What 22 landscape initiatives can tell us about implementation, resilience, biodiversity conservation, and long-term impact in complex territories.
Hosted by: DG INTPA and Landscape Alliance
Drawing on evidence and lessons from 22 EU-funded landscape initiatives, this participatory workshop will explore how different approaches to Integrated Landscape Management can contribute to more effective governance, coordination and implementation in complex territories. Participants will examine where perspectives converge, what the evidence tells us about delivering integrated outcomes, and how these insights can inform and build a new generation of territorial investments.
Background
Over the past six years, the EUR 100M Landscapes For Our Future (LFF) programme has generated evidence from 22 landscape initiatives across Africa, Asia and Latin America. These initiatives operate in complex territories characterized by competing land uses, multiple governance authorities, overlapping mandates, and diverse stakeholder interests.
A consistent finding has emerged: implementation challenges are rarely merely technical. Outcomes are usually shaped by coordination, governance, stakeholder engagement, institutional capacity, and the ability to adapt to changing circumstances.
As development investments increasingly seek to deliver integrated outcomes across infrastructure, climate, biodiversity, value chains, and livelihoods, understanding these governance dimensions becomes increasingly important.
This workshop provides an opportunity to examine the evidence that has emerged and has been documented through LFF, and to explore the relevance and positive impact of Integrated Landscape Management (ILM) for the building of future territorial investments, development programming, and implementation practice. ILM is understood and applied in different ways across DG INTPA, EU Delegations, thematic programmes, and implementing partners. For some, it is a governance framework; for others, it is a planning approach, a multi-stakeholder process, a systems lens, or a mechanism for coordinating investments and development objectives within a defined territory. This workshop will provide an opportunity to unpack these different interpretations and explore where there is common ground.
Rather than promoting a single model, we hope to move towards a shared understanding of what Integrated Landscape Management can realistically offer, where its strengths and limitations lie, and how lessons from landscape initiatives may help navigate and build a new generation of increasingly integrated, place-based investments.
The event is structured in two complementary sessions:
Session 1: From concept to practice: lessons from Landscapes For Our Future and other initiatives on governance, coordination, biodiversity, restoration, and implementation in complex landscapes.
Session 2: How do we translate lessons into future practice, investments and programming post 2027?
Agenda
| Time | Session | Description | Guiding questions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 09:00 – 09:15 | Opening | Welcome from DG INTPA and Landscape Alliance | What can Integrated Landscape Management contribute to an emerging investment paradigm? |
| 09:15 – 10:00 | Session 1: What have we learned from 22 Landscapes? | Presentation of key findings from Landscapes For Our Future on ILM operationalization, biodiversity conservation, adaptive management, and institutional conditions. | What helps create lasting change in complex landscapes? |
| 10.00-10.50 | Discussion | “Fishbowl” interactive format | |
| 10:50 – 11.00 | Coffee break | ||
| 11:00 – 11.30 | Session 2 (closed door): Managing complexity from the ground up | Presentation of the ILM Playbook and key knowledge products from Landscapes for Our Future, highlighting practical lessons, tools, and approaches that can potentially inform post-2027 programming. | What practical opportunities exist to better integrate ILM principles into future policy and programming? |
| 11.30 – 12.30 | Discussion | “Fishbowl” interactive format | |
| 12.30 – 13.00 | Wrap-up | Summary of key insights and take-aways | How can integrated landscape approaches inform post 2027 programming? |
| 13.00 – 14.00 | Lunch | ||
