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The Volante RoadmapTowards Sustainable Land Resource Management in Europe

The Volante Roadmap | 3

Executive summary

The landscapes of Europe have altered rapidly over the last few decades, with profound changes in the ways we use the land to support a growing, and increasingly affluent and urban population. The past 50 years have seen significant and unprecedented human impacts on our landscapes and we have now entered a critical decision space: a window of several decades within which it is still possible to avoid crossing planetary boundaries. In a Europe facing many challenges and changing aspirations, it is imperative to explore alternative visions of a more sustainable future land use, and evaluate the pathways that can lead us to these visions. Within the context of land use, this implies managing natural capital to ensure the continued provision of ecosystem services into the future. This document sets out a roadmap to a future Europe that manages its land resources better to achieve several societal and environmental goals.

The VOLANTE roadmap comprises: a) three visions of future land use in Europe derived from consultations with a wide range of European stakeholders, with the linked components of food, feed and fibre production, rural development and urbanisation; b) a set of pathways required to achieve these visions in a suite of scenarios, and c) the implications of these visions and pathways for society and decision makers, including the associated trade-offs. A general consensus is emerging around future European land use, which emphasises the role of multi-functionality, resource efficiency and the provision of services in rural areas – all of which are reflected in the VOLANTE visions.

VOLANTE Visions

Best Land in Europe Optimal use of land resourcesOptimal use of land is crucial to ensuring maximum production of food and other natural products. Land across the EU is matched to the most appropriate use.

Regional ConnectedLiving closer to the natural environmentSociety’s needs are met regionally in a coherent relationship between people and their resources. In a non-globalised economy, there is a move away from regional specialisation.

Local MultifunctionalSelf-sufficiency of local communitiesLand functions are localised in small areas based on innovative approaches to living, working and recreation. There is high diversity in goods and services, land use and society.

The VOLANTE Roadmap reflects the main results of the collaborative VOLANTE project conducted within the EU Seventh Framework programme under ENV.2010.2.1.1-2: Integrated resource management based on land and land-use management. The project was financed by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation and implemented by a consortium of 14 European partners* coordinated by Alterra Wageningen UR in the Netherlands. Information on the VOLANTE project can be found on www.volante-project.eu. All public project documents produced by the project between 2010 and 2014 are available for consultation and downloading on this website.

The content of this report does not represent the official position of the European Commission and is the sole responsibility of the authors.

This document is a collective product of the entire VOLANTE consortium, to be cited as: Pedroli, B., Rounsevell, M., Metzger, M. Paterson, J., and the VOLANTE consortium (2015). The VOLANTE Roadmap towards sustainable land resource management in Europe. VOLANTE final project document, Alterra Wageningen UR, 24 pp. ISBN 978-94-6257-407-6.

This project was funded by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement n°265104.

Additional funding was received from the Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs: KB-14-004-017.

Text editor: Clare McGregorLayout: Wageningen UR, Communication ServicesPhotography: Bas Pedroli, Georgia CosorVision images: Scriberia (UK)Printing: MediaCenter Rotterdam

© VOLANTE consortium, 2015. Printing, reproduction or quotation is authorised provided the source is acknowledged and a copy is forwarded to Bas Pedroli, Alterra Wageningen UR, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands.

*The VOLANTE Consortium consisted of: Alterra / LEI Wageningen UR; Centre for

the study of Environmental Change and Sustainability, University of Edinburgh;

Institute of Social Ecology Vienna; Institute Environmental Studies, VU University

Amsterdam; Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research; Department of

Geography & Geology, University of Copenhagen; European Forest Institute;

Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine, CNRS; University of the Aegean; University of

Bucharest; Institute for Environment and Sustainability, Joint Research Centre

Ispra; Humboldt University Berlin; National Environmental Research Institute,

Aarhus University; PROSPEX bvba, Keerbergen.

4 |Towards Sustainable Land Resource Management in Europe The Volante Roadmap | 5

The VOLANTE roadmap emphasises that there are alternative, not necessarily compatible, visions of future sustainable land use in Europe. Under current socio-economic and policy conditions, however, none of these visions can be achieved without the need for trade-offs. Local Multi-functional, in particular, seems the most challenging vision to achieve without a thorough transformation in society and decision-making processes, underpinned by individual behavioural change. Best Land in Europe would supply the greatest quantity of ecosystem services on a continental scale, but remote rural areas would struggle to support local communities unless land use and economic activities were restructured, for example by moving away from a dependence on agriculture to new rural businesses that require new infrastructure. Regional Connected would require strong regional governance and regulation and a broad acceptance of this by society. Despite major

contrasts between the three VOLANTE visions, there are important similarities which highlight the need for bold and coordinated change in European land use.

