PEGASUS – exploring new approaches to sustainable land management  [PDF version]

A new EU research project PEGASUS was launched in March. The project, coordinated by IEEP, is funded through the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 research programme with a view to develop new sustainable ways of thinking about farmland and forest management. Over thirty case studies are planned across the EU to consider the issues and find solutions that work in a range of farming and forest systems as well as along the supply chain.

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PEGASUS (Public Ecosystem Goods and Services from land management – Unlocking the Synergies) is a European research project whose aim is to develop innovative approaches and new ways of thinking about the way farmland and forests are managed. The project aims to stimulate a long-lasting improvement in the provision of public goods and ecosystem services from agricultural and forest land in the EU.

The project, coordinated by IEEP, is funded through the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 research programme. It brings together 14 partners from 10 EU countries and will run for three years (2015-2018). 

At the heart of PEGASUS is the recognition that EU's agricultural and forestry land provides a wide range of public goods  and ecosystem services on which society depends, yet land use decisions often under-value such benefits. PEGASUS will develop innovative, practical ways of making these concepts accessible and operational: it will identify how, where and when innovative mechanisms and tools for policy makers, businesses and those managing rural areas can enhance the delivery of public goods and ecosystems services, thereby increasing the sustainability of primary production in pursuit of the EU2020 vision of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. 

PEGASUS plans to engage actively with a wide range of land managers and rural stakeholders across the EU. The first key opportunity for stakeholders to get involved is the PEGASUS national workshops, due to take place in ten Member States in September this year. In these workshops public and private stakeholders will come together to share ideas, experiences and innovative ideas on how societal demand for public goods and ecosystem services can be used to harness their improved delivery in the EU’s diverse range of farming and forestry management systems. National workshops will take place in Austria, Estonia, Portugal, Slovenia, Germany, France, UK, Netherlands, Italy and Czech Republic. 

To subscribe to PEGASUS’s newsletter or receive an invitation to the national workshops, please contact us at pegasus@ieep.eu. To find out more about the project and the consortium, visit PEGASUS’s website.