Understanding land use change is a scientific challenge of considerable importance to humanity. Some of the most important changes in the landscape have arisen from direct decisions by mankind concerning land use: including changes in cropping patterns, afforestation/deforestation, urbanisation/periurbanisation and the modification of water courses. These in turn have affected both the quality of environmental resources (i.e. soils and water) and the sustainability of a lasting and diversified food chain. There is a growing realisation that rapid land use change, both currently and in the future, will result from changes in the physical environment, such as climate change, as well as from policy and economic influences. The Laboratory of GIS and Integrated Modelling undertakes research on land use change in both the rural and urban environments within Europe. This research is based on the development of spatial models that integrate socio-economic and biophysical processes, linked to suitable GIS technology. Model development and application is used both to further understanding of land use processes and process interaction, as well as to evaluate the impact of different environmental change drivers (e.g. climate or policy change) on the structure and spatial distribution of land use in different European landscapes.