International Land Management Conference on the Political Economy of Land Governance (2026)

A growing field of research on the political economy of land explores the factors that shape why approaches to land governance succeed or fail within given contexts. Land governance grounded in analysis of political economy has the potential to enable increasingly inclusive, equitable, economically productive and environmentally sustainable pathways to development.

The 5th International Land Management Conference in March 2026 gathered 50 speakers, 400 attendees and over 1000 registrants from research, policy and practice in 128 countries to explore this issue through four interrelated themes:

• Improving understanding of the political economy factors that influence land governance
• Power and agency in land governance
• Widening perspectives for land governance
• Changing approaches to the economics and financing of land governance

This Book of Abstracts summarises the presentations made at the event. 

Full presentations and recordings are available via the LINK website.