Dear Colleagues,

We invite you to submit your paper for open access publication in this Special Issue of Land, “Land Governance and (Im)mobility: Exploring the Nexus between Land Acquisition, Displacement and Migration”. This Special Issue takes the land–mobility nexus as a starting point and focuses on the multiple ways in which access and rights to land relate to mobility processes.

Providing people with secure and equal access to land is fundamental in giving people the “right to remain”, but land acquisitions simultaneously contribute to evictions and displacements, and the resettlement of groups. Up to now, the discussion has focused on respecting land rights, informing residents in advance, and, in the case of forced displacement, offering fair compensation. Given the variety of mobilities, what are good ways forward in land governance? How can land governance contribute to inclusive development—preventing eviction and displacement, while supporting vulnerable groups to settle in safe places and build secure and sustainable livelihoods?

How can property regimes (and ideas of fixing people to the land) move along with these changes and be made more suitable? How do economic transformations – value chain integration, market liberalization or reregulation—affect the ability of people to make a living on their lands? What do we know about the stability of ´foreign´ investor communities—and what are the implications of their land investments for the (im)mobility of local communities? At the heart of the debate are the Sustainable Development Goals—what is the role of land governance in the context of the ambition to “leave no one behind”?

This Special Issue emerges from contributions of the LANDac Annual International Conference that takes place 28–29 June, 2018, in Utrecht, the Netherlands. You are invited to submit an abstract by 31 July 2018 and full-paper manuscripts to Land by 31 October 2018. Contributions may address the Special Issue topic from different angles and focus on, for example:

• Infrastructure development and involuntary settlement
• Land reforms and conflict-induced displacement
• Gender differentials, specifically women’s and youth’s role in migration and resettlement processes
• Strategies of inclusive governance and inclusive business in the context of displacement induced migration (including, but also going beyond fair compensation, informed consent)
• The role of digital and data technologies in monitoring and governing displacement induced mobility.

Prof. Dr. Annelies Zoomers

Dr. Marthe Derkzen

Dr. Christine Richter
Guest Editors