Planning Transformative Change with Nature-Based Solutions: A Geodesign Application in Stockholm

A new study titled "Planning for transformative change with nature-based solutions: A geodesign application in Stockholm" has been published in the journal Landscape and Urban Planning. This research, led by Blal Adem Esmail, Senior Researcher at GLOMOS - Centre for Global Mountain Safeguard Research, Eurac Research, Bolzano, Italy, explores how geodesign processes can support the co-creation of transformative urban plans that enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services while meeting urban development goals. The study answers the increasing call for transformative change by IPBES, IPCC, and the EU Green Deal, proposing an operational approach for how to plan for transformative change by downscaling lofty sustainability goals at the local level, where actual decision-making takes place.

The study involved a case study in Stockholm, Sweden, where the research team developed and deployed a geodesign process for a neighbourhood in Stockholm, creating two scenario storylines: one following the current city plan and another emphasizing the most transformative elements of the plan.

Fourteen planning stakeholders participated in the geodesign process, translating the storylines into actual land use changes and exploring the impacts of the two scenarios. Findings indicate that the geodesign process effectively enabled participants to develop transformative plans that address housing needs while promoting biodiversity and ecosystem services through nature-based solutions.

The study highlights the importance of involving key stakeholders throughout the study conceptualization, both tool and scenario co-development, and model generation to better consider the context. It also emphasizes the need for enhancing geodesign tools for user-friendliness and suggests further research to understand the impacts of geodesign on participants and scaling up to address complex challenges in metropolitan and landscape planning.

Blal Adem Esmail, the lead author, stated, "Our research demonstrates the potential of geodesign to create urban plans that not only meet development goals but also enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services. This approach is crucial for achieving the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals for cities and urban communities."

Overall, the study underscores the necessity of testing this innovative geodesign approach in other socio-ecological contexts, particularly in mountain regions where research is currently limited.

Cooperation partners The project brought together teams from Center for Global Mountain Safeguard Research GLOMOS at Eurac Research, Bolzano (Italy), PLANES Lab at the University of Trento (Italy), and Landscape Planning and Ecosystem Services Team at Leibniz Universität Hanover (Germany), Dep. of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering (SEED) and Department of Urban Planning and Environment at KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden), Geo-Col GIS and Collaborative Planning (Netherlands), and Institute of Geography Ruhr-Uni Bochum at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum (Germany).

Funding Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. This research was supported by Formas Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development [Grants 2020-00086 and 2021-00054] within the national research programme “Sustainable Spatial Planning”.