Degraded land: How to achieve an added value by land stewardship? Create public values, restore degraded land: a collective responsibility.

Degraded land: How to achieve an added value by land stewardship? Create public values, restore degraded land: a collective responsibility.

Conveners: Conveners: Margot de Cleen and Co Molenaar

The sustainable development goals (SDGs) are our joint societal challenges. Social, economic and ecologic goals are intermutually connected. Therefore social and economic goals cannot be achieved without a healthy soil-water-system and neither can a healthy soil-water-system be achieved without a healthy society and economy. To achieve SDGs changes in the system or transitions, such as a transition towards a circular economy, sustainable energy, circular agriculture or climate proof cities, are essential.

The challenges society faces are: the growing pressure on land and the soil system; the boundaries of the natural system; the imbalance between the economic, social and natural sphere and the imbalance in long term (abstract) ambitions versus short term local implementation.

Both policy makers and scientists work on these challenges. But how can we empower one another and achieve impact? What do you need to know about a transition and what instruments are available to overcome the imbalances, create public values and restore degraded land? Policy makers want to set ambitions and want to influence these transitions. Policy makers need instruments to achieve their ambitions. But how do you influence a transition? Scientists want to provide knowledge, innovations and want to address system failures. When and how do you provide your knowledge and innovations and when and where do you address system failures?

This workshop focuses on the instrument of Land Stewardship. It is considered as an instrument to connect policy makers, scientists, land users and other stakeholders for the short, the mid and the long term. In the workshop we will discuss several existing and new business models to restore the imbalance and sustainably use soil and land to achieve the SDGs.

After pitches on the above we have group discussions on the cases:

  • Soil subsidence in peat lands: how to transform towards new land use considering climate, water management, biodiversity and agricultural production
  • Deforested and arid areas and agriculture: how to prevent erosion and loss of organic matter by food forests or other forms of sustainable land use
  • Urban development in river basins and delta areas: how to cope with subsidence and flooding

 

Program:

Introduction of the workshop by chair Rainer Baritz (10 min) (tbc)

Pitch “Creating public values, restoring degraded land”; Margot de Cleen Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (15 min)

Pitch “Land Stewardship and other concepts for soil restoration and mutual gains”; Co Molenaar Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (15 min)

Group discussions on the cases (40 minutes)

Each group defines 4 key messages on the challenges: the pressure on land, the system boundaries and the imbalances in spheres and time scales

Plenary feedback of the key messages (10 minutes)