Author(s)

T. Panagopoulos, V. Ferreira, D. Antunes, L. Lackóová

Abstract

The way we steward soil resources and manage our land use activities is central to ensuring Europe’s transition to a sustainable future for its citizens and its global partners. Research and knowledge dissemination are fundamental to securing soils and land for next generations, for competitive economies and healthy landscapes. Clever use of the services provided by the soil-sediment-water system provides solutions for meeting societal needs and for overcoming societal challenges. In order to create a new strategic research agenda (SRA) on soil, land-use and land management in Europe, it was collected relevant information on research demands, based on key stakeholder interviews, workshops and desk exercise from 17 European countries. This investigation revealed the research needs that should be included in the European SRA. According to key stakeholders the societal challenges facing Europe increasingly require research and innovation which integrates different approaches from across research disciplines. These often increase the impact and usefulness of the research for businesses and society. It was highlighted the need to improve the dissemination procedure and was suggested enlarged stakeholders’ involvement in research projects. The dissemination of projects should include indicators to access the social impacts, policy implications and applicability demonstrations. Strategic partnerships between universities and enterprises were recommend, and a clear and accessible cost-benefits analysis, to increase the added value of research was emphasised. Furthermore, stakeholders consider important to facilitate the access to existing databases and scientific publications through thematic online platforms. Concluding the inquiry, the stakeholders consolidated recommendations on the future projects, which should promote interdisciplinary teams, integrate economic, social and environmental aspects, ensure mixed funding establishments, and assure social acceptance and findings applicability.

Keywords

strategic research agenda, stakeholders, land-use, land management