Switzerland
T1 / IRT-1
Integrated Environmental Assessment and Soil Monitoring for Europe
Long term monitoring to show changes in soil quality to levels impacting soil function, food security and human health and to measure progress on land degradation neutrality. ... read moreT2 / IRT-2
Recognizing the value of ecosystem services in land use decisions
Assessing magnitude and societal distribution of costs and benefits of land use options (e.g. through cost-benefit analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis or multi-criteria analysis) can help mainstream the value of ecosystem services into decision-making.... read moreT4 / IRT-4
Bio-Economy – unleashing the potentials while sustaining soils
Unleash the potential of soil to sustain a bio-economy in Europe by better understanding soil and economic systems in order to support land management for biomass production and consumption. Alternatives to non renewable resources are needed. Soils can provide bio-based resources, but overuse must be prevented to sustain soil system functions. ... read moreT8 / IRT-8
Circular land management
Research is required to understand the patterns of behaviour and interdependencies of actors, especially land owners, active in land-related policy areas on a theoretical and practical level. It is important to combine the strategies and instruments by circular land management through applied research and pilot case studies and in the sense of modular “tool boxes” to qualify a sustainable land management. ... read moreT9 / IRT-9
Policies to effectively reduce land consumption for settlement development
Knowledge on how to design effective policies given the institutional constraints of their implementation and enforcement will be necessary to realize the benefits of reduced land consumption in rural and urban areas.... read moreT10 / IRT-10
Stakeholder participation to facilitate the development of livable cities
Understanding the potential of stakeholder participation will help to ensure the livability of urban development and enhance transparency and legitimacy of decision-making.... read moreT12 / IRT-12
Environmentally friendly and socially sensitive urban development
Solutions that bridge the goals of urban environmental protection and social concerns of urban development are crucial to realize sustainable cities. Knowledge on environmental issues in urban planning as well as on social concerns is partly available but has to be deeper, up to date and better integrated. ... read moreT14 / IRT-14
Emerging contaminants’ in soil and groundwater – ensuring long-term provision of drinking water as well as soil and freshwater ecosystem services
Greater knowledge about the properties of ‘emerging’ contaminants, and mixtures, their distribution in groundwater and soil, their toxicity to humans as well as soil and freshwater ecosystem services is needed to ensure public health and long-term provision of ecosystem services. Methods of analyzing emerging contaminants are needed. ... read moreT16 / IRT-16
Innovative technologies and eco-engineering 4.0: Challenges for a sustainable use of agricultural, forest and urban landscapes and the SSW system
Improved rural and urban land use through appropriate sustainable technologies, exploitation of comprehensive data collected by high-quality on- and off-site sensors, and purposeful communication. Eco-engineering for the design, monitoring and management of rural and urban ecosystems can integrate human society into the natural and man-made environment. Identifying what is a sustainable intensification via industrial or organic agriculture and forestry will help planning and permitting.... read moreT17 / IRT-17
Climate change challenges - improving preparedness and response for climate conditions and related hazards
Spatial planning could be an instrument for coping with effects of climate change, but only if we have a better understanding of climate change mitigation, adaptation and counteracting negative climate phenomena. Integrated strategies on soil protection and land management should help reduce direct and indirect impacts from climate change. New technical and operational solutions can be developed using low cost, widely available data science.... read moreT18 / NC-1
Quantity and quality of soils, health of soils, soil carbon, greenhouse gases
Land use conflicts may be resolved by sustainable land management concepts based on natural capital and multiple ecosystem services provided by the soil-sediment-water system.... read moreT19 / NC-2
Biodiversity, organismic and genetic resources
Biodiversiy loss will be halted when the societal benefits of biodiversity and ecosystems is quantified for different areas.... read moreT21 / NC-4
Pollutant degradation, filtering and immobilization capacity
We will be able to manage the legacy of soil contamination fom the past more cost-effectively and sustainably, with knowledge on the natural capacity of the SSW-system to detoxify contaminants.... read moreT22 / NC-5
Prevention of erosion and mudslides, natural hazards
This research will reduce the occurrence, duration and severity of natural hazards, by developing alternative land use management strategies that will increase the natural resilience to floods, fires, land subsidence, erosion and landslides.... read moreT24 / NC-7
Intrinsic values of soils and landscapes
Aesthetic, cultural and social values of landscapes will be preserved better.... read moreT25 / D1
The 4 F´s: Food, feed, fibre, (bio)fuel
This research will strengthen the transtion towards a circular and biobased economy, by quantifying the societal demand of this transition for soil functions.... read moreT26 / D2
Regulating Ecosystem Services
Assessment and mapping of soil ecosystem services are prerequisites for sustainable management of natural resources, to optimize soil functions and services.... read moreT27 / D3
Urban / infrastructure land
This research will contribute to land use conflict resolution, the liveability of shrinking regions and villages, increased brownfield regeneration and land re-use, which will help save soils for other purposes.... read moreT29 / D5
Geological (and fossil) subsurface resources
This research will decrease the environmental and societal impact of resource recovery, decrease demand by promoting recycling and use of alternatives. It will contribute to the transition to a circular economy. ... read moreT31 / D7
Health and quality of life (living environment)
Research on the contribution of nature to health and well-being will allow for better spatial design to optimize these health benefits, especially with repsect to vulnerable groups in deprived areas.... read moreT32 / LM1
Governance, management mechanisms, instruments and policy
Improved policies, governance structures and institutions to promote sustainable land management throughout Europe.... read moreT33 / LM2
Climate changes challenges for land management
This will enable the design of effective spatial planning and land use management systems to deal with extreme weather events, (e.g. flooding, droughts) and other environmental stresses.... read moreT34 / LM3
Land as a resources in urban areas (Sustainable urban land management)
This research will contribute to the development of healthy, safe and sustainable cities.... read moreT35 / LM4
Land as a resources in rural areas (Multifunctionality of rural areas)
This research will contribute to maintaining and improving soil fertility, and nutrient and pesticide management. It will support nature conservation and provide options to deal with urban sprawl and rural depopulation.... read moreT36 / NI1
Developing impact assessment methodology
Developing monitoring and impact assessment methodology will enable us to detect and assess emerging threats from global environemntal change (such as climate change), land management and pollution to human health and well-being, biodiversity conservation and ecosystem service provision as well as the prosperity of our economies. ... read moreT37 / NI2
Understanding and assessing impacts of drivers and management
This research will provide us with an understanding of the magnitude of the ecological, economic and social impacts of climate change, land management decisions, emerging and/or mixed pollutants, socio-economic drivers of land management and land use change, and policies, planning and regulation.... read moreT38 / NI3
Trade-off analysis & decision support
Research on comparative assessment of land management options will support realizing synergies and trading off conflicts between different societal demands with regard to land use and land management.... read moreT39 / NI4