European Environment Agency, 2009

Will our traditional rural landscapes still exist in 30 years time? Will the countryside be a lively place, or a desert? Will agriculture have a future? This interactive tool presents a set of five different land use scenarios for Europe. They have been developed using an innovative approach that triggers the imagination of stakeholders and underpins their ideas with state-of-the-art land use models.

You can explore the PRELUDE scenarios from different angles:
Scenario 1: Great Escape - Europe of Contrast
Scenario 2: Evolved Society - Europe of Harmony
Scenario 3: Clustered Networks - Europe of Structure
Scenario 4: Lettuce Surprise U - Europe of Innovation
Scenario 5: Big Crisis - Europe of Cohesion

The last section is the LIBRARY. It allows you to explore and compare the scenario data and land use / landscape maps. These scenarios represent only five of many possible perspectives, and should not be taken as predictions. The purpose of PRELUDE is not to forecast what might happen, but to inspire and inform a discussion about the potential impacts of changes currently taking place in society on Europe‘s future land use and landscapes. 

Explore the PRELUDE scenarios