The rapidly growing world population is placing increasing pressures on agricultural and forestry production systems. However, conventional intensification of production systems to increase the yield of food and biomass has led to many negative environmental and social consequences such as soil degradation, eutrophication, decline in fresh water resources, loss of biodiversity, land-use conflicts, and loss of employment. Against this background, “Integrated Land Use Systems (ILUS)”, which combine different types of land uses and integrate several management goals in the same patch or landscape mosaic, are gaining more and more importance. It is assumed that these systems provide a higher level of ecosystem goods and services, are less vulnerable to the risks of global change and markets, and are better suited to the livelihood systems of local populations. The first phase of the module/summer school will consist of expert lectures, tutorials, seminars with different representatives of various organizations, and student presentations of ILUS. Based on this input, participants will develop own case studies, using interdisciplinary approaches. Furthermore, the program will include excursions to regional ILUS.

The rapidly growing world population is placing increasing pressures on agricultural and forestry production systems. However, conventional intensification of production systems to increase the yield of food and biomass has led to many negative environmental and social consequences such as soil degradation, eutrophication, decline in fresh water resources, loss of biodiversity, land-use conflicts, and loss of employment. Against this background, “Integrated Land Use Systems (ILUS)”, which combine different types of land uses and integrate several management goals in the same patch or landscape mosaic, are gaining more and more importance. It is assumed that these systems provide a higher level of ecosystem goods and services, are less vulnerable to the risks of global change and markets, and are better suited to the livelihood systems of local populations. The first phase of the module/summer school will consist of expert lectures, tutorials, seminars with different representatives of various organizations, and student presentations of ILUS. Based on this input, participants will develop own case studies, using interdisciplinary approaches. Furthermore, the program will include excursions to regional ILUS.