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(re)Planning Nature-Based Solutions and Green Infrastructure for Sustainable Urban Transformations

REPLAN logo

Project leader: Ulla Mörtberg, SEED, KTH

Participants: Berit Balfors, Johan Högström, Sigvard Bast, Lina Suleiman, Xi-Lillian Pang, KTH; and Blal Adem Esmail, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany

Collaboration: Christian Albert, Ruhr University Bochum and Leibniz University Hannover, Germany; Chiara Cortinovis, Jarumi Kato Huerta and Davide Geneletti, University of Trento, Italy

Project period: 2021-2025

Funding: FORMAS

Key words: Green areas for sustainable cities, Nature-based solutions and green infrastructure, Planning with nature in cities

Project description

The aim of the project is to understand and facilitate the interplay of processes, actors, and tools across planning tiers to support Swedish spatial planning in integrating Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) and Green Infrastructure (GI) to achieve human wellbeing while conserving life-supporting ecosystems in urban regions. Fundamental components of the sustainability transition, NBS and GI are yet to be effectively integrated in reallife planning in Sweden. This requires good coordination across planning levels, smart use of digital NBS-GI tools, and processes of knowledge co-creation and co-production. The overall aim of the REPLAN project is to coproduce new and essential knowledge of how local and regional planning practices can contribute to the protection of urban green areas and their ecosystem services by exploring new trajectories for spatial planning processes.

We analyse related digital tools and test them in spatial scenarios addressing urgent challenges formulated by stakeholders. We organise Capacity Tracks for integration of NBS-GI in planning as well as of digital NBS-GI tools, laying the foundation for a Capacity Platform for co-learning and co-creation of solutions. Thus, REPLAN will create credible and salient solutions to how local and regional planning processes can be organized and designed to effectively make use of NBS and GI to shape thriving residential and public environments and to combat biodiversity challenges by ensuring sustainable land and water use.

Activities

Time and place Activity
Tuesday 4 November at 9-12, at KTH

Välkommen till en workshop som handlar om digitala verktyg som stöd för ekosystemtjänster och biologisk mångfald i planering. Vi diskuterar planeringsstöd, som kan vara allt från karteringar till mjukvaror, plattformar, metoder och modeller som är utformade för att informera och integrera gröna värden i planeringen. Språket är svenska. Välkommen med din anmälan!
Wednesday 5 February 2025 at 9-11, online Joining forces with the EU project SELINA, we held a webinar and workshop on ecosystem service mapping and assessment in planning, with participants from Sweden, Norway and Slovenia.

8 December 2023, Stockholm University

Biotope map user workshop [ Biotop.se användarworkshop ]: Presentation of the use of the Biotope map in REPLAN and other projects, ” Biotopkartan som underlag – några exempel ”.
Publications

