A classification of European agricultural land using an energy-based intensity indicator and detailed crop description

With agricultural areas covering almost half of European land, proper management of agro-ecosystems is key toachieve the European Union’s environmental and climate objectives. This requires spatially explicit methods andindicators. We developed an approach for the classification of agricultural land by combining two main di-mensions i) land cover, using detailed geo-spatialized census data covering 63 individual crops; ii) managementintensity, measured as the anthropogenic energy required in the primary crop production. As a result weidentified 10 main crop systems further classified into 30‘crop-management systems’at a spatial resolution of 5arcminutes. The resulting maps show the spatial patterns of agricultural management intensity across Europe,both in absolute terms (total energy input per hectare) and relative to the dominant crop system in the spatialunit of analysis. The use of multiple intensity dimensions provides new, more detailed insights on agriculturalintensity by which areas that were previously classified as low-medium intensive - some permanent crops sys-tems or irrigated arable land - appear now as highly intensive. An expert-based evaluation was carried out on theintensity maps and corroborated the obtained results. The generated maps can be used to support decision-making in designing more targeted, context-specific agricultural and territorial policies. In particular,findingscan be relevant in the context of the Common Agricultural Policy post 2020 and the Biodiversity Strategytowards 2030, both of which will benefit from more detailed spatially explicit information to achieve their statedobjectives

framework of the ESPON 2013 Programme, partly financed by the European Regional Development Fund.

consists of the EU Commission and the Member States of the EU27, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Each partner is represented in the ESPON Monitoring Committee. This report does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the members of the Monitoring Committee. Information on the ESPON Programme and projects can be found on www.espon.eu The web site provides the possibility to download and examine the most recent documents produced by finalised and ongoing ESPON projects. This basic report exists only in an electroni

Activos, productos y mercados financieros: entre todos y para todos

Fac. de Ciencias Económicas y EmpresarialesFALSEsubmitte

Development Fund.

framework of the ESPON 2013 Programme, partly financed by the European Regiona

Handling a messy world: lessons learned when trying to make the ecosystem services concept operational

The concept of ecosystem services is widely used in the scientific literature and increasingly also in policy and practice. Nevertheless, operationalising the concept, i.e. putting it into practice, is still a challenge. We describe the approach of the EU-project OpenNESS (Operationalisation of Ecosystem Services and Natural Capital), which was created in response to this challenge to critically evaluate the concept when applied to real world problems at different scales and in different policy sectors. General requirements for operationalization, the relevance of conceptual frameworks and lessons learnt from 27 case study applications are synthesized in a set of guiding principles. We also briefly describe some integrative tools as developed in OpenNESS which support the implementation of the principles. The guiding principles are grouped under three major headlines: “Defining the problem and opening up the problem space”, “Considering ethical issues” and “Assessing alternative methods, tools and actions”. Real world problems are often “wicked” problems, which at first are seldom clear-cut and well-defined, but often rather complex and subject to differing interpretations and interests. We take account of that complexity and emphasise that there is not one simple and straightforward way to approach real world problems involving ecosystem services. The principles and tools presented are meant to provide some guidance for tackling this complexity by means of a transdisciplinary methodology that facilitates the operationalisation of the ecosystem services concept

Horizon 2020 Societal Challenge 2 \u201cFood Security, Sustainable Agriculture and Forestry, Marine, Maritime and Inland Water Research, and the Bioeconomy\u201d Advisory Group Recommendations Programming Period 2018-2020

