Increased ocean literacy is needed not only in relation to formal education, the public, and industry, but also in policy, planning, and management of coastal and marine areas. While environmental data is often available, there is a need to also understand the human recreational uses, experiences, benefits, and problems linked to the ocean and integrating this into planning. This article discusses public participation geographical information system (PPGIS)‐mapping as a potential participatory method in ocean literacy, focusing on knowledge exchange in the public‐planning interface based on a Norwegian case study. The Oslo Fjord in Norway is impacted by environmental degradation, increasing urbanization, accessibility problems, and user conflicts, and the Norwegian Ministry of Environment is preparing a comprehensive plan for the fjord involving 26 municipalities with 1.7 million inhabitants. A lack of recreation data was identified, and a PPGIS survey was conducted. The results (12,445 responses) provide extensive quantitative and qualitative knowledge of recreational uses combined with spatial mapping. Participation in fjord‐oriented recreation activities was high (71%) and provided health benefits, but 27% perceived problems related to accessibility, environment, or other users. In addition, mapping and open‐ended questions provided detailed information on specific problems and user‐generated suggestions on solutions. This study in coastal Norway helps to demonstrate how a PPGIS‐mapping approach can be used as a tool for coastal and marine management and planning and how, more broadly, a public participation mapping approach can be used to increase ocean literacy among community members, planners, managers, and policy makers. We discuss how experience‐based knowledge and mapping by recreationists may link to the 10 ocean literacy dimensions. Adding geospatial mapping data to the wider concept and field of ocean literacy research may provide new insights and understanding of ocean literacy dimensions and how social science may contribute to more sustainable ocean policy, planning, and management.

Tree planting has the potential to reduce the effect of agricultural runoff and stop biodiversity decline in agricultural landscapes. The aim of the article is to improve the understandings of individual landowners' decision making regarding participation in riparian tree-planting projects. Walking interviews and the theory of planned behaviour (TBP) were used to investigate a project in Norway. It was found that the informants differed in their views on the consequences of tree planting and the problem of agricultural runoff, which affected their attitudes towards the project. Some focused on the local effects on their farming operations and favoured other interventions. The informants had different farming motivations, which affected their priorities between economic gains, food production, and the environmental value of riparian woodland. In conclusion, landowners' motivations and perceptions vary, and project managers should take this into account. While ecological engineering may appeal to practically oriented farmers, education and pilot projects could help to shift perceptions, and community-wide engagement could enhance the effect of norms. The authors suggest that future TPB studies of landowners and riparian tree planting should include problem understanding, social identity, and farming motivation as additional factors, and consider potential overlaps between perceived consequences and perceived behavioural control.

Stress-related illnesses are a major problem among urban societies. Greenspaces near residential areas are crucial for supporting mental well-being and mitigating urban stressors. While various studies have demonstrated the benefits of greenspaces for stress recovery, the constraints to experiencing these benefits are less explored. This study aims to explore the multidimensional factors constraining psychological restoration in everyday outdoor activities, to inform urban planning and enhance environmental psychology theories. In an online survey 1,134 Swiss residents were presented with an open-ended question about the constraints they experienced during their latest outdoor activity, along with closed-ended questions about their personal traits, the activity performed, and the restorativeness of the experience. Through an inductive coding process followed by a deductive classification, we identified a wide range of constraints and categorized them into structural, interpersonal, and intrapersonal constraints, further distinguishing between supply and demand factors. Structural supply constraints were predominant, particularly overcrowding, traffic, and noise, which negatively correlated with the perceived restorativeness of the environment. Intrapersonal demand constraints, such as thoughts and stress were mentioned frequently, and hindered restoration outcomes. Women and younger adults were more frequently affected by these constraints. Results underscore the subjective and context-dependent nature of restorative experiences in everyday environments, shaped by the interplay of individual, societal, and environmental factors. Our findings highlight the need for inclusive planning and social measures to support vulnerable groups in enhancing the restorative potential of outdoor activities in nearby greenspaces.

Human recreational behaviours in nature represent context- and scale-dependent phenomena. Sustainable urban planning and natural resource management call for effective interventions that target local contexts, which require a refined understanding of human-nature interactions. However, existing studies have failed to concurrently examine multiple spatial scales, nonlinearity and spatial variation in these associations. This study leveraged big data (i.e., Strava sports tracking data for running and cycling) and advanced machine learning techniques (partial dependence plots and geographically weighted random forest) to disentangle the complex relationships between environmental characteristics and recreational activities. Key findings from our study include: (1) the influence of environmental variables on running and cycling varies across perceptual scales, as represented by route-based and survey-based navigation; (2) moreover, specific scales are more appropriate for characterising these relationships; and (3) important variables were identified both at the local level and across the region for running and cycling. Our study proposed multiscale approaches for modelling and understanding the effects of environmental characteristics. The results reinforce the need for context-specific strategies in urban planning. Practical considerations are provided for the planning and design of urban natural areas to promote recreational trail-based activities.

