SENSOR - Sustainability Impact Assessment: Tools for Environmental, Social and Economic Effects of Multifunctional Land Use in European Regions
Description:
Sustainability of land use in European regions is a central point of policy and management decisions at different levels of governance. Implementation of European policies designed to promote and protect multifunctional land use requires the urgent development of robust tools for the assessment of different scenarios' impacts on the environmental and socio-economic sustainability. The technical objective of SENSOR is to build, validate and implement sustainability impact assessment tools (SIAT), including databases and spatial reference frameworks for the analysis of land and human resources in the context of agricultural, regional and environmental policies. The scientific challenge is to establish relationships between different environmental and socio-economic processes as characterised by indicators considered to be quantitative measures of sustainability. Scenario techniques will be used within an integrated modelling framework, reflecting various aspects of multifunctionality and their interactions. The focus will be on European sensitive regions, particularly those in accession countries, since accession poses significant questions for policy makers regarding the socio-economic and environmental effect of existing and proposed land use policies. SIAT will utilise the statistical and spatial data continuously collected by European and regional agencies. SENSOR will deliver novel solutions for integrated modelling, spatial and temporal scaling and aggregation of data, selection of indicators, database management, analysis and prediction of trends, education and implementation. SIAT will be made available to decision makers at the European and regional level, providing user-friendly interfaces and scientifically sound procedures for the assessment of environmental and monetary responses of policy options. Cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis of policy implementation will be an integral part of the SIAT's functions.
Executive Institute:
Institute for Socio-economic (ZALF-SOZ) Details of Institute for Socio-economic
Parent institution:
Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) Details of (ZALF) (Brandenburg)
Contract period:
01. 12. 2004 - 30. 11. 2008
Project budget:
10,210,000 €
Participating Institutions:
- Department of Agricultural Economics and Social Sciences (WISOLA) Details of WISOLA
- Technical University Munich (TUM) Details of TUM
- Brandenburg University of Technology (BTU) Details of BTU
- Chair of Forest Yield Science Details of Chair of Forest Yield Science
Funding Programme:
- EC - Integrated Projects Details of EC - Integrated Projects
Subject:
- Agroecology
- Landscape Planning
- Resource management
Purpose of research:
Basic research
Funding Institutions:
- European Commission (EC) Details of (EC)
Project Management Agency:
- European Commission (EC) Details of EC