Rail Baltica, the largest infrastructure project of the century in the Baltic region, plans to integrate the Baltic States with the European rail network. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2019. Crossing through farmlands, the project challenges rural livelihoods and puts the competitive agriculture of the Baltics at risk.

Organized by FAO and the Estonian University of Life Sciences in Estonia, a three-day LANDNET workshop is opening today in Tallinn, bringing more than 125 experts, public officials, and representatives of civil society and academia from 30 European countries to debate proper land consolidation steps regarding this situation. The workshop is co-financed by the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) and the Estonian Center of Eastern Partnership.