Sara Borgström | KTH Royal Institute of Technology (original) (raw)

Papers by Sara Borgström

Ambio, 2019

Transformation towards sustainable development is about findings new ways of thinking, organising... more Transformation towards sustainable development is about findings new ways of thinking, organising and doing to navigate wicked challenges such as climate change and urbanisation. Such challenges call for new governance modes that match the complexity of the systems to be handled, where multi-level governance and collaborative approaches have been suggested to contribute to such transformative capacity building. This in-depth, transdisciplinary study investigates how the multi-level governance context in Stockholm, Sweden, influences the transformative capacity from the perspective of local sustainability initiatives. It was found that even though the decentralized governance of the Stockholm region hosts a great potential in supporting city wide transformation, it is hampered by disconnect between actors, levels and sectors and the short-term funding structure. The suggested interventions highlight the tension between enabling collaborations, while safeguarding a high local diversity of initiatives and flexibility to ensure sustained space for innovation and learning.

The concept of resilience is currently being widely promoted and applied by environmental and dev... more The concept of resilience is currently being widely promoted and applied by environmental and development organizations. However, their application of resilience often lacks theoretical backing and evaluation. This paper presents a novel cross-fertilization of two commonly used approaches for applying resilience thinking: the grassroots movement of Transition Towns and the Resilience Alliance's Resilience Assessment. We compared these approaches through a text analysis of their key handbooks and combined them in a series of participatory workshops with a local partner active in the Transition Movement. Our results demonstrate that despite sharing a number of key features, these two approaches have complementary strengths and weaknesses. Strengths of the Transition Movement include its motivating overarching narrative of the need to transform in response to global sustainability challenges, as well as practical tools promoting learning and participation. The Resilience Assessment's conceptual framework and structured process generated context-specific understanding of resilience, but provided little guidance on navigating transformation processes. Combining the Resilience Assessment's theory on complex systems with the Transition Movement's methods for learning also generated synergies in fostering complexity thinking. Based on these findings, we believe that integrating strengths from both approaches could be widely useful for practitioners seeking to apply resilience for sustainable development. Our study also highlights that methods for assessing resilience can be improved by combining insights from science and practice.

Ambio, 2019

Urban transformations form a central challenge for enabling global pathways towards sustainabilit... more Urban transformations form a central challenge for enabling global pathways towards sustainability and resilience. However, it remains unclear what kind of capacity is needed to deliver urban change that is actually transformative. Against a backdrop of current claims and efforts to achieve urban transformations, this special issue reviews the relational concept of urban transformative capacity and how it can inform novel approaches in research, policy and practice. Drawing on seven papers analyzing diverse empirical contexts, we identify four requirements that should guide future action: 1) Foster inclusion and empowerment as prerequisites, 2) Close the intermediation gap and strengthen the role of local academia, 3) Challenge and reinvent urban planning as a key arena, 4) Enhance reflexivity through novel self-assessment techniques. Overall, current levels of urban transformative capacity are assessed as very low, making its development a high priority objective for all stakeholders, but for planning and research policy in particular.

ECOLOGY AND SOCIETY

der Velde, and R. Lindborg. 2015. Interacting effects of change in climate, human population, lan... more der Velde, and R. Lindborg. 2015. Interacting effects of change in climate, human population, land use, and water use on biodiversity and ecosystem services. Ecology and Society 20(1): 23. http://dx.ABSTRACT. Human population growth and resource use, mediated by changes in climate, land use, and water use, increasingly impact biodiversity and ecosystem services provision. However, impacts of these drivers on biodiversity and ecosystem services are rarely analyzed simultaneously and remain largely unknown. An emerging question is how science can improve the understanding of change in biodiversity and ecosystem service delivery and of potential feedback mechanisms of adaptive governance. We analyzed past and future change in drivers in south-central Sweden. We used the analysis to identify main research challenges and outline important research tasks. Since the 19th century, our study area has experienced substantial and interlinked changes; a 1.6°C temperature increase, rapid population growth, urbanization, and massive changes in land use and water use. Considerable future changes are also projected until the mid-21st century. However, little is known about the impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services so far, and this in turn hampers future projections of such effects. Therefore, we urge scientists to explore interdisciplinary approaches designed to investigate change in multiple drivers, underlying mechanisms, and interactions over time, including assessment and analysis of matching-scale data from several disciplines. Such a perspective is needed for science to contribute to adaptive governance by constantly improving the understanding of linked change complexities and their impacts.

