The international research project Europe-LAND with the participation of SUA is bringing the first results

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An interdisciplinary consortium of 13 partners from 12 EU Member States aims to improve understanding of the driving factors behind land use decisions in 2023-2027. It also tries to offer solutions on how these decisions can be directed towards socially oriented benefits. Land use and greenhouse gas emissions related to the management of land resources are considered to be one of the key causes of climate change. "Agriculture in particular, but also forestry, contribute to approximately a quarter of total global greenhouse gas emissions. As the area of agricultural land increases, habitats are destroyed and biodiversity is lost. In this context, the EU-funded Europe-LAND research project focuses on the development of more sustainable land use strategies in the context of climate change and challenges in the area of biodiversity, while geographically focusing on the EU," said the project coordinator for SUA Professor Danka Moravčíková.

By the end of 2024, selected outputs of research work with added value for research and policy making will be publicly accessible. A consortium of researchers is collecting the latest data on land use across Europe to create the basis for a consistent analysis of agricultural land use that has so far been lacking. "The result will be a unique harmonized IACS database for European countries, which will serve to reveal behavior in the field of land use," explained D. Moravčíková. A Europe-wide methodological Europe-LAND framework for participatory stakeholder engagement as a means of examining behavioral decision-making in land use is also being prepared. This methodology will make it possible to describe how land resources are used in current and future climate conditions, which and whose interests are being followed.

Other results that will be available after 2024 include, for example, the analysis of carbon-rich EU wetlands with the aim of identifying the so-called greenhouse gas hotspots across the EU. A summer school and a publicly accessible online course will support the dissemination of project results and public interaction with the project consortium.

The Europe-LAND project is funded by the Horizon Europe programme, which is the EU's key program for funding research and innovation. It addresses climate change, helps meet the UN's Sustainable Development Goals and supports the EU's competitiveness and growth. Under the leadership of the renowned research and transfer center FTZ-NK at the University of Applied Sciences in Hamburg, Germany, 13 partners from 12 European countries collaborate on this project (Germany, Greece, Denmark, Portugal, Estonia, Italy, Romania, Poland, Latvia, Slovakia, Austria and the Czech Republic) in the years 2023 to 2027 with a budget of 6.8 million. euro Project website: www.europe-land.eu

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