Green LUPO

The increasing use of natural areas for human settlements and transport is threatening the basis for biodiversity and species protection. Ecologically motivated projects such as the expansion of renewable energy or rail infrastructure also contribute to this. Together with 'traditional' uses such as housing and commercial/industrial development, and the goal of protecting agriculture in the interests of food security, the competing demands for land can often no longer be met without significant impacts on the natural environment.

The way out of this dilemma has long been politically agreed with the EU target of "no net land take by 2050" and has also been incorporated into many national policies. What is lacking, however, is consistent implementation in practice. On the one hand, there is a need for more economical and efficient land use ("land sobriety"), and on the other hand, there is a need to move towards a land recycling economy, where land that is no longer needed is renaturalised.

The partnership consists of regional and national spatial planning authorities that want to green their spatial planning policies and make the transition to this paradigm shift. The regions are largely breaking new ground, so learning together and identifying good practice is a core task. The questions to be answered are
- What is the regional land take in international comparison and how can it be monitored?
- What are the most effective spatial planning measures, are they available in the region?
- How can these measures be implemented politically, legally and fiscally?

The key is joint learning through a series of thematic workshops.

The partners from the 8 participating Member States will integrate the results into their spatial planning and funding programmes in a participatory process with relevant stakeholders and policy makers. The results will be disseminated to spatial planning authorities in other regions to create a critical mass for further policy change.