“Landscape means an area, as perceived by people, whose character is the result of the action and interaction of natural and/or human factors” (Art.1 of European Landscape Convention (ELC)). Landscape is both a physical reality and the representation that we make of it. It is the face of a land with all its natural and anthropological elements and, at the same time, the feelings and emotions that it arouses in us when we see it. The ELC (aka the Florence Convention, 20/10/2000 came into force on 1/3/2004, Council of Europe Treaty Series no. 176) indicates that assessment of different dimensions that exist in landscapes should be taken into account. ELC aims to encourage public authorities to adopt policies and measures at local, regional, national and international level for protecting, managing and planning landscapes throughout Europe. The Covid-19 crisis seems to have hit a pause to these policies and activities, but it is not the time to ignore such issues nor forget about the training of trainers, students and citizens required to achieve these objectives. With this situation in mind, GEOLAND focuses on NATURA 2000 sites. ParticularlyGEOLAND will:1. explore and develop educational procedures for the effective participation of Higher Education (HE) students in decision-making for landscape management, planning and protection of NATURA 2000 sites. 2. enable the uptake of novel ways to engage and empower HE students in environmental science and stimulate participatory decision-making. In particular, it will provide the opportunity to students, citizens & stakeholders being interested in the definition and implementation of landscape policies to play an active part in setting sustainability indicators of desirable landscape quality objectives (Landscape Quality Objectives/LQO). 3. attempt to identify and summarize the environmental/cultural stratification in the examined landscapes through a sophisticated Landscape Character Assessment (LCA). On the basis of this Assessment, the capabilities of geospatial technologies (Earth Observation and Geographic Information Systems) and web-based GIS applications will be exploited. 4. encourage/introduce innovative pedagogies (citizen science), technologies and state of the art approaches (LCA) to higher education studies in Europe, while addressing issues of teaching and learning about Landscape as a multidisciplinary subject area in universities. PARTICIPANTSPartnership of 7 partners from 5 countries: 1 Research center, 2 Higher Education Institutes, 3 Non -Governmental Organizations, 1 ICT small-medium Enterprise and 1 chamber of commerce.RESULTS- Promotion of latest digital innovative technologies for Landscape monitoring in Higher Education.- Support of ELC comprehension from students regarding the knowledge of the landscapes (identification, analysis, assessment) and the definition of Landscape Quality Objectives in higher education.- Progress towards a coordinated and targeted approach to the best use of geospatial technologies and relevant data and their fusion on a multidisciplinary level in educational landscape ecological services.- Support the participation of students in environmental monitoring and landscape management.- Synthesize and integrate readily communicable, to a wide audience, findings suitable for awareness raising and policy negotiations among students in Europe.- Highlight the role of training students in real-life interaction between them and available geoinformatic technologies to set up a successful format.The aforementioned results will be materialised through the generation of:1. Educational Handbook for monitoring European Landscape2. Training Course - Web based GIS platform3. Policy outreach activities4. Online gallery of student’s work5. Digital educational readiness assessment tool.LONG TERM BENEFITSBenefits expected from above results will be felt in many ways, especially in the pedagogical, environmental and digital skills fields. In particular, they can be defined as follows:- Min. 30% increase (in participating organizations) in the number of students who will be aware of the most important pieces of ΕLC.- Min. 30% (in participating organizations) increase in students' awareness of Natura 2000 sites and network, as well as their environmental and socio-economic value.- Min. 500 students handling the most updated geoinformatic technological applications, products and services derived from the project.- Min. 40% (in the participating organizations) increase in the amount of students participating in proposed processes for the monitoring, management and protection of NATURA 2000 landscapes.- Identification and recommendation of policies and measures from HE students and professors aiming at landscape management and protection of landscape.