Report on National Land Data Programme
Published 23 May 2023
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank our pilot and project partners The Alan Turing Institute, British Geological Survey, Food, Farming and Countryside Commission, Newcastle City Council, Open Innovation Team, Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Northern Ireland and Vizzuality, for their participation in the National Land Data Programme.
Introduction
Land is a finite resource, however it faces increasing demands for housing, food, water and energy, as well as from adapting to climate change and protecting the environment. Meeting these demands will require coordinated decisions to be made about how to best use land which effectively considers the spatial and system impacts of land use change. These decisions will need to be taken at the national scale through effective policies, but also at regional and local scales by people who govern, own, manage and use land.
The Geospatial Commission initiated the National Land Data Programme (NLDP) to demonstrate how these complex decisions around land use can be supported by spatial data and modelling, to enable better and more informed decision making. The programme was made up of a series of national scale projects and regional pilots in Devon, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Northern Ireland, and Newcastle, to explore and demonstrate how data and modelling can better support land use decision making at different scales.
Our Land Use Dialogues project, in partnership with the Open Innovation Team, brought together stakeholders across local and national government, academia and industry to explore the land use challenges associated with a range of policy priorities and the data and modelling tools that could help improve decisions. The dialogues focused on the three land use sectors of energy, housing and water.
Through regional pilots we explored how data analysis and modelling could support local land use decision making in:
- Devon and Cambridgeshire: We, alongside the British Geological Survey, supported the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission to develop local land use frameworks, and design prototype decision support tools that help articulate the impacts of different land use change scenarios to local stakeholders
- Newcastle: We worked with The Alan Turing Institute and Newcastle City Council to develop a prototype scenario modelling tool, leveraging data science and AI to help inform land use decision making at a local authority scale
- Northern Ireland: We partnered with Ordnance Survey Northern Ireland to develop a prototype land use and land cover map to bring together disparate land use and land cover datasets which are often hard to access
We also partnered with Ordnance Survey GB to design a logical data model and data product specification, which can improve the interoperability of UK land datasets.
These pilots and projects involved a variety of activities, including running stakeholder engagement events on key land use issues, designing interactive prototype decision support tools to address local land use challenges, using AI techniques to create land use change scenarios, combining land datasets and creating a comprehensive data specification. This brochure provides an overview of our pilots and projects, summarising our key findings for each. Findings and recommendations from NLDP as a whole are set out in the NLDP ‘Finding Common Ground’ report.
Land Use Dialogues
Improving connections between policy makers and spatial modellers
To mediate the different, and often competing, demands placed on land in the UK, an integrated and holistic approach is required that draws from a shared evidence base, underpinned by spatial data.
Land use modelling is a way to enable land use decision makers to consider different policy demands and identify and optimise opportunities and trade-offs for land use change. There are multiple clusters of land use modelling activity in the UK however, there is no single, unified land use modelling community.
As a result, there is an acute need to advocate for a more integrated approach to making strategic decisions on land use across multiple policy demands and promote the role of spatial data and modelling in underpinning joined-up decisions on land.
Approach
The Geospatial Commission partnered with the Open Innovation Team to run the Land Use Dialogues programme, with the aims of exploring the land use implications of key policy priorities across government and highlighting where spatial data and land use modelling can support better decision making.
The Land Use Dialogues programme aimed to establish new pathways to policy impact by convening new forums to raise policy and industry awareness and encourage closer working on specific government objectives. This included bringing together land use modellers to investigate how modelling approaches could be made more flexible and responsive in order to better suit policy development which can change rapidly.
Throughout the engagement programme, key findings, blogs, articles and videos were published on the Land Use Dialogues microsite to reach as wide an audience as possible.
In numbers
- 13 public sector organisations engaged
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SDGs, Targets, and Indicators
SDGs Addressed in the Article:
- SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
- SDG 13: Climate Action
- SDG 15: Life on Land
- SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals
Targets Identified Based on the Article’s Content:
- Target 11.3: By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries
- Target 13.1: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries
- Target 15.1: By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements
- Target 17.16: Enhance the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development, complemented by multi-stakeholder partnerships that mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources, to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in all countries
Indicators Mentioned or Implied in the Article:
- Indicator 11.3.1: Ratio of land consumption rate to population growth rate
- Indicator 13.1.1: Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population
- Indicator 15.1.1: Forest area as a proportion of total land area
- Indicator 17.16.1: Number of countries reporting progress in multi-stakeholder development effectiveness monitoring frameworks that support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals
The article discusses various projects and initiatives related to land use and data science, which are connected to several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The identified SDGs include SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 15 (Life on Land), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).
Based on the content of the article, specific targets under these SDGs can be identified. These targets include Target 11.3, which focuses on enhancing inclusive and sustainable urbanization and human settlement planning; Target 13.1, which aims to strengthen resilience to climate-related hazards; Target 15.1, which aims to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems; and Target 17.16, which emphasizes the importance of partnerships for sustainable development.
The article mentions or implies several indicators that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets. These indicators include Indicator 11.3.1, which measures the ratio of land consumption rate to population growth rate; Indicator 13.1.1, which measures the impact of disasters on population; Indicator 15.1.1, which measures the forest area as a proportion of total land area; and Indicator 17.16.1, which measures progress in multi-stakeholder development effectiveness monitoring frameworks.
Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators
SDGs Targets Indicators SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities Target 11.3: By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries Indicator 11.3.1: Ratio of land consumption rate to population growth rate SDG 13: Climate Action Target 13.1: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries Indicator 13.1.1: Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population SDG 15: Life on Land Target 15.1: By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements Indicator 15.1.1: Forest area as a proportion of total land area SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals Target 17.16: Enhance the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development, complemented by multi-stakeholder partnerships that mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources, to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in all countries Indicator 17.16.1: Number of countries reporting progress in multi-stakeholder development effectiveness monitoring frameworks that support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals Behold! This splendid article springs forth from the wellspring of knowledge, shaped by a wondrous proprietary AI technology that delved into a vast ocean of data, illuminating the path towards the Sustainable Development Goals. Remember that all rights are reserved by SDG Investors LLC, empowering us to champion progress together.
Source: gov.uk
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