Suleiman, L., Pu, Y., Adem Esmail, B., Balfors, B., Mörtberg, U., 2026. Unpacking the conditions for integrating nature-based solutions in Stockholm’s spatial planning . Urban Forestry & Urban Greening: 129265.
Adem Esmail, B., Cortinovis, C., Bast, S., Anderson, C. C., Suleiman, L., Arciniegas, G., Geneletti, D., Mörtberg, U., & Albert, C. 2025. Planning for transformative change with nature-based solutions: a geodesign application in Stockholm . Landscape and Urban Planning 257: 105303.
Adem Esmail, B., Anderson, C.C., Cortinovis, C., Bast, S., Suleiman, L., Kato Huerta, J., Högström, J., Balfors, B., Arciniegas, G., Geneletti, D., Mörtberg, U., Albert, C., 2025. Advancing boundary work to support urban planning: Geodesign with nature-based solutions in Stockholm . Ambio.
​Adem Esmail, B., Cortinovis, C., Suleiman, L., Albert, C., Geneletti, D., Mörtberg, U., 2022. Greening cities through urban planning: A literature review on the uptake of concepts and methods in Stockholm.  Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 72: 127584.​
Conference contributions
Co-organized session: Mörtberg, U. & Remme, R. et al. 2024. "Tools and approaches for integrating ecosystem services and nature-based solutions in landscape and urban planning and policy", 5th ESP Europe Conference, Wageningen, The Netherlands, 18-22 November 2024.
Co-organised session: Schmidt, S., Adem Esmail, B., Wang, J., Mörtberg, U., Hack, J. & Albert, C. 2022: ”Integrative digital systems for planning and managing ecosystem services: State of the art and future prospects” at the conference Ecosystem Services Partnership Europe, 10-14 October 2022, Heraklion, Greece.
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Adem Esmail, B., Anderson, C.C., Bast, S., Cortinovis, C., Suleiman, L., Kato-Huerta, J., Högström, J., Balfors, B., Mörtberg, U., Geneletti, D., Albert, C., 2024. Planning for transformative change with nature-based solutions: a geodesign application in Stockholm. 5th ESP Europe Conference, Ecosystem Services: One Planet, One Health, 18-22 November 2024, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Adem Esmail, B., Bast, S., Cortinovis, C., Anderson, C.C., Suleiman, L., Högström, J., Balfors, B., Geneletti, D., Mörtberg, U., Albert, C., 2023. Geodesign to support local planning towards sustainable urban transformation with nature-based solutions in metropolitan regions. 11th IALE World Congress, Nairobi, Kenya. Book of abstracts p. 202.
Adem Esmail, B., Bast, S., Mörtberg, U., Cortinovis, C., Riffat, M., Suleiman, L., Högström, J., Balfors, B., Anderson, C., Kato Huerta, J., Geneletti, D., Albert, C., 2022. Applying Geodesign to support local planning towards sustainable urban transformation with nature-based solutions (NBS) in the Skarpnäck district, Stockholm, Sweden. Ecosystem Service Partnership Europe 10-14 October 2022, Heraklion, Greece.
Bast, S., Adem Esmail, B., Högström, J., Suleiman, L., Cortinovis, C., Albert, C., Kato Huerta, J., Geneletti, D., Balfors, B., Anderson, C.C., Arciniegas, G., Pang, X.-L., Nonaka, E., Mörtberg, U., 2023. Replan nature-based solutions and green infrastructure for sustainable urban transformations. Poster presented at Cities for Biodiversity: learning from each other, 5-7 October 2023, Stockholm, Sweden.
Bast, S., Mörtberg, U., 2025. How can ecosystem services be promoted for wellbeing on both local and regional scales? Poster presented at The Future of Sustainability Research, 23 January 2025, KTH-ABE sustainability Stockholm, Sweden.
Bast, S., Mörtberg, U., et al., 2024. Green infrastructure and ecosystem service mapping for planning. Oral presentation at the 5th ESP Europe Conference, Ecosystem Services: One Planet, One Health, 18-22 November 2024, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Bast, S., Mörtberg, U., et al., 2025. Exploring the local and regional impacts on ecosystem services and green infrastructure for scenarios of urban development in Stockholm, Sweden. Oral presentation at IALE 2025 European Landscape Ecology Congress, Landscape perspectives in a rapidly changing world, 2-5 September 2025, Bratislava, Slovakia. Book of abstracts p. 252.
Bast, S., Mörtberg, U., et al., 2025. Towards nature-based planning in metropolitan regions: Exploring scenarios for dense and green urban development informed by needs for ecosystem services of current and future citizens. Oral presentation at the 4th SURE World Conference, "Cities Under Global Social Transformations: Embracing Change for a Greener Future", 16–19 July 2025, Istanbul, Türkiye. Book of abstracts p. 132.
Bast, S., Mörtberg, U., Högström, J., Balfors, B., Suleiman, L., Cortinovis, C., Adem Esmail, B., Kato Huerta, J., Pang, X.-L., Geneletti, D., Albert, C., 2022. (Re)Planning of green infrastructure and nature-based solutions for sustainable urban transition. IALE 2022 Europe Landscape Ecology Congress, Warsaw, Poland, 11-15 July 2022.
Mörtberg, U., Bast, S., et al., 2025. Nature-based planning in a metropolitan region - lessons from a case study. Oral presentation at the Swedish Biodiversity Symposium, 21-23 October 2025, Göteborg, Sweden. Book of abstracts p. 39.
Mörtberg, U., Bast, S., et al., 2025. Towards nature-based planning in metropolitan regions - a case study of Stockholm. Oral presentation at IALE 2025 European Landscape Ecology Congress, Landscape perspectives in a rapidly changing world, 2-5 September 2025, Bratislava, Slovakia. Book of abstracts p. 261.
Nonaka, E., Mörtberg, U., 2024. Spatial quantitative digital tools used to support the planning of green infrastructure for biodiversity? Poster. Nordic Society Oikos Conference 12-15 March, Lund, Sweden.
Nonaka, E., Mörtberg, U., 2024. What spatial quantitative digital tools are used to support the planning of green infrastructure for biodiversity? 5th ESP Europe Conference, Ecosystem Services: One Planet, One Health, 18-22 November 2024, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Nonaka, E., Mörtberg, U., 2025. Quantitative digital tools used in green infrastructure planning: insights from a systematic literature review. Poster presented at the Swedish Oikos Meeting 2025, 4-5 February 2025, Stockholm, Sweden.
Suleiman, L., Pu, Y., Adem Esmail, B., Balfors, B., Mörtberg, U., 2024. Exploring the (Non)Supporting Conditions of the Swedish Spatial Planning in Integrating Nature-based Solutions in the Stockholm Region. Poster presentation at the conference Urban Transitions, 5-7 November 2024, Sitges, Barcelona, Spain.
Zheng, J., 2024. Prioritizing nature-based solutions to support urban planning: A spatial multi-criteria analysis approach based on ecosystem services. IOER Conference 2024, Dresden, Germany. Book of abstracts p. 27.