Moving towards the visions requires targeted policy intervention that takes account of the diverse regional contexts across Europe and which balances trade-offs in a transparent and well-informed way. To be effective and relevant, such policies also require cross-sectoral strategies for land use and management that depart from the traditional focus on sectoral policy. The incentive for such strategies is that European land resources must be used more efficiently, providing a wider range of benefits, including a better environment, enhanced socio-economic wellbeing, and ultimately a more equitable European society.

1. What is the VOLANTE roadmap?

This document sets out a roadmap to a future Europe that manages its land better to achieve several societal and environmental goals. In a Europe facing many challenges and changing aspirations, the roadmap explores alternative visions of future sustainable land use, and ways in which various pathways can create these futures. These visions of a future Europe are based on the views of a range of stakeholders as well as on established targets of European policy. The roadmap seeks to guide decision makers, land managers and European citizens in achieving sustainable land resource management within an equitable European society. It explores where we want to go and what we need to do to get there. The roadmap is a product of the FP7-funded VOLANTE project and is supported by further documentation available at www.volante-project.eu.

Why does Europe need a land use vision?The landscapes of Europe have changed rapidly over the last few decades, with profound changes in the ways we use the land to support a growing, and increasingly affluent and urban population. The past 50 years have seen significant and unprecedented human impacts on our landscapes and we have now entered a critical decision space: a window of several decades within which it is still possible to avoid crossing planetary boundaries. Current trends are leading to a polarisation of land functions in Europe, a greening of marginal agricultural land, and a displacement of food production to other regions in the world. A balanced land use vision is needed in order to focus on desired outcomes, and on the policy instruments that can influence the delivery of those outcomes, rather than a wait-and-see strategy of reacting to external developments.

What are the main challenges for land resource management in Europe?Land use change varies across European territory in ways that are determined by diverse socio-economic and biophysical conditions. There is clear geographic variation in the number of agricultural land abandonment hotspots and in trends in cropland expansion and forest dynamics (Figure 1). It is likely that these trends will continue into the near future. Reallocation of land use and the further concentration, specialisation and intensification of agriculture are all likely to increase as well. Agricultural land abandonment can provide opportunities for the re-establishment of natural areas through re-wilding and other ecological restoration processes. But these changes need to be carefully implemented and acceptable to local communities. Forests are expanding on land that is no longer used for agriculture. There is a clear challenge, however, in balancing demands for the intensification of forest land use with the aim of setting aside larger protected forest areas.

At the same time there is an increasing demand in some regions for urban development and the establishment of industrial zones, leading to urban sprawl and a reorientation of the urban-rural relationship. This challenges metropolitan areas to use precious land resources sustainably. In other regions, shrinking cities and the abandonment of remote areas diminish the capacity of land systems to support local communities. Current trends in biodiversity loss, pollution and soil degradation are fundamentally related to land management, which presents a considerable additional challenge to land managers and decision makers. Major challenges are also posed by external – and


2. Where are we trying to get to?

Figure 2 | Sustainable land management involves the careful balance of a wide range of demands, within a complex context of multilateral agreements and EU policy.

The Brundtland report (1987) and the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992) provided explicit EU and global acknowledgement of the need for sustainable development that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Within the context of land use, this implies managing natural capital to ensure the continued provision of ecosystem services while minimising trade-offs. A wide range of international commitments, EU policy strategies and directives are aimed at ensuring plentiful biomass production (food, timber and energy) without degrading land, polluting air, soil and water, or harming biodiversity (Figure 2). At the same time, land use has an important role to play in regulating the climate through land-based mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change by providing nature-based solutions such as cooling and flood prevention. These demands need to be balanced without limiting access to open space or threatening cultural heritage and a sense of place, and without exporting negative externalities to other parts of the world.

largely unpredictable – drivers of change such as the global market, political conditions at local to global levels, and climate change. Meanwhile, land is increasingly used for multiple functions that shift according to changing societal demands. The traditional needs of providing food, fibre and timber are changing, with land now expected to provide a wider range of ecosystem services, from energy production and carbon sequestration to amenity and cultural values.

