The Land Use Futures project was the third Foresight project shiftN was involved in as lead contractor in the systems mapping work package.

The project (‘Making most of land in the 21st century) aimed to explore the land use challenges that the UK could face of the next 50 years and to assess whether existing land use patterns, practices and governance structures are fit for the future.

ShiftN worked with the project’s Lead Expert Group (led by Prof. David Newbery, Cambridge University) to develop an integrated, systems-based perspective on this multi-faceted challenge through the development of a collection of system maps.

These maps have been used to inform the experts’ reflections on pressure points in the UK land system and on possible interventions to alleviate these pressures and to increase the system’s resilience.