LandShift: Community-Led Creation of Living Spaces in Shifting Landscapes for Climate-Resilient Land Use Management and Supporting the New European Bauhaus

Project programme: HORIZON

Project call: HORIZON-CL6-2024-CLIMATE-01-4

BFRS role: Partner

Duration of the project: 01.11.2024 – 31.10.2027

Official web-site of the project: https://landshift.eu/

Responsible person from BFRS: Oleksandr Melnyk

LandShift is a Horizon Europe-funded initiative focused on accelerating sustainable land-use transitions through nature-based solutions (NBS). The project aims to address the challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation, and environmental vulnerability by integrating science-based approaches with local action across Europe. Through five Living Spaces across France, Greece, Italy, Poland, and Ukraine, LandShift empowers local and regional actors to design sustainable strategies using cutting-edge digital tools, such as Earth Observation services and AI-powered analytics, with Nature-Based Solutions always inspired by the principles of the New European Bauhaus.

Why Boyarka Forest Research Station? The Boyarka Forest Research Station (BFRS), a key field unit of the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine (NUBiP), is proud to contribute as a Ukrainian demonstration and research site within this international collaboration. Located in the central forest-steppe region of Ukraine, BFRS manages over 4,000 hectares of forests, comprising diverse ecosystems including pine and oak stands, agroforestry systems, and fire-prone landscapes. Its long-standing research history, practical forestry operations, and educational mission make it an ideal living laboratory for piloting land-use innovations.

Planned activities in Kyiv region: in the Kyiv region, LandShift will facilitate joint workshops with farmers, community groups, and policymakers to implement regenerative agriculture and green infrastructure initiatives. This may include testing agroforestry techniques, conservation and restoration measures for wetlands, and monitoring land-use changes through open-data platforms. By engaging local universities, NGOs, and government agencies, this “Living Space” will serve as a real-world laboratory for refining and jointly implementing innovative solutions that strengthen ecological resilience and the local economy.

Objectives of BFRS in the LandShift Project:

· Implement and test nature-based solutions for forest restoration, fire risk reduction, and landscape sustainability.

· Monitor climate impacts and ecosystem responses using long-term ecological and meteorological data.

· Develop adaptive forest management models in response to increased drought, pests, and fires.

· Restore degraded lands through native reforestation and agroforestry transitions.

· Support local governance and community engagement in sustainable land-use planning.

· Contribute to EU-wide monitoring efforts with site-specific biodiversity, biomass, and land-use change data.

· Strengthen education and training, hosting workshops and student research on climate-smart forestry.

Within the LandShift Project BFRS brings together stakeholders – communities, scientists, business owners – in order to achieve the goals of the project:

· Implement sustainable Land Management Practices and provide rewards

· Assist in carbon removal measures

· Ensure policy Coordination

· Monitor, Report, and Verify (MRV) the Emissions

· Provide Stakeholder Engagement

BFRS collaborates with a wide network of international partners through LandShift, including European research institutions and universities, policy organizations and NGOs, local and national authorities involved in land use, climate adaptation, and biodiversity conservation.

It is expected that through the LandShift project BFRS alongside with its Ukrainian and European partners will enhance the capacity to manage forests under climate stress, improve integration of science and policy for land-use decisions, acquire stronger ties between academic research and local action, increase visibility of Ukrainian forestry research in Europe.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 101182007

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