LANDNET workshop in Skopje focuses on land consolidation and banking
Sharing regional experiences and best practices on land consolidation, land banking, and land abandonment will be the focus of the 13th international LANDNET workshop. Targeting in particular countries of Europe and Central Asia, the event takes place in a hybrid format from 25–27 May in Skopje.
About 180 land management professionals from around 40 countries, mainly in Europe and Central Asia, will join the event to discuss land banking instruments and their application in the region, an with overview of the recently published FAO study “ European good practices on land banking.” Good practices and country experiences with land banking will be shared by representatives from Denmark, Latvia, and Slovenia.
The workshop is organized by FAO under the umbrella of the recently launched Regional Technical Platform on Green Agriculture together with the University Ss. Cyril Methodius Faculty of Civil Engineering and in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy and the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of North Macedonia.
Lessons learned from the introduction of land consolidation in North Macedonia is another key theme of the event. Representatives from the Ministry, European Union Delegation, and FAO will present the national land policy and priorities, EU and FAO's support of agricultural and rural development in North Macedonia, and achievements in land consolidation under the EU–FAO MAINLAND project. Moreover, FAO will launch a new initiative on introducing educational programmes on land consolidation in cooperation with universities from the region, including the Faculty of Civil Engineering in Skopje. LANDNET participants will also discuss rural depopulation and land abandonment in the region, and how agricultural policy should respond to address these trends.
Participants will gather first-hand experience on land consolidation through a guided visit in the EU–FAO MAINLAND project area in Egri village, Municipality of Bitola.
As the first finalized majority-based land consolidation project in North Macedonia, Egri is an example of a successful land consolidation in an international perspective. The improved structure of agricultural land was also complemented with agricultural infrastructure investments for improving agricultural roads and drainage and irrigation channels, funded by the European Union in the amount of EUR 500 000.
About LANDNET
LANDNET is a growing network of land professionals, so far mainly from European and Central Asian countries, that is expected to further expand through the Regional Technical Platform. Working under the initiative of FAO, members have been meeting regularly since 2002 to exchange developments and good practices on land consolidation, land banking, and land market development.
25 May 2022, Skopje, North Macedonia