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Rapid expansion of settlements and related infrastructures is a global trend that comes with severe environmental, economic, and social costs. Steering urbanization toward well-balanced compactness is thus acknowledged as an important strategic orientation in UN Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG-11) via the SDG-indicator “Ratio of land consumption rate to population growth rate.” The EU’s simultaneous commitment to being “a frontrunner in implementing […] the SDGs” and to striving for “no net land take until 2050” calls for relating the concepts of land consumption and land take to each other. Drawing on an EU-centred questionnaire study, a focus group and a literature review, we scrutinize definitions of land consumption and land take, seeking to show how they are interrelated, and questioning the comparability of respective indicators. We argue that conceptual clarifications and a bridging of the two notions are much needed, and that the precision required for definitions and applications is context-dependent. While approximate understandings may suffice for general communication and dissemination objectives, accurate and consistent interpretations of the discussed concepts seem indispensable for monitoring and reporting purposes. We propose ways of addressing existing ambiguities and suggest prioritizing the term land take in the EU context. Thereby, we aim to enhance conceptual clarity around land consumption and land take—a precondition for solidly informing respective policies and decisions.

Over 30 samples from bedrock and boulders from theVeliki vrh rock avalanche have been collected for surface exposure dating. The limestone rocks have been radiochemically treated to isolate and determine long-lived 36Cl by accelerator mass spectrometry. It could be shown that the Veliki vrh rock avalanche from the Košuta Mountain (Slovenia) event can be very likely linked to one of the major historical Earth-quakes in Europe happening on the 25th of January 1348. Taken into account independently determined denudation rates, inherited 36Cl originating from pre-exposure at shallow depths (20-55 m) could be calculated. The high amount of inherited 36Cl, i.e. 17-46% of the total 36Cl, makes this site not suitable for a precise determination of the 36Cl production rate as it was originally anticipated. Velikhi vrh is a “classic” rock avalanche of high velocity. The slope failed in the upper part with a translational slide, whereas dynamic fragmentation is the cause for further crushing of the material and the long runout.