LANDSUPPORT: Turning geospatial innovation into real-world land management impact

Navigating the complex path from scientific results to real-world adoption is now expected from beneficiaries of EU research funds. However, many research teams and entrepreneurs are unsure of how exactly to move in that direction. Booster helps bridge this gap by providing structured, expert guidance for EU-funded projects, enabling teams to move from strong research outputs to tangible impact.

This journey was exemplified by LANDSUPPORT, a Horizon 2020 project developing an advanced geospatial Decision Support System (S-DSS) designed to support sustainable agriculture, land-use planning, and environmental policy implementation. During a crucial moment in their project lifecycle, the LANDSUPPORT team turned to Booster to clarify their exploitation strategy and strengthen their pathway toward long-term usability and market uptake.

From strong research to structured impact thinking

As LANDSUPPORT was progressing toward its final phase, the consortium recognised that the time had come to translate its ambitious technological achievements into actionable, exploitable results. “Having reached the stage where we had to operationally address the issue of impacts and exploitable results, we thought it was important to rely on professionals in the field to maximise results. Believing strongly in the potential of the project and being aware of the Horizon Results Booster service, we did not hesitate to proceed with the application” explained the team behind the project.

Seeing the project through an “outside eye”

Once the collaboration began, the team immediately noticed the benefits of having external experts guide them through the process. Booster experts work closely with projects, stress-testing assumptions, and helping clarify what each result truly delivers. For LANDSUPPORT, this perspective proved essential.

“Our experience was immediately positive: we started with a series of online meetings in which the Booster experts were able to understand its structure and objectives. The next phase of the support was the most productive: it was crucial for us to have an ‘outside’ view of the project and to assess its readability for those who were not aware of it. This allowed us to visualise more clearly the potential of the project and to have a greater awareness in the construction and communication of the expected results and their practical applicability.” 

This shift in perspective enabled the team to articulate LANDSUPPORT’s strengths more clearly: a web-based geospatial platform comprising over 100 operational tools, integrating high-performance models, massive geospatial datasets, and simulation capabilities for agriculture, forestry, climate resilience, land degradation, and ecosystem services. 

One unexpected insight emerged during the modules’ delivery: the project’s flexible, adaptive cyber-infrastructure, initially perceived by the team as a background element, was identified as a Key Exploitable Result (KER) in its own right. 

“The most striking example is the inclusion of the platform's own cyberinfrastructure in the KERs, a valuable hint that came out of the interactions with the Booster experts.”
This re-framing opened new avenues for future research, partnerships, and potential market-oriented applications.

Clarifying applications across multiple scales

LANDSUPPORT was designed for use from the European scale down to national, regional, and local case studies across Italy, Hungary, Austria, Tunisia, and Malaysia. It supports policy implementation for about 20 EU land-based policies and contributes to several UN Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG 15.3: land degradation neutrality. 

Given the breadth of tools and potential users,from policymakers to farmers, regional authorities, and citizens, Booster helped the team articulate how these components could produce concrete, real-world impact.

By the end of the service, LANDSUPPORT had gained:

• a clearer view of how its individual tools could generate value
• redefined exploitable results, including previously underestimated assets
• stronger internal alignment on communication and exploitation strategy
• greater confidence in framing impacts for diverse end users

“Booster helped us visualise the concrete application potential of our tools. We gained more awareness and clarity about the applicability of our results and the possible impacts of the project.”

Advice for future Booster applicants

Reflecting on their experience, the LANDSUPPORT team underlined the importance of being open to external perspectives:

“Do not underestimate the importance of an outside eye on your research project, especially that of professionals who can help you in defining and enhancing your exploitation strategy. From this interaction, you will certainly have more awareness and clarity of the applicability of your results and the possible impacts of your project.”

Their experience shows that even highly advanced, technologically mature projects can benefit from structured guidance, especially when preparing for exploitation, communication, and long-term uptake.

About LANDSUPPORT

LANDSUPPORT developed a web-based smart geoSpatial Decision Support System (S-DSS) to assist sustainable agriculture and forestry, evaluate land-use trade-offs, and support the implementation of key EU policies and UN SDGs. Through high-performance modelling, interoperability with existing databases, and multi-scale applications across Europe and beyond, LANDSUPPORT brings scientific and technological innovation into real-world land management.