1. Policy lab
  2. Portugal

Portugal

The Portugal Policy Lab is led by three institutions: the Alentejo Regional Development Agency (ADRAL), Instituto Superior de Agronomia and Universidade Nova de Lisboa.

The Alentejo Region represents almost a third of the country's surface but only 5.2% of the population. This low density, combined with a diversity of landscapes that vary from the coastal area to the interior, create a unique mosaic of ecological, aesthetic, symbolic and material values.

Over the decades, the natural and cultural image of the region has been shaped by the open fields associated with the production of cereals and pastures, as well as areas of arable crops, where cork oak and holm oak forests have been playing vital roles in supporting the local economy, preserving biodiversity and maintaining the natural balance of the region.

However, transformations in the Alentejo landscape over the last 30 years have been accompanied by an increase in intensity of land use. These uses include intensive olive groves throughout the region, particularly in the Alqueva area, greenhouses installed on the coast and the increasing construction of photovoltaic plants.

Considering the effects of climate change and biodiversity loss in the Alentejo Region, it's crucial to discuss the significance of restoring ecosystems and preserving water and land as vital resources. This leads to the necessity of addressing the future of the Alentejo from a perspective of co-creating territorial policies that integrate socioeconomic needs with the landscape's ecological sensitivity, while preserving its regional identity.

Digital Learning Environment

Welcome to the MOSAIC Digital Learning Environment! This platform aims to unlock practical insights and tools to help land use decision makers set up meaningful collaborations, discover people’s motivations and beliefs, unravel policy processes and assess sustainable land use changes.  

We start with an initial focus on MOSAIC's six policy labs. Members of each policy lab can create simple posts, share images or videos and comment on each other's posts. Throughout the MOSAIC project additional features and sections will be added to the Digital Learning Environment. 

Belgium
Denmark
Europe
Hungary
Portugal
Switzerland

Portuguese Policy Lab Launched

On Wednesday (8 May), the Portuguese Policy Lab on Land Use and Landscape in the Alentejo Region was officially launched!

With only 5.2% of the country's population, the Alentejo region accounts for almost a third of the country's territory. The low population density, together with the diversity of landscapes, which vary dynamically from the coast to the interior, create a unique mosaic in terms of ecological, aesthetic, symbolic and material values. However, the transformation of the Alentejo landscape over the last 30 years has been accompanied by an increase in the intensity of land use.

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Mosaic will work regionally with several entities to discuss major land use changes and develop solutions to integrate conservation, farming systems and energy into a multifunctional and sustainable landscape. This policy lab will create a space for dialogue and collaboration, involving different partners in the discussion of planning solutions and policies for the Alentejo region.

Three MOSAIC members are involved in this policy lab: Instituto Superior de Agronomia (ISA), Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL) and Agência de Desenvolvimento Regional do Alentejo (ADRAL). Last Wednesday, we met with nine partners from the private sector, public administration, associations, NGOs and academia who accepted the invitation to participate in this first launch day and commit to future initiatives. It was an opportunity to present the MOSAIC project, the objectives of the Policy Lab and to discuss the first lines of collaboration!

We are very grateful to be able to start this promising collaboration and will be sharing more updates soon!

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Portugal