Ex-ante sustainability impact assessment of land use functions integrates scientific information about land use and landscape interactions into an evidence base for decision making. The aim is to anticipate and valuate the possible effects of land use decisions on parameters characterising the three dimensions of sustainable development in a spatial context. Expert knowledge and societal perceptions are thereby integrated into a valuation framework. The approach is based on the concept of multifunctionality of land use. Land use functions are those goods and services that are provided through the interaction between land use and landscape processes and that characterise social, cultural, environmental and economic aspects of sustainable development.

Our research aims at developing robust strategies for sustainability impact assessment that are consistent and transferrable on the one side, and adaptable to specific contexts and regional specific characteristics on the other side. Research is conducted in a variety of integrated projects at regional, European and International level with case studies in Germany, China, Indonesia, India, Brazil, Tanzania and Kenya.

A further research activity addresses the science policy interface. We ask the question how scientific information can be synthesised and how research projects should be designed in order to make results relevant for policy making.


Research project database


Running projects

CLARIS	A Europe-South America Network for Climate Change Assessment and Impact Studies, Hydroclimate and Society in La Plata Basin (EU FP7 Collaborative Project)
LUPIS	Land use policies and sustainable development in developing countries (EU-FP6)
PLUREL	Peri-urban Land Use Relationships: Strategies and Sustainability Assessment Tools for urban-rural Linkages.  (EU Collaborative Project FP6)
SENSOR	Sustainability Impact Assessment: Tools for Environmental, Social and Economic Effects of Multifunctional Land Use In European (EU FP6)
ReaCCT	Climate change impact assessment and adaptation options in vulnerable agro-landscapes in East Africa (GTZ)
LIAISE	Linking Impact Assessment Instruments to Sustainability Expertise Europäisches Exzellenznetzwerk: Verbindung von Impact Assessment Instrumenten und Nachhaltigkeitsexpertise (EU FP7)
RoBo	Sustainble Partners - Partners for Sustainability: Integrated Impact Assessment Tools for multifunctional land use and sustainable rural development in China
CeSIA	Leibniz Centre for Sustainability Impact Assessment, Leibniz Forschung zu Nachhaltigkeit, (im Aufbau)