Agricultural Land Abandonment as a Global Land-Use Change Phenomenon
Research Goals and Objectives
The main goal of the group is to understand better the patterns, underlying causes, and implications of land abandonment in connection to sustainable land use. Through various research, education and practical activities, we aim to:
​
-
Strengthen understanding of the global land abandonment drivers and patterns, especially in the Global South;
-
Assess the implications of abandonment on the environment and societal well-being in the era of telecoupled global systems;
-
Synthesize the existing knowledge on the abandonment process;
-
Engage the land system science community in studying abandonment and evaluating implications from different perspectives.
Utilized Toolboxes and Approaches
Econometrics, Game Theory, GIS, Institutional Analysis, Integrative Assessments, Interdisciplinary methods, Modelling, Participatory methods, Qualitative social science methods (interviews, observations, document review, surveys), Remote Sensing, Spatial Analysis, Synthesis/ meta-analysis/ meta-study, Visualization/ Scenarios
Interaction and engagement
We promote webinars on land abandonment and underuse. We try to strengthen the development of interdisciplinary research projects, and publications. We communicate the progress of our studies via reports and social media. We offer ad-hoc summer schools and workshops, as well as joint field trips. We also encourage engagement of each other to strengthen our research and obtain feedback, for supervision and coaching.