Figure 1 | Hotspots (upper/lower decile) of changes in cropland extent (left) and forest extent (right) 1990 - 2006. (VOLANTE assessment of Hotspots of land use transitions in Europe)


3. What could this Europe look like?

This Europe would need to greatly increase its resource use efficiency and reduce its ecological footprint, both within and outside Europe, through better governance, integrated land use policies, and by adopting appropriate technology. It would need to deal with the growing demands on land to provide a wide range of services, requiring careful land use planning and management. Rural areas will provide many of these services, and will have an important role to play in supporting sustainable development in Europe. All of this requires bold and coordinated change in European land use and its management.

The VOLANTE visions provide evidence suggesting that the best way of achieving these aspirations is through multi functional landscapes that

support as many land functions as possible (i.e. the capacity of the land to deliver goods and services). There are, however, alternative visions of what ‘multi functional’ means in practice that differ in the scale on which services are delivered: local, regional or EU-wide. The VOLANTE project used a participatory stakeholder process to explore the structure and consequences of these alternatives leading to three consolidated visions – Best Land in Europe, Regional Connected and Local Multifunctional – which are outlined below. Further details about the visions are available at www.volante-project.eu.

Best Land in Europe Optimal use of land is crucial to ensuring maximum production of food and other natural products. Land across the EU is matched to the most appropriate use.

A Europe in a globalised world with intensive movement of products, money and people and good accessibility linking distant urban centres. Political collaboration exists between and beyond the EU Member States. There is intense global competition for resources requiring more efficient land use to meet society’s needs. Across the EU, land provides for multiple functions, in a well-planned, well-ordered and zoned use of space. Some land is used for multiple purposes. Other land is better suited to just one function, leading to specialisation.

Regional ConnectedSociety’s needs are met regionally in a coherent relationship between people and their resources. In a non-globalised economy, there is a move away from regional specialisation.

A Europe that has a greater appreciation of the resources that are available regionally and of the value of trying to live without external inputs, with the help of technological developments. Serving the regional population and keeping regional coherence is a key priority. This reduces the need for transportation and its negative effects. Territorial cohesion at the regional scale does not isolate communities or close borders, but creates local autonomy, more resilience, more involvement by the population, and more democracy.

Local MultifunctionalLand functions are localised in small areas based on innovative approaches to living, working and recreation. There is high diversity in goods and services, land use and society.

A Europe that incorporates multi-functionality locally, without distinct sectoral land use areas (for agriculture, settlement, nature conservation, etc.) This generates multiple ecosystem services everywhere. Localised thinking and decision-making is supported by a radical shift in behaviour and ‘bottom-up’ politics. Rural areas flourish by having a strong green economy where biodiversity is improved through a clean environment and green infrastructure. There is a huge reduction in ‘food miles’ as products are grown and consumed locally. Technology facilitates the sustainable management of natural resources.


4. How could we get there?

Current trends will not lead to the visions outlined above, and especially not to the multi-functionality that they aspire to. So what can we do to achieve these visions? The scientific evidence supports a number of key trends. In VOLANTE we developed a framework that links plausible visions of future land use to simulations of future land use changes, based on four scenarios of global developments and eleven policy alternatives. While the visions represent normative views on preferred developments, the scenarios created by a series of global and European simulation models provide a description of likely developments in the near future based on projections of the main driving factors of land use change. The policy options indicate possible interventions that may steer the simulated developments closer to the visions. These two fundamentally different approaches to exploring the future of land use in Europe were brought together in the VOLANTE project by identifying pathways. Pathways are those combinations of scenarios and policy options that lead to land use that corresponds as closely as possible to the defined visions (Figure 3). In so doing, pathways reconcile descriptive scenarios and normative visions.

When applying the framework, we identified five pathways to the vision Regional Connected, two pathways to the vision Best Land in Europe, but no pathways to the vision Local Multifunctional. The two policy alternatives that were pathways to Best Land in Europe were also pathways to Regional Connected. None of the pathways were completely in agreement with any of the visions.

