The European Commission is involved in several discussions in which land use and its environmental impacts play a key role. For example, the proposal for a Soil Framework Directive, the further implementation of measures for adaptation to climate change, the assessment and management of flood risks, the role that the new Common Agricultural Policy might have to maintain the ‘green’ services of rural areas, how to achieve the sustainability criteria for biofuels in the recently approved Renewables Directive, etc.

The main aim of the ‘Land use modelling - implementation’ project is to show the potential of a European land-use modelling framework to support environmental policy making within the European Commission. This modelling framework will be used to simulate potential spatial developments according to a reference (or baseline) scenario and show, on top of this reference point, the possible spatial impacts of a number of policy alternatives that aim to address themes of specific relevance to the European Commission. The project has a duration of 14 months and will end in January 2010.