Methodological Review and Framework: Cultural ecosystem services provided by green and blue infrastructure

Publication: Report
Citation: Naumann, S., Davis, M., Röschel, L., Barton, D.N. and Langemeyer, J. 2018. Methodological review and framework: Cultural ecosystem services provided by green and blue infrastructure. Deliverable 3.0

A frequent consequence of ongoing urbanization is the loss of green spaces and biodiversity, which has been shown to decrease human well-being and health, amongst other consequences (Regional Public Health 2010). As such, policymakers are increasingly exploring ways to simultaneously create healthy and liveable conditions for citizens while also supporting the conservation of biodiversity (Naumann et al. 2011). Maintaining and establishing urban green and blue infrastructure is highlighted in multiple studies and increasingly recognized in policy as a promising tool for achieving both of the aforementioned aims in parallel.

Given this background, Work Package 3 (WP3) of the ENABLE-project aimed to analyze citizen perceptions of and preferences for various CES provided by GBI. It also identified potential means to integrate such knowledge and information in municipal planning processes. This report presents the research results of the work package.

City Level Policy and Institutional Frameworks – A supporting or hindering factor for green and blue infrastructure?

Insights from five ENABLE cities

Year 2018

Publication:Article

The capacity of multifunctional natural areas to simultaneously address user preferences, answer municipal needs, and fulfil wider political obligations is far from being fully realised. The present article responds to this situation and highlights the Q-method as an effective approach for assessing and integrating user viewpoints on urban GBI and its benefits in urban decision-making and planning processes.

Integrating User Preferences into Urban Green and Blue Infrastructure Planning

Insights from Halle, Germany and Stockholm, Sweden

Year 2019

Publication:Article

The circumstances under which different ecosystem service benefits can be realized differ. The benefits tend to be coproduced and to be enabled by multiple interacting social, ecological, and technological factors, which is particularly evident in cities. As many cities are undergoing rapid change, these factors need to be better understood and accounted for, especially for those most in need of benefits. We propose a framework of three systemic filters that affect the flow of ecosystem service benefits: the interactions among green, blue, and built infrastructures; the regulatory power and governance of institutions; and people's individual and shared perceptions and values. We argue that more fully connecting green and blue infrastructure to its urban systems context and highlighting dynamic interactions among the three filters are key to understanding how and why ecosystem services have variable distribution, continuing inequities in who benefits, and the long-term resilience of the flows of benefits.

Enabling Green and Blue Infrastructure to Improve Contributions to Human Well-Being and Equity in Urban Systems

Year 2019

News

We are thrilled to announce that the ENABLE project has been awarded the BiodivERsA Prize for Excellence and Impact. This award recognizes the excellent research performed in ENABLE and the impacts that were achieved for both policy and society. As a project partner, Ecologic Institute lead the work assessing the socio-cultural perceptions and preferences of citizens for different forms of green and blue infrastructure and supported the policy and institutional analysis in the project cities as well as the formulation of policy options.

ENABLE Project Wins the BiodivERsA Award for Excellence and Impact

15 December 2021

Publication:Policy Brief

2020: Operationalising EU Policies for Urban Green and Blue Infrastructure. ENABLE Policy Brief 1.

Operationalising EU Policies for Urban Green and Blue Infrastructure

ENABLE Policy Brief 1

Year 2020

Publication:Policy Brief

2020: Local Action for Green and Blue Infrastructure – Lessons learned from transdisciplinary and cocreation processes in cities. ENABLE Policy Brief 2.

Local Action for Green and Blue Infrastructure – Lessons learned from transdisciplinary and cocreation processes in cities

ENABLE Policy Brief 2

Year 2020

Publication:Policy Brief

2020: Green refuges for enabling cities' preparedness for future pandemics and global change. ENABLE Policy Brief 3.

Green Refuges for Enabling Cities' Preparedness for Future Pandemics and Global Change

ENABLE Policy Brief 3

Year 2020

Project

Green and Blue infrastructure (GBI) in cities holds large potential to effectively address emerging global challenges, such as climate change impacts, increasing urbanisation and declining access to nature, as it can deliver multiple societal, ecological and economic benefits in parallel. This multifunctional potential of GBI has only recently begun to gain weight in research, policy and planning and has yet to be fully unlocked. The EU-funded BiodivERsA project 'ENABLE' responds to this gap by utilizing a transdisciplinary systems approach to examine the relationship between social-ecological dynamics and GBI's potential to meet multiple goals, including biodiversity conservation and climate change adaptation. The four-year research project, funded by the BiodivERsA network, is led by the Stockholm Resilience Centre and supported by Ecologic Institute and nine other research partners.

Enabling Green and Blue Infrastructure Potential in Complex Social-ecological Regions (ENABLE)

Feb 2017 - May 2020

Language: English
Authorship: Sandra Naumann

McKenna Davis

Lina Röschel
Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany
Year: 2018
Dimension: 23 pp.
Project: Enabling Green and Blue Infrastructure Potential in Complex Social-ecological Regions (ENABLE)
Project ID: 2288
Table of contents: Click to show full table of contents

1. Introduction
2. Methodology
3. CES provided by green and blue infrastructure and biodiversity – An overview
4. Relationship between CES and biodiversity
5. Measuring societal perceptions and preferences for CES to improve GBI planning
6. Assessing cultural ecosystem services
7. Summary
Annex
Literature
Keywords: Adaptation

Cities

Climate

Nature-based Solutions and Green Infrastructure

cultural ecosystem services, green and blue infrastructure

methodological review and framework

Further Links

NewsENABLE Project Wins the BiodivERsA Award for Excellence and Impact