Towards no net land take – insights from ‘Recycle Space Slovenia’

This Policy Lab for Slovenia, organised by the EUKN and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning of the Republic of Slovenia (MNVP), was centred around the topic of land take reduction and circular use of land. It attracted a high-number of participants, as a proof that many stakeholders – in Slovenia and across Europe- are dealing with the same issues and barriers and can learn from each other to reduce their ‘land footprint’.

Following the welcome by the organisers, Ms Ajda Kafol presented the ‘Strategic plan on circular space management 2024-2030’. This document is the result of the Recycle Space Slovenia project, which was part of the Green Slovenian Location Framework (SLO4D) programme, funded by the Slovenian Recovery and Resilience Plan and the Climate Fund. The concrete measures presented by Ms Kafol opened a discussion on the economic challenges of land recycling, where experts from Croatia and Slovenia contributed to.

An international panel discussion with experts from Austria, Flanders, the Netherlands, and Slovenia shed light on existing strategies to achieve the No Net Land Take by 2050 target. Speakers presented  their countries’ goals, as well as the solutions and barriers that they are facing to fulfil them. Building on the knowledge shared and the open questions, participants split into smaller groups to discuss their struggles in moving towards no net land take and brainstorm on possible solutions.