In general, all of the identified pathways foresee land use that is regulated with respect to changes in land use and management

intensity. The global context, with its scenarios of future development, can either facilitate or constrain the desired visions. For example, international trade is relevant to multi-functionality at the landscape level: increasing international trade makes it more difficult to achieve local multi-functionality. Social networks are important for knowledge exchange about new land uses and improving the connectivity of social networks increases the rate of knowledge diffusion and therefore land use change. The capacity of individual land managers to stimulate multi-functionality affects the overall potential for multi-functional landscapes, which implies that education and training of land managers could support this goal. At the same time, a variety of personalities and behaviour among land managers increases the diversity of services supplied, which is in the interests of multi-functionality. Change towards the visions is stimulated when land users are more sensitive to the gap between supply and demand in relation to ecosystem services. Multifunctional and diverse local landscapes require small-scale land use which is supported by land users who are more willing to balance current land use practices with benefits from alternative services from the land system. The actions required to achieve each vision are summarised in Table 1.

Commonalities in governance opportunitiesAll of the visions require resource efficiency, increased delivery of services from rural land, and multi-functionality. For all three visions, several win-win actions can be identified that would enhance sustainable land management. A major prerequisite is that society is willing to embrace different governance structures with strong land use planning policy, and is willing and able to reallocate budgets,

Figure 3 | VOLANTE framework of scenarios and pathways to visions

leading to landscapes that will in some cases be quite different from those of today. To realise long-term visions, it is important that governments are willing to provide incentives and support for better land use management. The private and public sector can contribute by establishing appropriate mechanisms to support better management of natural capital and mainstream nature-based solutions. Strong land use planning is needed to reverse the progress of urban sprawl, by exploiting opportunities to redevelop urban brownfield sites, for

instance. For all the visions, community engagement in equitable decision-making would be crucial for success. In any case there is a clear need for targeted interventions in marginal and remote rural areas, which involves either reversing abandonment or managing a transition to a new landscape structure. As a consequence, the role of the different governance levels (from individual to EU) will change in relation to land use and land management, as summarised in Table 2.


Table 1 | Actions required to achieve the visions

ACTIONS

Governance Policy & planning Economy & investment in infrastructure and technology

Society Management

Best Land in Europe Political collaboration between and beyond the EU Member States and international trade

- Create planning policy to decide on the best locations for land use and land functions across scales;

- Support managed abandonment or re-structuring in marginal and/or remote rural areas though financial incentives and knowledge creation, e.g. re-wilding, C storage, wood production, maintaining cultural landscapes for tourism;

- Plan to reverse urban sprawl and encourage compact city development;

- Establish appropriate mechanisms to support payments for ecosystem services, better manage natural capital and mainstream nature-based solutions

- Implement appropriate market mechanisms to encourage specialisation of land use;

- Identify alternative land uses in rural areas leading to new job opportunities;

- Reduce the ecological footprint caused by housing;

- Protect good quality agricultural land from urban development;

- Invest in connectivity and mobility across Europe through better infrastructure and transport technology

- Embrace the need to re-structure Europe’s landscapes to obtain maximum benefits from the land;

- Accept the re-evaluation and use of marginal and remote rural areas, e.g. accepting the negative impacts of rewilding

- Intensify production in highly productive agricultural areas;

- Make Natura2000 an ecologically coherent network, with conservation regulation being weakened elsewhere to support other land use functions

Regional Connected Strong regional government and a stable governance structure that promotes collaboration between regions

- Support regional initiatives, based on strong but flexible and coherent land use planning that encourages the supply of multiple services at the regional level;

- A move away from specialisation to achieve regional self-sufficiency across multiple services;

- Establish appropriate mechanisms to support better management of natural capital and mainstream nature-based solutions

- Invest (public and private) in infrastructure, technology and social cohesion to increase connectivity within region;

- Regulate trade between regions and internationally;

- Invest in EU energy grid

- Embrace major lifestyle changes leading to changes in regional landscapes, e.g. regional food consumption, compact urban living, a shift to public transport, enhancing regional identity;

- Be willing and able to pay for the cost of these changes

- Change agricultural practices to achieve self-sufficiency in regional food production, e.g. develop new production methods, regionally focused education and training in new and improved practices, and encourage knowledge exchange between land users

Local Multifunctional Local decision-making supported by a radical shift in behaviour and ‘bottom-up’ governance

- Promote the upscaling of grass-roots initiatives through incentives and by removing barriers to success that leads to best practices;

- Establish appropriate mechanisms to support better management of natural capital and mainstream nature-based solutions

- Invest in, and experiment with, new technologies;

- Regulate international trade to encourage local consumption and local self-sufficiency;

- Develop and mainstream smart technology, e.g. district heating, urban agriculture, renewable energy;

- Invest in EU energy grid

- Embrace major lifestyle changes in support of a multi-functional world;

