Access to reliable spatial data is a prerequisite for successful spatial planning. The Copernicus Land Monitoring Service (CLMS) provides data about land cover and land use. The utilization of CLMS in spatial planning in Poland and Norway is affected by awareness, data accessibility, alignment with planning needs, and collaboration between CLMS providers and spatial planners. The utilization could be improved by appointing national authorities to support adaption, documentation and standardisation, ensure data availability in national language and adjusted to national legal requirements. This can for example be done through an adjustment of the already established National Collaboration Program (NCP).

Urban agriculture is often considered a tool to increase the economic, social and environmental sustainability of cities and city food systems. However, sustainability is difficult to measure, resulting in debate about how sustainable urban agriculture truly is. There is therefore a lack of incentive to promote urban agriculture or protect existing initiatives that are threatened by development pressure on urban land. Monitoring the sustainability impact of urban agriculture could provide evidence and enable politicians and decision makers to make informed decisions about whether and where to prioritise different forms of urban agriculture above competing interests.We used case examples from five European cities to identify the challenges involved in monitoring urban agriculture, from selecting indicators and gathering data, to using the results. We found large differences in approach in terms of what topics to monitor and who was responsible, who gathered the data and when, what data was recorded and how they were stored, and how findings were disseminated or published. Based on these experiences, we recommend stronger involvement of existing interest groups and educational institutions in monitoring urban agriculture, and promotion of convenient tools for data collection by citizen science and for long-term data storage.

Urban agriculture is a nature-based solution to increase the economic, social and environmental sustainability of cities and city food systems. However, sustainability is difficult to measure, and there is therefore discussion about whether urban agriculture really contributes positively to sustainability. Monitoring data could provide evidence of the impacts of urban agriculture and help inform decision makers about whether and where to prioritise different forms of urban agriculture above competing interests.Using case examples from five European cities, we identified the challenges involved in monitoring urban agriculture, from selecting indicators and gathering data, to using the results. We found large differences in approach in terms of what topics to monitor and who was responsible, who gathered the data and when, what data was recorded and how they were stored, and how findings were disseminated or published. Based on these experiences, we recommend stronger involvement of existing interest groups and educational institutions in monitoring urban agriculture, and promotion of convenient tools for data collection by citizen science and for long-term data storage.

Traditional orchards are one of the most well-known examples of multifunctional farming. They have a long history of providing different fruits and combining various other agricultural activities, such as extensive animal farming, with cultural significance that reflect the different regional landscapes of Europe. This study investigates the extent of traditional orchards and addresses their cultural significance and their contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals in the context of multifunctional agricultural landscapes. The presented work combines an expert survey conducted in ten EUCALAND network member countries by means of both a standardised and a more detailed questionnaire to compare and summarize the situation of traditional orchards in these countries. The results show that traditional orchards are diminishing on the European scale but still have huge significance in many regions. Provisioning ecosystem services, such as fruit production, are valued in terms of disease resistance and genetic diversity which is likely to be of increasing importance in the context of future climate change and concerns over food security. The most important drivers for maintaining traditional orchards appears to be based on cultural ecosystem services and the benefits they provide to society, including the preservation of traditions and regional identity, attractive places for recreation, aesthetic appreciation, inspiration for artists. The examples of best practices from the contributing countries all reveal the close connection of these orchards to local communities and to often specific traditional knowledge. The presented review of the current situation for these important components of the agricultural landscape as well as country-specific management characteristics has the potential to inspire other countries to maintain their traditional orchards.

The 'Aarhus Convention' - regulating access to environmental information, public participation and justice in environmental decision-making - is a key international agreement with a long history and a considerable number of signatory countries. While implementation has been studied nationally, there is little comparative research at the transnational level. Based on ten criteria, we analysed national implementation reports of the 2014, 2017 and 2021 reporting cycles in terms of how 33 countries in Europe have implemented the access to information and public participation pillars, and identified obstacles they encountered. We also studied similarities and differences supra-nationally. Overall, countries are quite successfully fulfilling the obligations of the two pillars. Most obstacles reported concern four criteria: access to information, information provision, interaction, and trust. Implementation practices have changed little from 2014 to 2021. However, East- and South-European countries report more, and more persistent or repetitive obstacles, compared to Northern and Western European countries. The national democratic context seems to affect the quality of implementation. The Convention's compliance bodies and national agencies responsible for coordinating the implementation are encouraged to interact more closely, to account for the differences and leverage implementation.

