How Rural Land Systems Impact Sustainable Development Goals in Europe: Synergies and Challenges

Sustainability of Rural Land Systems in Europe

Environmental Sustainability

• The Northern Baltic region (Sweden, Finland, Estonia, and Latvia) and parts of the Balkans (including Slovakia) are identified as environmental brightspots. These areas have high groundwater quality, low soil erosion, minimal use of pesticides and irrigation, and low greenhouse gas emissions[6）。
• In contrast, environmental dragspots are found in the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, western Germany, northern France, and Northern Italy. These regions have low organic farming, high soil erosion, and poor Natura 2000 area and high nature value farmland indicators.

Social Sustainability

• Central Europe, including Germany, northern Austria, and the western Czech Republic, is a social brightspot. This region has low energy use in agriculture, low unemployment, and a low risk of poverty or social exclusion. It also boasts higher agricultural training and higher farm incomes.
• Social dragspots are located in the Balkans, Cyprus, the Iberian Peninsula, and Southern Italy and Malta. These areas suffer from low agricultural training, low renewable energy use, and low farm incomes, along with high poverty risks.

Overall Sustainability

• The Nordic regions (Sweden and Finland) and Central Europe (including most of Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic) are overall brightspots. These areas balance both high environmental and social sustainability scores.
• Overall dragspots include parts of the Balkans, the Lowlands (Netherlands and Belgium), Northern Italy, Southern Italy and Malta, and Southern Spain. These regions have poor social conditions or environmental performance, or both.

Subsidies and Food Production

• Dragspots, such as Northern Italy, the Lowlands, and Southern Italy, receive high levels of EU subsidies but underperform in environmental and social sustainability. These subsidies often support marketable food production rather than achieving sustainable development goals.
• The Nordic brightspot receives lower subsidies but delivers fewer calories to the food system, indicating a focus on sustainability over high food production. In contrast, the Central Europe brightspot has a wide range of calorie delivery to the food system.

Key Findings

• High environmental performance often corresponds with lower social scores, and vice versa. For example, Croatia, Latvia, Slovenia, and Estonia have high environmental scores but lower social scores, while Germany, Luxembourg, and Iceland have high social scores but lower environmental scores.
• Public subsidies are not always aligned with sustainability outcomes. Dragspots often receive substantial subsidies despite poor environmental and social performance, while brightspots receive fewer subsidies but achieve better sustainability scores.

This analysis highlights the need for a balanced approach to sustainability in rural Europe, ensuring that both environmental and social aspects are addressed effectively, and that subsidies are allocated to support sustainable practices.