- Be willing and able to pay for the cost of multi-functionality, e.g. producing food locally may be more expensive under sub-optimal conditions;

- Reconsider consumption patterns (diet, seasonal food, waste reduction)

- Change agricultural practices to achieve self-sufficiency in local food production, e.g. development of new production methods, training in new and improved practices, encouraging knowledge exchange between land users;

- Move away from specialisation to achieve local self-sufficiency across multiple services

The Volante Roadmap | 15 14 |

Table 2 | Role of the different governance levels required to achieve the visions

ACTIONS

Individual Community Region EU

Best Land in Europe

Less empowerment than today; land use management is automatically decided by larger-scale priorities at regional and EU level.

In some rural areas, community power is lost as a necessary trade-off to ensure the ‘vision as a whole’; in others, new communities evolve with power sharing and a share in decision-making.

Acts as a promoter of the wider European ethos on land use. Has considerable power but it mainly depends on EU policy and legislation.

Maintains a strong overall position on the long-term influence of land use issues. Democratically defines and locates the ‘best land’ areas and promotes multi-functionality and nature in other areas.

Regional Connected

Less influence on land use management than today; planning is democratically decided mainly at regional level, and even includes management of land.

Local communities will have some influence but mainly in a consultative capacity in relation to the higher regional governance level.

Becomes stronger and in many ways more dominant in day-to-day life. Regional parliaments provide much of the policy and legislation.

Plays a role in promoting regional coherence and togetherness, as well as supporting innovation and the uptake of sustainable development solutions; most power is devolved to the regional level, though.

Local Multifunctional

Considerably more influence on land governance than today. All citizens are seen as stakeholders, not just land-owners.

Community empowerment is strengthened considerably; local knowledge is given high priority and decision-making on land use issues is largely overseen by the community.

Regional governance is designed to empower, educate and advise local communities on land use issues but also takes a lead role in biodiversity conservation (e.g. to create nature corridors).

Provides supervision and encouragement for local communities to govern more themselves; otherwise, has a more hands-off approach to land use.

The Volante Roadmap | 17 16 |

5. The trade-offs

Best Land in Europe

While carbon stocks and to a certain extent biodiversity increase within this vision, some productive forest and agricultural land will be taken out of conventional use. This leads to sustainable intensification of agriculture on the most suitable land, but abandonment of more extensive land use in marginal areas. Of the three, this vision provides the largest total supply of ecosystem services for Europe, but some remote rural areas may struggle to support local communities unless land use and economic activities are restructured. This could include, for example, a move away from depending on agriculture to new rural businesses that require infrastructural support.

Regional Connected

The economic potential of land use in Europe underlies the main trade-offs in this vision. Within Europe this arises from declines in the shadow value of agricultural land and limited climate change mitigation potential. Furthermore, there are considerable consequences for land use outside of Europe, including cropland displacement to Africa, Latin-America and the Pacific OECD regions, and increased timber imports. The need to intensify agricultural and forestry production everywhere leads to negative impacts on nature protection. The implication of this is a need for strong regulatory and incentive-based regional policy in order to minimise negative outcomes.


Scenario and modelling analysis suggests that it is extremely difficult to realise this vision because current policy was not designed with this vision in mind. Local multi-functionality means diversifying land-use, increasing self-sufficiency, creating a carbon-neutral economy and avoiding relocating land use activities overseas. Current European policy is unlikely to achieve these goals, so this vision would require a substantial transformation of political and societal systems underpinned by individual, behavioural change. This may still be possible, but it is hard to envisage a feasible route to fulfilling such expectations at present.

None of the three visions can be achieved completely without the need for trade-offs. This leads to choices about which of the conditions to relax within the visions so as to minimise the need for trade-offs.


6. What are the policy implications?

Commonalities in policy implicationsNot all of the visions apply equally well to all parts of Europe. For example, the Local Multifunctional vision is difficult to implement in regions where specialised or industrial agriculture is dominant, but could be suitable for re-invigorating remote rural areas. This suggests that EU policy support should be tailored to regional conditions, and should aim to mitigate the negative consequences of the visions. Land use planning is not an EU competence, although land use development is largely determined by a range of EU sectoral policies. Hence, a priority action in policy should be to foster cross-sectoral strategies that achieve

new images of land use in the future. Creative out-of-the-box thinking is needed to provide innovative combinations of sectoral policy targets, and mould a sustainable land use future in which ad-hoc external developments are responded to proactively rather than reactively. A common currency in defining such policy horizons is the ecosystem services concept, including a combination of monetary and non-monetary values in support of human wellbeing. Moreover, sustainable intensification and overall efficiency can improve the connectivity of all areas, including natural areas. This is because less land is needed for food production, leaving land available for other purposes.