BackgroundRecycling nutrients and organic matter available as waste in urban areas may close nutrient gaps and improve soil quality, but the concentrations of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) are commonly higher than in mineral fertilisers. How quickly may the limits for soil quality be exceeded, and for which elements, if such materials are applied intensively? For a rough answer to this question, we used soil data from ten case farms near Oslo and Bergen (Norway) to estimate how PTE concentrations increased when the demand for nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) in a theoretical carrot crop produced every year was covered by compost or digestate from source-separated food waste, or composted garden waste, compared with manure from horses and poultry which are often kept in peri-urban areas.ResultsWith the intensive fertilisation assumed here, the Norwegian soil quality limits for PTEs were reached within 20-85 years, and faster for soil with more organic matter since regulatory limits set by weight discriminate soils with low bulk density. The limits were reached first for Cu and Zn, which are both essential micronutrients for crop plants. The concentrations of macronutrients in the urban waste-based fertilisers were not well balanced. Rates covering the K demand would lead to high surpluses of P and N. In peri-urban vegetable growing, high applications of compost are not unusual, but more balanced fertilisation is required.ConclusionsThe Norwegian regulations for PTEs in organic soil amendments and agricultural soil are stricter than in the EU, and do not support recycling of organic matter and nutrients from urban waste. Many materials which can only be applied with restricted amounts to Norwegian agricultural soil, may be applied according to crop demand in the EU. Growers utilising urban waste-based fertilisers intensively should monitor the soil regularly, including PTE analyses. Soil sampling should occur on fixed sampling points to reveal changes in concentrations over time. Norwegian authorities should consider a revision of the organic fertiliser regulation to support recycling of valuable organic materials. There is a need for more data on the PTE concentrations in agricultural soil and organic fertiliser materials.

The objective of this study is to identify the needs related to geospatial LC, LU, and LCLUC information for spatial planning in Poland and Norway, and examine the usefulness of CLMS products in the context of these planning systems. The research has conducted based on a comparative analysis of two planning systems, to indicate areas where CLMS can improve or supplement national spatial data. The study shows that CLMS can provide information on up-to-date spatial data showing actual LC/LU/LCLUC, but that the degree of detail and the accuracy may be insufficient. CLMS data is harmonised across Europe and thus meets the need expressed by international organisations, for data that are consistent at a continental level. This is not a requirement in national planning systems in Poland and Norway, where the needs are regulated by national legislation. The thematic and geometric accuracy of national data sources are usually better than the data provided by CLMS, but CLMS might fill gaps when specific topics are missing in national mapping programs.

This paper provides an overview of traditional hay-making structures and the related agricultural landscapes in Europe. The information was collected using a standardised questionnaire that was completed by experts from different countries. What all countries had in common was that hay production with its corresponding structures was widespread. However, the scope and importance differed among the countries today. We found differences in type and extent, in degree of awareness, and in the cultural meaning of hay-making structures. The differences were connected with built structures, as well as with other tangible and intangible aspects of cultural heritage. The distribution of the broad variety of hay-making-related structures, especially semipermanent ones, has changed throughout history, as well as the hay-making techniques, as a result of agrarian specialisation, land reclamation, and consolidation. Today, in some countries, the relevance of hay-making was mainly connected to horse keeping and landscape management (like in Germany and Hungary), while in others (like Slovakia and Slovenia), it was still predominantly used for cattle and sheep.

The visual impacts of landscape change are important for how people perceive landscapes and whether they consider changes to be positive or negative. Landscape photographs and photographs of landscape elements may capture information about the visual qualities of landscapes and can also be used to illustrate, and even to quantify, how these visual qualities change over time. We developed a methodology for a monitoring scheme, based on taking photographs from exactly the same locations at different points in time. We tested two methods: one where fieldworkers chose freely the location and direction of photographs, and one where photo locations and four out of five directions were predefined. We found that the method using predefined locations provided a representative sample of the visual qualities present in the landscape and was relatively person-independent but missed rare landscape components. The method using free selection of photo locations and directions captured rarities, but the content of the photos varied from photographer to photographer. Considering the strengths and weaknesses of the two approaches, we recommend a method that combines aspects of both when establishing a monitoring scheme based on repeat photography, with predefined locations to ensure that the entire area is covered, and additional freely chosen photo locations to capture special subject matter that would otherwise be missed.

Conversion of semi-natural habitats, such as field margins, fallows, hedgerows, grassland, woodlots and forests, to agricultural land could increase agricultural production and help meet rising global food demand. Yet, the extent to which such habitat loss would impact biodiversity and wild species is unknown. Here we survey species richness for four taxa (vascular plants, earthworms, spiders, wild bees) and agricultural yield across a range of arable, grassland, mixed, horticulture, permanent crop, for organic and non-organic agricultural land on 169 farms across 10 European regions. We find that semi-natural habitats currently constitute 23% of land area with 49% of species unique to these habitats. We estimate that conversion of semi-natural land that achieves a 10% increase in agricultural production will have the greatest impact on biodiversity in arable systems and the least impact in grassland systems, with organic practices having better species retention than non-organic practices. Our findings will help inform sustainable agricultural development. Conversion of semi-natural habitats, such as hedgerows, to farmland could increase agricultural productivity by 6% and potentially reduce biodiversity by up to 66% depending on land use type, according to survey-based estimates across ten European regions.