Ecology and Society, 2015

der Velde, and R. Lindborg. 2015. Interacting effects of change in climate, human population, lan... more der Velde, and R. Lindborg. 2015. Interacting effects of change in climate, human population, land use, and water use on biodiversity and ecosystem services. Ecology and Society 20(1): 23. http://dx.ABSTRACT. Human population growth and resource use, mediated by changes in climate, land use, and water use, increasingly impact biodiversity and ecosystem services provision. However, impacts of these drivers on biodiversity and ecosystem services are rarely analyzed simultaneously and remain largely unknown. An emerging question is how science can improve the understanding of change in biodiversity and ecosystem service delivery and of potential feedback mechanisms of adaptive governance. We analyzed past and future change in drivers in south-central Sweden. We used the analysis to identify main research challenges and outline important research tasks. Since the 19th century, our study area has experienced substantial and interlinked changes; a 1.6°C temperature increase, rapid population growth, urbanization, and massive changes in land use and water use. Considerable future changes are also projected until the mid-21st century. However, little is known about the impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services so far, and this in turn hampers future projections of such effects. Therefore, we urge scientists to explore interdisciplinary approaches designed to investigate change in multiple drivers, underlying mechanisms, and interactions over time, including assessment and analysis of matching-scale data from several disciplines. Such a perspective is needed for science to contribute to adaptive governance by constantly improving the understanding of linked change complexities and their impacts.

Planning Theory & Practice, 2013

ABSTRACT Urban planners and urban planning as a field face a major challenge in balancing urban d... more ABSTRACT Urban planners and urban planning as a field face a major challenge in balancing urban development interests against the need to safeguard socially equitable and ecologically functional green space. This need is still commonly seen through a modernist lens, whereby large-scale green areas are viewed as an antithesis to the city, creating a polarised landscape seemingly free from cross-scale social and ecological interactions. This study reports on a transdisciplinary work process that aimed to challenge this polarisation by exploring more integrative and operative planning approaches to large-scale urban green structures, using the concept of resilience, both as a theoretical umbrella and in relation to a case study in Stockholm, Sweden. The exploration took the form of a series of workshops in which professionals from the fields of planning, urban design, ecology, landscape architecture, and environmental history, as well as city-wide and regional planning, took part. Throughout the process, tentative designs served as “touchstones”, bringing questions from a theoretical level to a hands-on, specific, local context. This paper identifies three ways that resilience science can be useful in the planning and management of large urban green structures. Firstly, resilience can introduce complexity and thus make visible synergies and “win–win” situations within planning. Secondly, in highlighting change, resilience can offer alternatives to present conservationist perspectives on green space planning and thus offer constructive ways out of planning-related deadlocks. Thirdly, resilience can be advantageously combined with the concept of “legibility” in clarifying common goals and thus helping to build a constituency which will sustain large-scale green structures over time.

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2004

Doctoral essay, 2006

2.2 An ecosystem approach: Management of resilience .........................5 ... 4.3 Biodiversi... more 2.2 An ecosystem approach: Management of resilience .........................5 ... 4.3 Biodiversity patterns and the use of conservation strategies...........25 ... Three billion people, approximately half of the world population, are living in urban ... Hooper et al. 2005). This doctoral essay ...

