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Evidence based decision making for Life on Land! - Scenarios for Integrated Land Use Planning (S4ILUP)

Move with us from Data to Action!

We invite you to join our S4ILUP workshop series and to collaborate on improving evidence-based decision making towards SDG 15 – Life on Land. By embracing the multidisciplinary approach of Integrated Land Use Planning (ILUP), we aim to bring an extensive range of data and expertise on bio-physical, geo-spatial, sustainable land management and economic information together. You are welcome to engage in the open process of knowledge exchange which can provide the basis for better informed decision making concerning the present and future use of land.

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The S4ILUP process will consist of three workshops. While the first workshop aims to identify the needs of experts involved in integrated land use planning processes, the second workshop analyses approaches and tools to support land use planning from a technical provider side. A final workshop will facilitate the joint opportunity scoping to identify action points to support scenario development for integrated land use planning.



The aim is to provide process guidance for national and sub-national decision makers and practitioners for evidence-based ILUP by:



About the process

The workshop series on Scenarios for Integrated Land Use Planning (S4ILUP) originates from the aspiration to combine widely fragmented databases and utilize tools to facilitate evidence-based decision making in support of SDG 15. The goal highlights “Life on Land” and states:

“Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss”

By inviting interested stakeholders, WOCAT, the GEO-LDN Initiative, FAO , UNCCD and the ELD Initiative lay the groundwork for a participative, multidisciplinary approach to land use planning. The focus of the workshop series is put on harnessing the potential of vast quantities of data to target the global challenge of implementing sustainable land management (SLM) by taking the variety of political settings and individual landscapes into account. Finally, land use planners and decision makers can equip themselves with a simplified and integrated access to the data needed for evidence-based, nature-positive, and future-proof land use planning. ...

In order to halt and reverse the current trends in land degradation, there is an urgent need to enhance national capacities to measure and map degraded lands and identify the most appropriate interventions. TheUN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Indicator 15.3.1 (“the proportion of land that is degraded over total land area”), for which the UNCCD is the custodian agency, utilizes three sub-indicators: land cover, land productivity and carbon stocks. In accordance with the Good Practice Guidance for SDG Indicator 15.3.1 these can be calculated via Earth Observation (EO) and other geospatial information. The UNCCD’s Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) target-setting and implementation programs use SDG indicator 15.3.1 and its sub-indicators in a decision support framework to encourage countries to stabilize or reduce their extent of degraded lands through conservation, sustainable management and restoration activities.

Integrated land use planning (ILUP) offers the opportunity to reconcile conflicting land use interests and to integrate land-related targets from different sectors. While designing policy and programmes, ILUP must consider biophysical, geospatial, and socio-economic data and information on the potential benefits of SLM approaches, alongside political contexts of the landscape. Scenarios based on these types of data and information, and through the cooperation of stakeholders from different government institutions, civil society, development cooperation, practitioners, data provider and academia can be an effective tool in the decision-making process and ideally improve the quality of decision by making them more transparent and conscious. To facilitate participatory evidence-based planning and decision-making and bringing different stakeholders together, evidence is also needed on past, current, and anticipated future land use, and its impact on soil and land functions.

Do you want to support evidence-based decision-making?


By filling out this survey you can help to determine what is needed to create an enabling environment for data use in integrated land use planning. The results should inform land use planners how to make the most effective use of data and to undertake evidence-based decision-making. The survey is commissioned by the ELD Initiative and GIZ in cooperation with FAO, UNCCD, WOCAT and GEO-LDN.