Urban Biodiversity Challenges and Citizen Science

In the urban context, studies of biodiversity challenges are situated in the crossroads of analysis of urban governance challenges with increased pressures on urban green areas with multi-functional green areas in cities, and insights that flora and fauna are under pressure due to climate change.

Thus, creating a new set of urban biodiversity-climate nexus challenges requires a better understanding of different stakeholder perspectives. Some of these perspectives, voiced in public discourses on biodiversity and climate change are, on one hand, focused on language of catastrophes and dystopian outlooks of extinct species in the future, and on the other hand, associated with narratives of hope linked to technological innovation and progress.

The aim is to unpack urban biodiversity-climate nexus challenges and apply a critical dialogue-based approach to engage with both public and private actors of relevance in the urban setting. In a set of workshops, we want to improve the understanding of how biodiversity is described and what values that are communicated, from different urban actors’ perspective.

The project is hosted by KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment. The project is initiated by Katarina Larsen  (Div. History of Science, technology and Environment) and Sara Borgström  (KTH, Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering, SEED). Funding by Riksbankens Jubileumsfond.

Project period: 2025 - 2026.