Environment & climate
Green policies can be rationalised using concepts such as ‘natural capital’ and ‘ecosystem services’, but these terms and their benefits can seem abstract to policymakers. In response, the international OpenNESS project is exploring methods that can compellingly illustrate their importance in local decision-making processes
Integrating natural capital and ecosystem services into urban management and planning
Photo: City of Oslo
Environmentally responsible practices are widely supported at the highest levels across the EU. Investing in natural capital to provide ecosystem services to society is an approach that would eliminate the dichotomy between immediate budgetary pressures and green legacies in local public policy. Concepts and tools are available to help
understand the financial and experiential benefits that green policies at local can deliver.
level ‘Natural capital’ views the
world’s natural assets on a par with other types of capital and ‘ecosystem services’ are seen as equally important benefits to other types of utilities and services that are provided by public and private sector. The
www.projectsmagazine.eu.com
OpenNESS (Operationalisation of Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services) project, launched in 2013, explores these principles locally and aims
to translate them into
practical frameworks for everyday use. In
the project’s Oslo case study —
OSLOpenNESS — the project’s economists are collaborating with social scientists and ecologists to understand how ecosystem services can enhance urban municipal planning. “We’re piloting economic and non-economic valuation methods which consider the importance of nature in the city,” explain research partners David N. Barton of the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) and Rasmus Reinvang from Vista Analyse. “These
include its contribution towards recreation and
partners, including
health, water management, flood
control and biodiversity conservation.” NINA is collaborating with several OpenNESS science
social consultancy Vista Analyse and
various agencies from Oslo Municipality. Oslo is the city with the highest population growth in northern Europe as a percentage of its total population. Its precious green spaces are thus facing significant pressure from developers, making the OSLOpenNESS study both timely and relevant. Where the city and its 650,000 human
inhabitants must compete with nature, there are numerous trade-offs and important development and conservation
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