AMBIO, 2014

Although a number of comprehensive reviews have examined global ecosystem services (ES), few have... more Although a number of comprehensive reviews have examined global ecosystem services (ES), few have focused on studies that assess urban ecosystem services (UES). Given that more than half of the world's population lives in cities, understanding the dualism of the provision of and need for UES is of critical importance. Which UES are the focus of research, and what types of urban land use are examined? Are models or decision support systems used to assess the provision of UES? Are trade-offs considered? Do studies of UES engage stakeholders? To address these questions, we analyzed 217 papers derived from an ISI Web of Knowledge search using a set of standardized criteria. The results indicate that most UES studies have been undertaken in Europe, North America, and China, at city scale. Assessment methods involve biophysical models, Geographical Information Systems, and valuation, but few study findings have been implemented as land use policy. Ó The Author(s) 2014. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com www.kva.se/en Is a model used for the quantification of ES demand? Are synergies considered? Yes, no, not applicable What is/are the specific ES analyzed? Food, raw materials, fresh water, medicinal resources, local climate and air quality regulation, carbon sequestration and storage, moderation of extreme events, waste water treatment, erosion prevention and maintenance of soil fertility, pollination, biological (pest) control, habitat for species, maintenance of genetic diversity, biodiversity, recreational and mental and physical health, tourism, esthetic appreciation and inspiration for culture, art and design, spiritual experience and sense of place, other, not applicable Which indicator(s) are used? Indicator and unit (e.g., carbon storage in MgCO 3 ) Does the paper deal with ES potential or demand and provisioning? Potential, demand and provision, demand, not applicable What scale is used? City region, city, neighborhood, site, not applicable Which SPUs is the paper dealing with? Forests, urban agriculture, urban parks, waterways/lakes, cemeteries, urban fabric, allotments, rural surroundings, infrastructure, brownfields, land use mixture, urban-rural gradient, green infrastructure, other, not applicable What is the temporal scale? One time step, time series analysis, not applicable What is the relation between demand and provisioning? Local, regional, distal (teleconnections), not applicable What kind of valuation methods/indicators is applied? Monetary, non-monetary, both, not applicable What type of model is used for the quantification of ES supply/provisioning? What type of model is used for the quantification of ES demand? Bio-physical, GIS-based, statistical, qualitative, causal loop, look-up table, willingness-to-pay, survey, interview, conjoint analysis, prize, trading, REDD, risk assessment, empirical, other, not applicable Are trade-offs considered? No, between ES, between land use and ES, between ES and quality of life, between ES and economy, other, not applicable Are stakeholders involved within the assessment?

Anticipation is increasingly central to urgent contemporary debates, from climate change to the ... more Anticipation is increasingly central to urgent
contemporary debates, from climate change to the global
economic crisis. Anticipatory practices are coming to the
forefront of political, organizational, and citizens’ society.
Research into anticipation, however, has not kept pace with
public demand for insights into anticipatory practices,
their risks and uses. Where research exists, it is deeply
fragmented. This paper seeks to identify how anticipation
is defined and understood in the literature and to explore
the role of anticipatory practice to address individual,
social, and global challenges. We use a resilience lens to
examine these questions. We illustrate how varying forms
of anticipatory governance are enhanced by multi-scale
regional networks and technologies and by the agency of
individuals, drawing from an empirical case study on
regional water governance of Ma¨laren, Sweden. Finally,
we discuss how an anticipatory approach can inform
adaptive institutions, decision making, strategy formation,
and societal resilience.

Within-city green infrastructure can offer opportunities and new contexts for people to become ... more Within-city green infrastructure can offer
opportunities and new contexts for people to become
stewards of ecosystem services. We analyze cities as
social–ecological systems, synthesize the literature, and
provide examples from more than 15 years of research
in the Stockholm urban region, Sweden. The social–ecological
approach spans from investigating ecosystem properties to
the social frameworks and personal values that drive and
shape human interactions with nature. Key findings
demonstrate that urban ecosystem services are generated by
social–ecological systems and that local stewards are critically
important. However, land-use planning and management
seldom account for their role in the generation of urban
ecosystem services. While the small scale patchwork of
land uses in cities stimulates intense interactions across
borders much focus is still on individual patches. The results
highlight the importance and complexity of stewardship of
urban biodiversity and ecosystem services and of the
planning and governance of urban green infrastructure.

