Founded in 1946, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy is a nonprofit foundation dedicated to improving quality of life through the effective use, taxation, and stewardship of land. Its mission is to use research to help find real-world solutions, combining education, training, publications, and events to inform public policy on pressing economic, social, and environmental challenges.
Today, the institute operates globally across strategic locations in the U.S. and China, pursuing a vision of prosperous cities and regions that share the through equitable land use, public finance, and responsible resource stewardship.
At the heart of the Lincoln institute's work are three core impact areas:
Promotes sustainable land use and water management to support climate resilience and healthy ecosystems.
Examines how land-based revenues can fund services fairly through systems built for accountability and efficiency.
Focuses on how communities can leverage land to strengthen local economies, build equity, and long-term prosperity.
The Lincoln Institute actively supports planning education through its curriculum innovation awards, run in partnership with the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP). These awards honor and support university courses that encourage students to consider land-based development and reflect sustainability, equity, and fiscal health.
The Institute also jointly sponsors the case study awards, funding research to inform better land policy. By working together, the Lincoln Institute and ACSP are helping educators strengthen experiential, practice-oriented curricula and equipping students with the skills, insights, and ethical grounding they need to build a brighter tomorrow.