Swedish landscape restoration demonstration site seeking Horizon Europe Living Lab consortium

Massum – Small Landowners in Landscape-Scale Nature Restoration (Sweden)

I am offering a privately owned 15.7-hectare property in Roslagen, Sweden, as a potential demonstration and research site within a Horizon Europe Nature Restoration Living Lab.

The restoration initiative

Massum is a historically managed agricultural and forest landscape where I am developing plans for:

• Restoration of wooded pastures and semi-natural grasslands through conservation grazing.

• Wetland recovery and potential rewetting of drained organic soils.

• Biodiversity-friendly woodland management.

• Improved ecological connectivity with surrounding landscapes, including nearby nature reserves and areas of conservation interest.

• Exploring agroforestry and silvopastoral systems as potential approaches to integrating biodiversity conservation, grazing and sustainable land use.

The site is at an early planning stage, providing opportunities for baseline assessments, co-design of restoration measures and long-term monitoring.

Potential research contribution

Beyond ecological restoration, Massum offers an opportunity to investigate how small private landowners can participate in landscape-scale restoration, including:

• Financial, administrative and regulatory barriers to implementing restoration.

• Coordination between landowners, authorities, researchers and conservation organisations.

• Practical approaches to combining conservation objectives with viable land management.

• Transferable models for engaging small landowners in nature restoration.

I hold a BSc in Landscape Science and have conducted a historical-ecological study of the Massum landscape using historical maps, GIS and land-cover analysis.

Collaboration sought

I am seeking research institutions, Living Lab coordinators and consortium partners preparing Horizon Europe proposals, particularly under the topic on Living Labs for ecosystem restoration.

I can contribute a potential demonstration site, local landscape knowledge, historical spatial data and active landowner participation in planning, implementation and evaluation.

I would welcome discussions with partners interested in integrating smaller privately owned landscapes into collaborative restoration research.