Best Land in Europe

There are opportunities for this vision in adapting the existing Rural Development policy, Greening of the CAP and Climate mitigation & adaptation policies. The health effects of concentrated services and green corridors may support this vision too. Moreover, agricultural technology is already moving towards larger, more efficient machinery and management practices suited to the intensively used regions, whereas forestry already shows trends towards more production in the north. Land abandonment is already happening in many parts of Europe, and the practice of rewilding – which would meet many of the vision’s objectives – has recently gained resonance. Unlike pure non-intervention areas with no access for the public (e.g. Lady Park Wood in the UK and Białowieża in Poland/Belarus), rewilding could still support recreational services in most places.

Regional Connected

Demands for denser cities and limiting urban sprawl are common in EU member states, but achieving this through planning policy is context-specific. Restrictions on green belt development means planners are having to rethink ways of housing people in cities. Current road development trends are in line with the connection aspect of this vision. Sustainable agriculture does not necessarily mean low yields – there are several technologies such as precision farming that can potentially achieve high yields while reducing environmental impact. Agri-environmental schemes are already well established in most EU countries. Forest area is increasing in many EU countries, mainly as a result of government support through grants and the abandonment of agricultural land. Many opportunities for nature are available; small gains (roofs, gardens, abandoned industrial sites, road verges) can all make a difference. The EU is already supporting green infrastructure and nature-based solutions. Strong support for this vision would also require policy to improve rural-urban connectivity.


Support from the EU’s Rural Development Funds could be used to support urban agriculture and a move towards sustainable provisioning services (fuelwood, local food). Long waiting lists for urban allotments in many towns confirm the current trends toward local food production. In urban areas a small but growing trend of greening can be observed, such as green roofs. Marginal land is already being afforested, supported through grant schemes. Although agroforestry has been slow to develop in Europe, it has a long history and new schemes could be initiated. In some countries coppice woodland is already being restored, and mushroom harvesting is profitable too. Rural Development initiatives are already in place, often with EU funding. Some rural areas are leading the way and others could learn from them. Increasingly, agricultural colleges are teaching farm diversification in anticipation of the need to manage rural areas in different ways.


7. What should happen next?

Although society is often aware of the need for trade-offs in land use planning, the consequences of alternative land use futures are difficult to imagine. Traditional assessment methods are limited in their capacity to simulate visions that firmly depart from existing land use patterns, and the current European model has difficulty in accommodating local

multi-functionality. Furthermore, land use governance struggles to achieve multi-functionality since policy strategies focus on sectoral aims. Reaching any of these visions will require policy intervention based on new, integrated policy approaches in support of multiple land use functions. The VOLANTE roadmap demonstrates that:

1. A general consensus is emerging around the notions of multi-functionality on different geographic scales, resource efficiency and the provision of services in rural areas.

2. Despite major contrasts between the three VOLANTE visions, there are important similarities that highlight the need for bold and coordinated change in European land use.

3. To achieve the visions along robust pathways we need a broader range of land use policy options and governance structures that balance trade-offs in a transparent and well-informed way.

4. To be effective and relevant, land use policy needs to be sensitive to regional differences across Europe, and based on cross-sectoral strategies that move away from the traditional sectoral policy focus.

5. Under these preconditions land use management can offer huge opportunities for society and promote socio-economic wellbeing and environmental improvement.


The VOLANTE Roadmap is supported by an informative explanatory document: VOLANTE Roadmap – The Scientific Basis, and a large body of background information and documentation (Figure 4 The VOLANTE Roadmap and its supporting information). The VOLANTE Roadmap – The Scientific Basis is also available as an interactive internet-based file at www.volante-project.eu, including access to all supporting information. References (and hyper-links) in the digital explanatory document refer to the next layer supporting the Roadmap itself: Syntheses of the VOLANTE research activities in a large number of Fact Sheets. Together with scientific papers and project deliverables, these Fact Sheets provide the scientific evidence in support of the VOLANTE roadmap.

8. Structure of the supporting documentation

Figure 4 The VOLANTE Roadmap and its supporting information

Visions of future land use in EuropeStakeholder visions for 2040

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