BESTMAP will 

 

• Design and develop a new Policy Impact Assessment Model (PIAM) framework, relying on modern socio-economic, behavioural and biophysical approaches that captures the environmental, social and economic variability of individual farms and EU regions
• Operationalize the framework by using co-design workshops, existing georeferenced datasets and the experience of EU institutions, national, regional and local decision-makers, expert personnel and other researchers
• Demonstrate the approach in five regional case studies covering heterogeneous agricultural, socio-economic and political backgrounds
• Synthesise case studies results and scale up the approach at a national, EU and global levels 
• Disseminate the outcomes and build capacity for improved policy impact assessment modelling in EU and Member States institutions

 

Case studies

BESTMAP will demonstrate the new approach in five regional case studies regions which hold diverse agricultural, socio-economic and political backgrounds:

• Humber Catchment (UK) is representative for the farming systems typical for the UK’s Northeast region as well as for a wide range of commonly used agricultural practices for England, Wales, Scotland. The area is considered heterogeneous as it comprises of agricultural land, semi-natural habitats and intensively farmed landscapes. 
• Mulde River Basin (DE) is characterised by fertile soils, relatively flat terrain and intensive agriculture use. Part of this area has already been affected by floods, including one of catastrophic proportions. The landscape is considered to be distressed by land-use changes and issues, associated with bioenergy and biodiversity. 
• South Moravia (CZ) is chosen due to its flat terrain with fertile soils and diversity of environmental conditions, landscape structures and farming practices. The postwar period and post-communist era have led to significant changes in farming practices, land-use, economic changes, policy intervention, and property rights. Today the region is exploited by small family farms to very large agro-businesses. 
• Bačka Region (RS) is characteristic for the average age of the agricultural producers and owners of small family farms - 59 years. This tendency is decreasing in the last years. Since Serbia is a non-EU country and it currently undergoes a transitional and transformational phase, the agricultural policies and practices are about to be remodelled and redesigned. 
• Catalonia (ES) is defined by its mixed agricultural landscape, with predominantly small and medium-sized farms, which is considered typical for Southern Europe. Agriculture lands alternate with areas of natural and semi-natural vegetation. The farming communities are often organized in official and informal associations, linked to water concessions.

 

Structure