Conflicts over land have been a feature of human existence since time immemorial. Land confers livelihood, living space, territory, even national identity. Nearly all of humanity’s food needs depend on one hand-span of soil - yet an estimated 34 million tonnes of topsoil are lost to erosion every year. Land degradation, climate change, population pressure, conflict and poor governance can interact in negative feedback loops, directly impacting the health and livelihoods of 1.5 billion people. On the other hand, there is growing evidence that integrating land restoration with community-based peacebuilding can create a virtuous cycle leading to both environmental and social recovery, and contributing to climatechange adaptation and mitigation. The constraint to implementing this approach often lies in weak intersectoral co-operation and the need to build trust for the governance of shared natural resources.
 

The Land and Security Academy will not only equip professionals with an understanding of the issues, and the methodologies to deal with them, it will also forge a network of ‘land and security alumni’ who can draw on each other’s strengths.
• Environment and peacebuilding nexus;
• Cooperation beyond silos;
• Analysis of land and security nexus;
• Case studies from Africa and Asia;
• Access to the 2019 Caux Dialogue on Land and Security (CDLS);
• Strengthening of networks by interaction with global stakeholders and communities, by sharing knowledge among practitioners and researchers to deliver practical, timely and innovative ideas to implement and build more robust and effective practices.

This course target audience are environment and security professionals from public and private sectors:
• civil servants
• diplomats
• military
• private sector representatives
• community leaders
• NGOs
• International organisations
To create the global cooperation that will be required to respond to the land and security challenges of the 21st century.

GCSP Alumni are eligible for a 20% discount.