The Horizon 2020 Societal Challenge 2 Programme was created to develop and implement an EU research and innovation policy for more sustainable and resource efficient agriculture, forestry, inland water and marine systems that supply European society with sufficient food, feed, biomass, and other raw materials, as well as ecosystems services, and support thriving rural and coastal livelihoods. The European Commission has established Societal Challenge Advisory Groups to provide consistent and consolidated advice - by way of opinions, recommendations and reports - on relevant research objectives and scientific, technological and innovation priorities for its strategic and annual work programmes. Our Societal Challenge 2 Advisory Group includes a wide range of members with remarkably rich and diverse backgrounds and affiliations, including researchers, academics, former policymakers - stakeholders covering the whole spectrum of relevant research and innovation domains. Our Advisory Group has met twice formally since our establishment in February 2016, and has used other opportunities for extensive discussion and engagement on the issues surrounding this Societal Challenge. We see Societal Challenge 2 as not only extremely important as a challenge in itself, but also strongly linked with other Societal Challenges such as health, demographic change and wellbeing, climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials, and inclusive, innovative and reflective societies in a changing world. And as the agriculture, forestry, fisheries and food sectors comprise a very large number of smaller businesses \u2013 themselves serving large scale processing and retail business sectors \u2013 there are strong links between our contribution and the input of groups advising on innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises, international cooperation, nanotechnologies, advanced materials and advanced manufacturing and processing. Our Advisory Group\u2018s first task has been to prepare this report to answer five specific questions posed by the Commission and provide input into the strategic programming cycle of the Work Programme for 2018-2020. We have identified some overriding strategic priorities, and backed those with the results of a more detailed analysis of the gaps that need to be addressed. And we highlight the cross-cutting nature of this programme and the importance of an integrated approach to maximise the overall impact of the current Horizon 2020 programme. We hope that the insights in this report may also assist in the identification and prioritisation of research needs and strengthen the Commission\u2018s strategic and impact-oriented approach in future years

Understanding similarities and differences in land use visions for Scotland

The successful transition towards a global society that can live within planetary boundaries is one of the greatest challenges for the twenty-first century. Sustainable land use and land management will be essential to ensure the continued delivery of the ecosystem goods and services needed to support a rapidly growing global population. To support the transition towards sustainable development, decision-makers need to better understand how land use change affects people and the environment. However, these insights are of limited use without societal agreement on future land uses. Understanding synergies and differences between land use visions forms a first step in assessing and comparing alternative pathways towards a sustainable future. This thesis uses a range of methods to understand visions of future land use amongst professional land use stakeholders, society at large, and young people in Scotland. Twenty semi-structured interviews were held with policy experts from the Scottish land use sectors. A nationwide statistically representative web-based survey provided insight into the visions of the Scottish population. And finally, a novel visual interview methodology was used to interview 26 pupils from two high schools in Perthshire. Inductive content analysis and descriptive statistics were used to analyse the results and understand and compare the land use visions of these different groups. As expected, different groups had different visions of future land use. There was, however, general agreement on certain themes, in particular the desire for a more sustainable lifestyle and the importance of a healthy environment. The sectoral stakeholders would like to see more partnerships, dialogue and collaboration; a society that is more engaged and aware about land use; resilient local economies; and short-, medium-, and long-term policies that help to achieve these goals. One of the key challenges for these groups will be how to translate abstract concepts such as ‘healthy ecosystem’ and ‘dialogue and partnerships’ into practice. This clearly requires a shared understanding of what a ‘healthy ecosystem’ means to different stakeholders, as well as appreciation of what true dialogue means and how this can be used to co-create solutions – potentially a radical change from the traditional top-down approaches. The research also identified divisions in Scottish society between those who want to continue a ‘status quo’ lifestyle, and those – in particular younger people (who spent time in the natural environment, through either school or home life) and those from a higher socio-economic background – who want a more sustainable lifestyle and to be more connected with the natural environment. These results are important, as policy makers need to be able to identify the factors that have successfully engaged certain groups and to promote these factors. Programmes that provide access to the natural environment (such as the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award) need to ensure equal opportunities by targeting disadvantaged groups. Simultaneously, it needs to be explored how to encourage those who would like to continue a ‘status quo’ lifestyle into a more sustainable one. Past research has shown how preferences can be influenced and how changes can be initiated by incentives and restrictions in order to promote desired behaviours. The power of the media should be leveraged: programmes such as BBC’s ‘Blue Planet’ highlight how our lifestyle choices impact on the natural environment and can provide the motivation for change. The current issues surrounding Brexit and Climate Change require a national conversation; using methods such as those presented in the thesis to elicit land use visions can help identify the commonalties and differences between stakeholders’ views. This can provide a starting point for dialogue and critical reflection on current instruments and objectives, and how they might be adapted to better reflect Scottish preferences and conditions

Physiological modulation of the vitality of Scots pine trees by atmospheric ammonia deposition

In this thesis the effect of atmospheric NH3 on the shoot and root physiology of Scots pine was investigated. Attention was also paid to mycorrhizal infection. A realistic study of the effects of atmospheric NH3 on a forest ecosystem should also include interactions between gaseous NH: and other important gaseous pollutants in the atmosphere, such as sulphur dioxide (SO2), ozone (O3) and elevated carbon dioxide (CO2). ... Zie: Summary