Sustainable land‑use transitions: synthesizing interdisciplinary knowledge at UCPH

Land‑use change sits at the heart of Denmark’s green transition. Across agriculture, climate mitigation, biodiversity protection, and water management, society faces complex trade‑offs that cannot be addressed within single disciplines or sectors. Over recent years, several major UCPH initiatives - including the GSC Green Network Reducing emissions from agricultural soils, the Living Lab Land use change for the green transition, the knowledge‑gap project Metrics, and the UCPH green network on wetlands and land‑use change - have generated substantial insights into these challenges. Yet this knowledge remains dispersed across projects, faculties, and stakeholder contexts.

This fellowship aims to bring these strands together by synthesizing interdisciplinary knowledge on barriers, trade‑offs, and potential solutions for sustainable land‑use transitions in Denmark. The goal is to create a coherent, accessible body of insight that can support decision‑makers, strengthen public dialogue, and enhance the societal impact of UCPH’s research.

Research Focus

The fellowship will consolidate findings from multiple research environments working on land‑use systems, sustainability challenges, and transition pathways. While each initiative has produced valuable results, their insights are often fragmented - reflecting disciplinary boundaries, differing methodologies, and varied stakeholder engagements. By integrating these perspectives, the fellowship will identify cross‑cutting themes, shared challenges, and opportunities for more coordinated approaches to land‑use governance.

The work is structured in two phases:

• Integration and Co‑development, involving interviews, interdisciplinary workshops, and structured discussions to develop shared framings of barriers and pathways
• Communication and Dissemination, translating the integrated insights into synthesis outputs, outreach materials, and policy‑relevant recommendations

Objectives

The fellowship aims to:

• synthesize interdisciplinary knowledge on barriers, trade‑offs, and solutions for sustainable land‑use transitions
• strengthen collaboration across UCPH faculties and research environments
• translate research insights into accessible formats for policymakers, stakeholders, and the wider public
• support evidence‑based policy development by identifying gaps between scientific knowledge and current land‑use instruments

Planned Activities

The fellowship will:

• conduct bilateral interviews with researchers across the participating initiatives
• host interdisciplinary workshops to develop shared conceptual framings
• prepare a concise synthesis of barriers and solutions for sustainable land‑use transitions, written for non‑academic audiences
• publish an opinion or debate piece in national media to raise public awareness
• develop a set of policy recommendations addressing gaps in current land‑use governance
• share these recommendations with members of the Danish Parliament, with the ambition of presenting them to the Parliamentary Committee on Environment and Food

These activities will help ensure that interdisciplinary research contributes directly to societal dialogue and policy development.

Long‑Term Vision

The fellowship will strengthen UCPH’s position as a leading hub for interdisciplinary research on land‑use transitions and the green transition more broadly. By consolidating collaborations across faculties and increasing the visibility of UCPH’s expertise, the project will support the development of new research initiatives and funding applications. The synthesis outputs and policy recommendations will also enhance the university’s role as a trusted knowledge provider in national debates on land use, sustainability, and environmental governance.

In the longer term, the fellowship will contribute to more integrated land‑use policies that address ecological, social, and economic dimensions of sustainability - helping to accelerate Denmark’s transition toward land‑use systems that benefit biodiversity, climate, environment, and society.