Ecosystem-based management (EBM) has become a key instrument of contemporary environmental policy... more Ecosystem-based management (EBM) has become a key instrument of contemporary environmental policy and practice. Given the increasingly important role of EBM, there is an urgent need for improved analytical approaches to assess if and to what extent EBM has been accomplished in any given case. Drawing on the vast literature on EBM, we identify five key ecosystem aspects for assessment. By linking these aspects to four phases of management, we develop an interdisciplinary, analytical framework that enables a high-resolution and systematic assessment of the degree of specificity and integration of ecosystem aspects in an EBM. We then apply the
framework to evaluate five coastal EBM initiatives in Sweden, four on the Baltic coast and one on the west coast. Our results demonstrate our framework’s usefulness for indepth and continuous assessments of processes aiming for EBM, and also provide an empirical basis for inferences about the key challenges for successful EBM.

Landscape and Urban Planning, Sep 2013

To effectively integrate nature conservation into sustainable landscape management, it is essenti... more To effectively integrate nature conservation into sustainable landscape management, it is essential to deepen the understanding of why, what, where and for whom nature is protected. This is especially important for nature conservation in human dominated landscapes such as cities, where built up and protected areas are moving closer to each other due to worldwide urbanization. In this study we analyzed historical and current data in Sweden to examine how decision makers have used the nature conservation objectives stated by law to establish urban and rural nature protected areas respectively.The focal conservation objectives are the preservation of biodiversity (species and habitats), outdoor recreation and restoration of environments. How these objectives were used was analyzed for all 1869nature reserves in southern Sweden in relation to degree of urbanization in the landscape. We found that nature reserves in more urbanized landscapes were based on a higher number of objectives and had a different composition of objectives compared to rural reserves. The objectives “outdoor recreation” and“species biodiversity preservation” were more common in urban reserves, while preservation of habitats were more common in rural. From the last decades we found indications of a shift in use of objectives in urban areas, going from outdoor recreation to a stronger focus on species diversity conservation.National and global trends in the nature conservation debate were also reflected in the use of objectives over time.

Ambio, 2019

Transformation towards sustainable development is about findings new ways of thinking, organising... more Transformation towards sustainable development is about findings new ways of thinking, organising and doing to navigate wicked challenges such as climate change and urbanisation. Such challenges call for new governance modes that match the complexity of the systems to be handled, where multi-level governance and collaborative approaches have been suggested to contribute to such transformative capacity building. This in-depth, transdisciplinary study investigates how the multi-level governance context in Stockholm, Sweden, influences the transformative capacity from the perspective of local sustainability initiatives. It was found that even though the decentralized governance of the Stockholm region hosts a great potential in supporting city wide transformation, it is hampered by disconnect between actors, levels and sectors and the short-term funding structure. The suggested interventions highlight the tension between enabling collaborations, while safeguarding a high local diversity of initiatives and flexibility to ensure sustained space for innovation and learning.

The concept of resilience is currently being widely promoted and applied by environmental and dev... more The concept of resilience is currently being widely promoted and applied by environmental and development organizations. However, their application of resilience often lacks theoretical backing and evaluation. This paper presents a novel cross-fertilization of two commonly used approaches for applying resilience thinking: the grassroots movement of Transition Towns and the Resilience Alliance's Resilience Assessment. We compared these approaches through a text analysis of their key handbooks and combined them in a series of participatory workshops with a local partner active in the Transition Movement. Our results demonstrate that despite sharing a number of key features, these two approaches have complementary strengths and weaknesses. Strengths of the Transition Movement include its motivating overarching narrative of the need to transform in response to global sustainability challenges, as well as practical tools promoting learning and participation. The Resilience Assessment's conceptual framework and structured process generated context-specific understanding of resilience, but provided little guidance on navigating transformation processes. Combining the Resilience Assessment's theory on complex systems with the Transition Movement's methods for learning also generated synergies in fostering complexity thinking. Based on these findings, we believe that integrating strengths from both approaches could be widely useful for practitioners seeking to apply resilience for sustainable development. Our study also highlights that methods for assessing resilience can be improved by combining insights from science and practice.

