’s first harmonised agricultural land-use database

A cornerstone deliverable, the integrated geodatabase of Harmonised Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) data, offers insights into how land-use has changed across the EU over time, by providing unprecedented, highly disaggregated, field- and farm-level LU data across EU countries spanning temporal depths of up to 17-20 years. By this, Europe-LAND overcomes these barriers by harmonising datasets and developing streamlined solutions to improve the interoperability and accessible usability of these datasets.

The resulting harmonised database enables new analyses of land-use patterns, monitoring of changes, and support for both current and future research on climate adaptation, biodiversity, and agricultural policy. By making these datasets openly available, Europe-LAND is creating new opportunities for research, land planning, and evidence-based policy development.

The database also establishes a foundation for evidence-based policymaking. To ensure its long-term impact, Europe-LAND also launched the IACS Data Community of Practice in February 2024, bringing together more than 60 experts from 14 countries to exchange knowledge, promote best practices, and further improve access to agricultural land-use data across Europe.

Fig. 1: Towards a Harmonised IACS. Spatial distribution of the 16 farm typologies derived from harmonised GSA data across 18 EU Member States. Farm typologies are derived from farms’ crop portfolios (Petersen, K. A.& Jepsen, M. R., 2026)
Cornerstone two: From data to decisions: The Europe-LAND Toolbox

Complementing the Harmonised IACS Database is the Europe-LAND Toolbox, an open-access, GIS-based digital platform that transforms complex land-use data into accessible and actionable decision support. It empowers users to make more evidence-based and informed land-use decisions by integrating project results with existing European geospatial datasets, including Copernicus, CORINE, the European Environment Agency, and Eurostat, into a single entry point for exploring past, present, and future land-use dynamics. Users can visualise land-use patterns, compare alternative scenarios, assess the implications of different planning decisions, and upload their own datasets for customised analyses.

While regulatory policy instruments are often effective in steering land-use change, they can face challenges in social acceptance and local adaptability. Conversely, voluntary and partnership-based approaches tend to enjoy greater legitimacy and flexibility but rely heavily on political commitment and stakeholder coordination. Developed through an iterative, participatory process, the Toolbox is designed to meet stakeholder needs and enable users to explore trade-offs under different scenarios and therefore bridge the gap between research and practice. Interactive tutorials are available via the Europe-LAND YouTube channel, while the platform itself can be accessed through the Europe-LAND Toolbox.

Fig. 1: Towards a Harmonised IACS. Spatial distribution of the 16 farm typologies derived from harmonised GSA data across 18 EU Member States. Farm typologies are derived from farms’ crop portfolios (Petersen, K. A.& Jepsen, M. R., 2026)
Shaping the future of land-use governance in Europe

Europe-LAND is laying the foundations for more informed and collaborative land-use decision-making across Europe. By combining harmonised agricultural data, integrated modelling, stakeholder engagement, and accessible digital tools, the project equips researchers, planners, policymakers, and land users with the knowledge needed to address the interconnected challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, and sustainable land management.

The harmonised IACS database and the Europe-LAND Toolbox create a lasting foundation for evidence-based land-use governance. By improving access to high-quality data and translating scientific research into practical decision-support tools, Europe-LAND enables stakeholders to develop more resilient, informed, and sustainable land-use strategies across Europe.

Beyond its technical innovations, the project’s lasting impact lies in its collaborative approach. Through close cooperation with regional stakeholders, the IACS Community of Practice, and partnerships with other European initiatives, Europe-LAND is fostering a growing network dedicated to knowledge exchange and the co-creation of solutions that extends well beyond the project itself – one that supports transparent, data-driven, and participatory land-use decisions for a more climate-resilient and biodiversity-friendly Europe.

Disclaimer

Funded by the European Union (101081307). Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or EC-CINEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

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