Co-Creating Future Landscapes

In this project, local actors come together with researchers and public sector officials to engage in dialogue on new approaches and policies that can support more sustainable land use. The starting point for these dialogues is the land and landscape around Kroppefjäll in Dalsland.

The project develops cross-sectoral approaches and policies for sustainable land use with the aim of increasing carbon storage in forests and soils. The work takes multiple societal goals into account – ecological, social and economic – and aims to strengthen trust and mutual understanding among actors with different responsibilities and perspectives. The project explores what landowners and land users need in order to feel confident in making well-informed decisions about land use, and how public authorities, supported by research, can develop approaches that improve understanding of local conditions.

The work takes its starting point in new EU regulations on land use, including LULUCF (Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry) and the Nature Restoration Regulation. A particular focus is on how increased carbon storage for climate benefits can be combined with the conservation of biodiversity, good public health, strengthened preparedness, and sustainable food and forest production.

Kroppefjäll in Dalsland serves as the project’s case study area, where high nature values, forestry, outdoor recreation and energy interests meet. The project is carried out in collaboration between the University of Gothenburg, the County Administrative Board of Västra Götaland, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, the Swedish Forest Agency, and the Dalsland Environment & Energy Association.

Dialogue takes place through land-use dialogues with landowners and local networks connected to the Biosphere Area Dalsland initiative, supported by the TAIDA method for joint learning and development. IVL contributes to the project with knowledge and analysis of the carbon storage capacity of forests and soils, identifies trade-offs and synergies with biodiversity and ecosystem services, and links the project’s dialogues to relevant policy instruments and processes at EU and national levels.