EU's agricultural and forestry land provides a wide range of public goods (PG) and ecosystem services (ESS) on which society depends, yet land use decisions and society often under-value these . PEGASUS will develop innovative, practical ways of making PG and ESS concepts accessible and operational: it will identify how, where and when cost-effective mechanisms and tools for policy, business and practice can most effectively be applied, increasing the sustainability of primary production in pursuit of the EU2020 vision of 'smart, sustainable and inclusive growth'. Recognising that the appreciation of PGs is context-dependent, PEGASUS uses social-ecological systems as an analytical framework to explore systemic inter-dependencies among natural, social and economic processes. It will adopt participatory action research with public and private actors and stakeholders to better understand the range of policy and practical challenges in different case study contexts (localities, sectors, management systems, etc.). An EU-level spatially explicit assessment of causalities between socio-political and institutional drivers, different land management systems and multiple delivery of PG will be complemented by fine-grained analysis within the case studies, and comparative meta-analysis will be applied to develop an operational framework for mapping, valorising and determining what PG and ecosystem service (ES) provision is needed and feasible within particular territories and sectors. New data-sets, transferable methods and tools that are fit-for-purpose and sensitive to the plurality of decision-making contexts will be generated. By improving recognition of the social and economic value of PG, PEGASUS will promote improved and innovative approaches to their provision by businesses and communities, and highlight specific policy improvements. It will provide specific advances in CAP, forestry and other relevant policies, underpinned by strong scientific evidence.

Mutually beneficial relations along rural – peri-urban – urban trajectories can contribute substantially to Europe’s smart, sustainable and inclusive growth agenda. Success in creating synergies is largely determined by decisions made at local and regional levels. Well-designed governance arrangements can be conducive to decisions that strengthen beneficial relations between rural and urban areas. Central to ROBUST is a place-based case study approach in which the case studies focus on thematic functional linkages cutting across rural-urban areas. The content and governance of these functional linkages are analyzed in diverse case study areas that represent the main types of rural – peri-urban – urban settings across Europe. ROBUST will identify and strengthen policies, governance systems and practices that can contribute more effectively to smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Particular attention will be paid to the capacities of municipal and regional governments, the related administrations and other stakeholders to deliver and enhance mutually beneficial relations. ROBUST aims to provide practice-oriented information about successful governance models applicable to different settings as well as related communication and training material. In ROBUST, the questions and research needs of practice partners will guide the research process. Researchers will support the related multi-actor consultations through data collection and analysis, by providing suitable platforms and through facilitation. The insights co-generated by research and practice partners and stakeholders will be translated into tools, including scenario development, as well as training materials and capacity building measures. ROBUST will in this way contribute to a better understanding of rural-urban interactions, and it will at the same time enhance the capacity of relevant actors and institutions to foster mutually beneficial relations along rural – peri-urban – urban trajectories.