Ambio, 2019

Urban transformations form a central challenge for enabling global pathways towards sustainabilit... more Urban transformations form a central challenge for enabling global pathways towards sustainability and resilience. However, it remains unclear what kind of capacity is needed to deliver urban change that is actually transformative. Against a backdrop of current claims and efforts to achieve urban transformations, this special issue reviews the relational concept of urban transformative capacity and how it can inform novel approaches in research, policy and practice. Drawing on seven papers analyzing diverse empirical contexts, we identify four requirements that should guide future action: 1) Foster inclusion and empowerment as prerequisites, 2) Close the intermediation gap and strengthen the role of local academia, 3) Challenge and reinvent urban planning as a key arena, 4) Enhance reflexivity through novel self-assessment techniques. Overall, current levels of urban transformative capacity are assessed as very low, making its development a high priority objective for all stakeholders, but for planning and research policy in particular.

ECOLOGY AND SOCIETY

der Velde, and R. Lindborg. 2015. Interacting effects of change in climate, human population, lan... more der Velde, and R. Lindborg. 2015. Interacting effects of change in climate, human population, land use, and water use on biodiversity and ecosystem services. Ecology and Society 20(1): 23. http://dx.ABSTRACT. Human population growth and resource use, mediated by changes in climate, land use, and water use, increasingly impact biodiversity and ecosystem services provision. However, impacts of these drivers on biodiversity and ecosystem services are rarely analyzed simultaneously and remain largely unknown. An emerging question is how science can improve the understanding of change in biodiversity and ecosystem service delivery and of potential feedback mechanisms of adaptive governance. We analyzed past and future change in drivers in south-central Sweden. We used the analysis to identify main research challenges and outline important research tasks. Since the 19th century, our study area has experienced substantial and interlinked changes; a 1.6°C temperature increase, rapid population growth, urbanization, and massive changes in land use and water use. Considerable future changes are also projected until the mid-21st century. However, little is known about the impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services so far, and this in turn hampers future projections of such effects. Therefore, we urge scientists to explore interdisciplinary approaches designed to investigate change in multiple drivers, underlying mechanisms, and interactions over time, including assessment and analysis of matching-scale data from several disciplines. Such a perspective is needed for science to contribute to adaptive governance by constantly improving the understanding of linked change complexities and their impacts.

Ecology and Society, 2015

der Velde, and R. Lindborg. 2015. Interacting effects of change in climate, human population, lan... more der Velde, and R. Lindborg. 2015. Interacting effects of change in climate, human population, land use, and water use on biodiversity and ecosystem services. Ecology and Society 20(1): 23. http://dx.ABSTRACT. Human population growth and resource use, mediated by changes in climate, land use, and water use, increasingly impact biodiversity and ecosystem services provision. However, impacts of these drivers on biodiversity and ecosystem services are rarely analyzed simultaneously and remain largely unknown. An emerging question is how science can improve the understanding of change in biodiversity and ecosystem service delivery and of potential feedback mechanisms of adaptive governance. We analyzed past and future change in drivers in south-central Sweden. We used the analysis to identify main research challenges and outline important research tasks. Since the 19th century, our study area has experienced substantial and interlinked changes; a 1.6°C temperature increase, rapid population growth, urbanization, and massive changes in land use and water use. Considerable future changes are also projected until the mid-21st century. However, little is known about the impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services so far, and this in turn hampers future projections of such effects. Therefore, we urge scientists to explore interdisciplinary approaches designed to investigate change in multiple drivers, underlying mechanisms, and interactions over time, including assessment and analysis of matching-scale data from several disciplines. Such a perspective is needed for science to contribute to adaptive governance by constantly improving the understanding of linked change complexities and their impacts.

