This WP considers the premise of RQ2 which asks if by joining up approaches to managing land it is possible to make more effective use of land in delivering the range of public and private goods. The WP will undertake social research on policy coherence to support emerging institutions such as the Regional Land Use Partnerships. The research will identify the LU/LUCF actors (agriculture, forestry, sporting, conservation, tourism etc), characterise how the institutional landscape joins up horizontally (between policies) and vertically (from objective to implementation), and highlight solutions that can address the issues identified (linking with Topic B3, Theme D and Theme E). This is complemented by an analysis of stories about land use change past, present and future, contrasting official sources with those from other actors using an array of conventional, sensory and netnography qualitative data collection methods (complementing D4). The WP will use the mitigation research (C3.1) and the climate change adaption research (C3.3 next section) to generate joined up macro land use planning delivering multiple objectives across levels (national, regional and landscape). It will do this through conducting cycles of transdisciplinary Quantitative Story Telling (QST) detailed in the Technical Approach. In QST, research is conducted through co-construction with national or regional policy actors: defining both the scope of analysis and the interpretation of the outcomes. The research will, where possible, use data and knowledge elicited from stakeholders such as RESAS analysts, SG policy teams or the RLUP pilot coordination network as inputs. The first case for QST will be selected in further consultation with SG policy makers depending on policy priorities (options discussed included support to the pilot RLUPs, design of post-2024 agricultural support policy or the 2025 Climate Change Plan).