There is widespread agreement that society must urgently go over to renewable energy and that effective participation is crucial for a sustainable transition. Recent literature highlights that the quality of participatory planning is decisive for the acceptance of renewable energy technologies. However, social science research on the issue is dominated by single case studies and the quality of the participatory processes has been rarely studied across wider regional contexts. We present the results of a comparative qualitative inventory of innovative practices from 25 projects in 12 countries in three supra-national European regions. We assessed participation quality according to three analytical dimensions: rationale, inclusiveness, and participation level. An instrumental rationale, broad inclusiveness, and a participation level of consulting or informing was a combination that was commonly perceived as an innovative participatory practice in most regional contexts. We found a tendency towards more advanced practices in Western Europe, compared to Southern, and Eastern Europe. However, practices that were considered to be innovative in the latter regions still provide important lessons within their geographical contexts.

The successful transition towards renewable energy (RE) technologies is closely intertwined with various societal aspects. Wind energy (WE) is one of the most controversial RE-types, possibly due to the multiplicity of related public concerns. Although some European country-comparisons exist, research concerning acceptance factors in different political and cultural planning contexts is scarce, especially in Eastern and Southern Europe. This paper explores the variation of (1) acceptance issues across Europe, and (2) patterns of strategic and local planning in affecting WE acceptance. We conducted an expert survey among the members of the COST Action 'Renewable Energy and Landscape Quality' and the association Wind Energy Europe. We found that acceptance issues as perceived by the experts across different regions in Europe share certain similarities, such as concerns about landscape impacts. The priority-levels of acceptance issues are specific to each region and link to the planning quality in that context. Planners' and decision-makers' increased awareness about the diversity of acceptance issues would allow them to design more appropriate strategic and local planning processes.

From the Middle Ages until the twentieth century, water meadows in Europe were primarily irrigated to improve their productivity and to lengthen the growing season. They were water management systems designed to collect and use water and to discharge it: water had to be kept moving. This chapter presents a general overview and a history of research on European water meadows. It also examines examples from the sandy landscapes of northwestern Europe, from Slovakia, and Norway. Three main types of water meadows are distinguished: simple dam systems, more elaborate catchworks, and highly developed bedworks. Of these, bedworks were technically and organizationally the most complex; they were also the most costly in construction and maintenance. Most water meadows were abandoned in the twentieth century; in many places, however, their traces can still be recognized in the landscape. They are both an interesting part of European agrarian and landscape heritage and a carrier of regional identity. In recent years, a number of water meadows have been restored, for ecological, water management, tourism, and heritage purposes.

Hay-making structures are part of the agricultural landscape of meadows and pastures. Hay meadows are still used and found all over Europe, but their distribution patterns as well as their characteristics and regional features depend on geographical area, climate, culture, and intensity of agriculture. Intensively used hay meadows are the most dominant, using heavy machinery to store hay mostly as rounded or square bales. Traditional hay-making structures represent structures or constructions, used to quickly dry freshly cut fodder and to protect it from humidity. The ‘ancient’ forms of traditional hay-making structures are becoming a relic, due to mechanisation and the use of new technologies. Both the need for drying hay and the traditional methods for doing so were similar across Europe. Our study of hay-making structures focuses on their current state, their development and history, current use and cultural values in various European countries. Regarding the construction and use of hay-making structures, we have distinguished three different types, which correlate to natural and regional conditions: (1) temporary hay racks of various shapes; (2) hay barracks, a special type of shelters for storing hay and (3) different types of permanent construction and buildings for drying and storing hay. Hay-making structures have been mostly preserved in connection with traditional agricultural landscapes, and particularly in the more remote regions or where associated with strong cultural identity.

Norway has a political goal to minimize the loss of cultural heritage due to removal, destruction or decay. On behalf of the national Directorate for Cultural Heritage, we have developed methods to monitor Cultural Heritage Environments. The complementary set of methods includes (1) landscape mapping through interpretation of aerial photographs, including field control of the map data, (2) qualitative and quantitative initial and repeat landscape photography, (3) field recording of cultural heritage objects including preparatory analysis of public statistical data, and (4) recording of stakeholder attitudes, perceptions and opinions. We applied these methods for the first time to the historical clustered farm settlement of Havrå in Hordaland County, West Norway. The methods are documented in a handbook and can be applied as a toolbox, where different monitoring methods or frequency of repeat recording may be selected, dependent on local situations, e.g., on the landscape character of the area in focus.