Land Use and Sustainability in Europe: From Policy to Practice
About this course
Land Use and Sustainability in Europe: From Policy to Practice is an online course developed within EUROPE-LAND, a Horizon Europe research and innovation project running from 1 June 2023 to 31 May 2027. The project brings together partners from across Europe to advance sustainable land-use strategies in the context of climate change and biodiversity challenges.
The course explores how land is used, managed, and transformed across Europe under growing environmental, social, economic, and policy pressures. It reflects the core goals of EUROPE-LAND: improving understanding of the factors behind land-use decisions, strengthening stakeholder awareness and engagement, developing future-oriented scenarios and modeling approaches, and providing practical tools that support more sustainable land governance and decision-making.
Drawing on the interdisciplinary expertise of the EUROPE-LAND consortium, the MOOC combines scientific knowledge, case-study experience, and practical methods. It introduces learners to land-use drivers, stakeholder engagement, participatory and foresight methods, future land-use mapping, biodiversity conservation and climate adaptation, and the Europe-LAND Toolbox, a GIS-based interactive platform designed to support analysis, exploration, and informed decision-making.
Through video lectures, additional readings, self-assessment quizzes, practical exercises, and hands-on exploration of the Toolbox, participants will gain both conceptual understanding and applied skills. The course is designed not only to explain land-use challenges but also to help learners work with integrated approaches that connect policy, practice, stakeholder perspectives, climate resilience, and biodiversity protection.
By the end of the course, learners will be able to:
- understand key drivers of land-use change in Europe;
- recognize the role of stakeholder awareness, participation, and governance in land-use decisions;
- interpret modeling, scenario, and policy approaches related to sustainable land management;
- explore how biodiversity conservation, climate mitigation, and climate adaptation can be integrated into land-use strategies;
- Use the Europe-LAND Toolbox as a practical resource for analyzing land-use dynamics and supporting decision-making
Target
This MOOC is open and free for all stakeholders involved in land use and land management in Europe. It is designed for government agencies, cities, research organisations, NGOs, companies, and practitioners working on sustainability, climate adaptation, biodiversity, or spatial planning. The course is also suitable for students and professionals seeking to better understand European land-use dynamics and emerging policy and management challenges.
Outcomes
This course equips learners with a clear understanding of how land-use decisions shape climate resilience, biodiversity, and sustainable development across Europe.
By combining expert lectures, real-world case studies, and hands-on tools such as the Europe-LAND Toolbox, participants will learn to analyse land-use challenges, assess trade-offs, and apply practical methods for planning and policy.
The MOOC offers concrete skills and insights that support informed decision-making for anyone working with land, sustainability, or territorial governance.
Requirements
No prior specialist knowledge is required. The course is designed to be accessible to both newcomers and participants with professional or academic experience in land-use, sustainability, environmental policy, or spatial planning.
Activities
The MOOC includes an introductory section and six main modules, organized into chapters, lectures, readings, exercises, and quizzes, as reflected in the current course timeline.
Introductory section
You will begin with a short introduction to the MOOC, the Europe-LAND project, and the course environment, including guidance on navigating the platform and accessing key resources.
Module 1 – Introduction and Course Overview
This module introduces the course and the Europe-LAND project, explains its relevance to European land-use challenges, and provides essential background materials and key resources.
Module 2 – Land Use Behavior and Drivers in Europe
This module examines changes in European land-management regimes and explores how land-use behavior and its drivers can be identified and analyzed. It also includes additional materials and examples for deeper study.
Module 3 – Awareness Behind Land-Use Decisions
This module focuses on stakeholder engagement, participatory approaches, participatory modeling, and foresight methods in land-use management. Learners are introduced to methods such as stakeholder mapping, Living Labs, STEEPVL analysis, scenario building, and examples from the Europe-LAND project.
Module 4 – Future Land-Use Mapping and Climate Change Mitigation
This module presents modeling tools and approaches for analyzing and anticipating future land-use and land-cover change. It includes case-based examples, modeling exercises, and additional supporting materials.
Module 5 – Biodiversity Conservation and Climate Change Adaptation
This module explores how biodiversity protection, climate adaptation, and integrated policy design can be addressed in land-use management. It highlights multi-actor approaches and policy-relevant perspectives.
Module 6 – The Europe-LAND Toolbox: Exploring the Dynamics of Future Land Use
The final module introduces the Europe-LAND Toolbox and its practical use. It includes guided introductions to the platform, short and long tutorial videos, and a map-based exercise to support hands-on learning.
Through this course, learners will develop a more integrated and systemic understanding of land-use challenges in Europe. It contributes to the wider Europe-LAND objective of strengthening knowledge transfer, stakeholder engagement, technical capacity building, and the use of practical tools for better land-use decisions.
Subtitles
English subtitles available.
For better understanding, subtitles are available for each video and can be activated or not. If you want to revise some crucial passages you can move through the video content and click on the attached text.
FAQ
For further information, see FAQ page.
Europe-Land Partners
Europe-LAND is a European research project, funded by the Horizon Europe program of the European Union. Running over 48 months, 13 partners from 12 EU member states (Germany, Greece, Estonia, Denmark, Portugal, Italy, Romania, Poland, Latvia, Slovakia, Austria, Czech Republic). Furthermore, two associated partners (Finland, Lithuania) are involved in the project. About Europe-LAND Project