Planning Theory & Practice, 2013

ABSTRACT Urban planners and urban planning as a field face a major challenge in balancing urban d... more ABSTRACT Urban planners and urban planning as a field face a major challenge in balancing urban development interests against the need to safeguard socially equitable and ecologically functional green space. This need is still commonly seen through a modernist lens, whereby large-scale green areas are viewed as an antithesis to the city, creating a polarised landscape seemingly free from cross-scale social and ecological interactions. This study reports on a transdisciplinary work process that aimed to challenge this polarisation by exploring more integrative and operative planning approaches to large-scale urban green structures, using the concept of resilience, both as a theoretical umbrella and in relation to a case study in Stockholm, Sweden. The exploration took the form of a series of workshops in which professionals from the fields of planning, urban design, ecology, landscape architecture, and environmental history, as well as city-wide and regional planning, took part. Throughout the process, tentative designs served as “touchstones”, bringing questions from a theoretical level to a hands-on, specific, local context. This paper identifies three ways that resilience science can be useful in the planning and management of large urban green structures. Firstly, resilience can introduce complexity and thus make visible synergies and “win–win” situations within planning. Secondly, in highlighting change, resilience can offer alternatives to present conservationist perspectives on green space planning and thus offer constructive ways out of planning-related deadlocks. Thirdly, resilience can be advantageously combined with the concept of “legibility” in clarifying common goals and thus helping to build a constituency which will sustain large-scale green structures over time.

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2004

Doctoral essay, 2006

2.2 An ecosystem approach: Management of resilience .........................5 ... 4.3 Biodiversi... more 2.2 An ecosystem approach: Management of resilience .........................5 ... 4.3 Biodiversity patterns and the use of conservation strategies...........25 ... Three billion people, approximately half of the world population, are living in urban ... Hooper et al. 2005). This doctoral essay ...

AMBIO, 2014

Although a number of comprehensive reviews have examined global ecosystem services (ES), few have... more Although a number of comprehensive reviews have examined global ecosystem services (ES), few have focused on studies that assess urban ecosystem services (UES). Given that more than half of the world's population lives in cities, understanding the dualism of the provision of and need for UES is of critical importance. Which UES are the focus of research, and what types of urban land use are examined? Are models or decision support systems used to assess the provision of UES? Are trade-offs considered? Do studies of UES engage stakeholders? To address these questions, we analyzed 217 papers derived from an ISI Web of Knowledge search using a set of standardized criteria. The results indicate that most UES studies have been undertaken in Europe, North America, and China, at city scale. Assessment methods involve biophysical models, Geographical Information Systems, and valuation, but few study findings have been implemented as land use policy. Ó The Author(s) 2014. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com www.kva.se/en Is a model used for the quantification of ES demand? Are synergies considered? Yes, no, not applicable What is/are the specific ES analyzed? Food, raw materials, fresh water, medicinal resources, local climate and air quality regulation, carbon sequestration and storage, moderation of extreme events, waste water treatment, erosion prevention and maintenance of soil fertility, pollination, biological (pest) control, habitat for species, maintenance of genetic diversity, biodiversity, recreational and mental and physical health, tourism, esthetic appreciation and inspiration for culture, art and design, spiritual experience and sense of place, other, not applicable Which indicator(s) are used? Indicator and unit (e.g., carbon storage in MgCO 3 ) Does the paper deal with ES potential or demand and provisioning? Potential, demand and provision, demand, not applicable What scale is used? City region, city, neighborhood, site, not applicable Which SPUs is the paper dealing with? Forests, urban agriculture, urban parks, waterways/lakes, cemeteries, urban fabric, allotments, rural surroundings, infrastructure, brownfields, land use mixture, urban-rural gradient, green infrastructure, other, not applicable What is the temporal scale? One time step, time series analysis, not applicable What is the relation between demand and provisioning? Local, regional, distal (teleconnections), not applicable What kind of valuation methods/indicators is applied? Monetary, non-monetary, both, not applicable What type of model is used for the quantification of ES supply/provisioning? What type of model is used for the quantification of ES demand? Bio-physical, GIS-based, statistical, qualitative, causal loop, look-up table, willingness-to-pay, survey, interview, conjoint analysis, prize, trading, REDD, risk assessment, empirical, other, not applicable Are trade-offs considered? No, between ES, between land use and ES, between ES and quality of life, between ES and economy, other, not applicable Are stakeholders involved within the assessment?

