ESEIA Lecture Series: 10th Lecture

Topic: How to Ensure Sustainable Land-use while enhancing Renewable Energy Production in Europe
Guest lecture by Teresa Ponce de Leão, LNEG
Response 1: Ignacio Asenjo, DG Energy, European Commission
Response 2: Franz Prettenthaler, Joanneum Research- LIFE
Chair: Rupert Baumgartner, Karl-Franzens University of Graz
Host: TU Graz

Europe is one of the most intensively used landmasses on the globe, with the highest share of land used for agriculture, forests and, to a lesser extent, urban areas and infrastructure. The way we use this invaluable resource for industry, food and energy production has significant impacts on biodiversity and human well-being on Earth. The lecture will discuss the EU renaturing strategy along with the climate effects of an increased land-take trend in Europe, partly caused by increased renewable energy production, as well as the role of organic soils for storing large quantities of carbon. The lecture will also highlight the importance of long-term soil management on the basis of the EU soil strategy and present land and ecosystem accounting tools. European Commission representatives will give an overview of EU-funded projects in the field of biodiversity and give an idea of what citizen science can do to relieve the pressure on land use. After the presentations, we will have a panel discussion and then we will discuss with the audience on-site and online.

We invite you to register for onsite or online participation before 21 May 2024.

The lecture is part of the hybrid series Sustainable Energy Innovation Systems for Climate Neutrality. Please find more information about the ESEIA Lecture Series here. The event is supported by the Styrian Government.