Anticipation is increasingly central to urgent contemporary debates, from climate change to the ... more Anticipation is increasingly central to urgent
contemporary debates, from climate change to the global
economic crisis. Anticipatory practices are coming to the
forefront of political, organizational, and citizens’ society.
Research into anticipation, however, has not kept pace with
public demand for insights into anticipatory practices,
their risks and uses. Where research exists, it is deeply
fragmented. This paper seeks to identify how anticipation
is defined and understood in the literature and to explore
the role of anticipatory practice to address individual,
social, and global challenges. We use a resilience lens to
examine these questions. We illustrate how varying forms
of anticipatory governance are enhanced by multi-scale
regional networks and technologies and by the agency of
individuals, drawing from an empirical case study on
regional water governance of Ma¨laren, Sweden. Finally,
we discuss how an anticipatory approach can inform
adaptive institutions, decision making, strategy formation,
and societal resilience.

Within-city green infrastructure can offer opportunities and new contexts for people to become ... more Within-city green infrastructure can offer
opportunities and new contexts for people to become
stewards of ecosystem services. We analyze cities as
social–ecological systems, synthesize the literature, and
provide examples from more than 15 years of research
in the Stockholm urban region, Sweden. The social–ecological
approach spans from investigating ecosystem properties to
the social frameworks and personal values that drive and
shape human interactions with nature. Key findings
demonstrate that urban ecosystem services are generated by
social–ecological systems and that local stewards are critically
important. However, land-use planning and management
seldom account for their role in the generation of urban
ecosystem services. While the small scale patchwork of
land uses in cities stimulates intense interactions across
borders much focus is still on individual patches. The results
highlight the importance and complexity of stewardship of
urban biodiversity and ecosystem services and of the
planning and governance of urban green infrastructure.

Ecosystem-based management (EBM) has become a key instrument of contemporary environmental policy... more Ecosystem-based management (EBM) has become a key instrument of contemporary environmental policy and practice. Given the increasingly important role of EBM, there is an urgent need for improved analytical approaches to assess if and to what extent EBM has been accomplished in any given case. Drawing on the vast literature on EBM, we identify five key ecosystem aspects for assessment. By linking these aspects to four phases of management, we develop an interdisciplinary, analytical framework that enables a high-resolution and systematic assessment of the degree of specificity and integration of ecosystem aspects in an EBM. We then apply the
framework to evaluate five coastal EBM initiatives in Sweden, four on the Baltic coast and one on the west coast. Our results demonstrate our framework’s usefulness for indepth and continuous assessments of processes aiming for EBM, and also provide an empirical basis for inferences about the key challenges for successful EBM.

Landscape and Urban Planning, Sep 2013

To effectively integrate nature conservation into sustainable landscape management, it is essenti... more To effectively integrate nature conservation into sustainable landscape management, it is essential to deepen the understanding of why, what, where and for whom nature is protected. This is especially important for nature conservation in human dominated landscapes such as cities, where built up and protected areas are moving closer to each other due to worldwide urbanization. In this study we analyzed historical and current data in Sweden to examine how decision makers have used the nature conservation objectives stated by law to establish urban and rural nature protected areas respectively.The focal conservation objectives are the preservation of biodiversity (species and habitats), outdoor recreation and restoration of environments. How these objectives were used was analyzed for all 1869nature reserves in southern Sweden in relation to degree of urbanization in the landscape. We found that nature reserves in more urbanized landscapes were based on a higher number of objectives and had a different composition of objectives compared to rural reserves. The objectives “outdoor recreation” and“species biodiversity preservation” were more common in urban reserves, while preservation of habitats were more common in rural. From the last decades we found indications of a shift in use of objectives in urban areas, going from outdoor recreation to a stronger focus on species diversity conservation.National and global trends in the nature conservation debate were also reflected in the use of objectives over time.