There is now widespread recognition of the need for inter/transdisciplinary (I/TD) approaches to solving global problems like climate change and biodiversity. Yet methods for successfully integrating knowledge across disciplines, and between research and practice, are in need of further development, particularly approaches that can ameliorate epistemological and ontological divides. Here we propose a framework for good listening as a ‘weak method’ that can provide guidance and structure to I/TD collaborations, but does not assume the form and goals a given collaboration will take. Synthesising the results of a scoping, interdisciplinary literature review, we highlight four key components of listening—receiving, processing, interpretation, and feedback/response—and provide a set of normative values regarding ‘good listening’ for each. Our goal is to provide a framework that is grounded in detailed scholarly discussions of listening politics and practice, but that is specifically formulated in response to the needs and concerns of I/TD researchers. We then apply our framework to four commonly encountered challenges in sustainability science, drawing on our collective experience in the field to explore how good listening can aid I/TD collaboration in regards to inclusion, group dynamics, format and pace. In doing so, we hope to inspire those working in sustainability science to approach I/TD collaboration in a new way and provide a tool for facilitating caring and transformational approaches to solving the world’s most pressing sustainability crises.

With increasing urbanization and demand for construction materials, quarries have become central to the recovery of degraded landscapes into spaces that offer ecological, but also social benefits. While ecological restoration has long been investigated, integrated social‐ecological restoration of post‐quarrying landscapes remains underexplored. The overall aim of this study is to advance social‐ecological restoration by assessing how cultural ecosystem services (CES) and landscape features (LF) are represented in social media posts about quarries in Germany, Denmark, and the Czech Republic. We focus on concepts of CES and LF to investigate the interactions between humans and restored ecosystems. Using a mixed‐methods approach, we analyzed 1,660 geotagged photographs from 50 quarries across three regions: Berlin, Roskilde, and the Czech Karst. Flickr social media data were analyzed to elicit the richness of CES and LF and to identify popular quarries. Our results indicate that rehabilitated quarries exhibit higher CES richness than abandoned or operational ones, and that accessibility significantly influences public engagement. Our study demonstrates that once primarily industrial sites, quarries can evolve into vibrant social‐ecological systems that provide diverse LF and CES. It also points to the potential of social media data for designing restoration efforts from a social‐ecological perspective. Such an approach provides insights into public perceptions of restored urban landscapes and may inform future restoration strategies.

Public green spaces (PGS) in urban areas can both reduce ambient temperatures and provide a place for residents to visit and cool off on hot days while enjoying a range of health and biodiversity co-benefits. High indoor temperatures and social vulnerability (e.g., being elderly or infirm) increase the potential reliance on PGS visitation and their cooling features. As the severity of urban heat increases due to climate change and cities recognize the need for ensuring availability, access, and quality of PGS, research is needed to support their planning and equitable benefits across social groups and space. We use an online public participation GIS (PPGIS) survey to explore the degree of (spatial) equity in PGS visitation for cooling off during extreme heat in Bochum, Germany. Our study also aims to determine the degree of pubic reliance on cooling as an ecosystem service, what biophysical features shape preferences for visitation, and the distributive environmental justice of neighborhood green space. We find that residents are concerned about extreme heat and visiting PGS for cooling off is common. Their current use is relatively equitable in the study area but more focus is needed on aged and low-income groups as well as the provision of large trees, shade, and water features. Residents travel on average over 10 km from home to visit the most valued PGS for cooling, likely due to poor availability and quality in the urban core. Additionally, our research provides a methodological template enabling equitable spatial planning for climate change adaptation.

Urban forests provide for a growing variety of recreational users with potentially conflicting needs, desires, and values, and growing multi-use of such recreational resources increases the potential for conflicts. To meet current and future demands of outdoor recreation in urban forests a better understanding of recreation conflicts is warranted. Aiming to investigate how a comprehensive conflict model (the expanded conflict model), activity frequency, and spatial distribution of recreational activity predict frequency of experienced conflicts in urban forests and greenspaces a PPGIS survey was distributed to 7,500 adult citizens from the City of Silkeborg in Denmark. Responses from 1,198 respondents showed that 69% have experienced conflicts during the summer period (April – September), and that conflict may lead to reduced satisfaction and to coping behavior. Multivariate linear hierarchical regression analysis showed that users’ mode of experience, out-group tolerance, and frequency of activity was correlated to the frequency of experienced conflicts. The regression model explained 9,5% of the variance in the sample. No significant correlations between activity style, resource specificity, safety concerns, in-group tolerance, expectations, age, gender, or educational level and frequency of experienced conflicts were found in the study. Spatial hotspot analysis showed that the number of activity places were spatially correlated with locations of experienced conflicts. Visual inspection of the maps suggests that conflict experience is context dependent. Implications for management are suggested.

Abstract Urban green areas contribute to climate change mitigation, support biodiversity and host a wide range of social values important for urban residents. Understanding the interplay between social values, biodiversity and carbon flow in urban green areas is vital for socially sustainable urban climate and biodiversity policy, but relationships between the three remain poorly explored. We assessed spatial and non‐spatial relationships between relational and intrinsic social values, biodiversity and carbon flow, in green areas across Helsinki, Finland, using logistic regression and spatial overlap analyses. To achieve this, we utilized pre‐existing datasets on modelled biodiversity and carbon flow, and a public participation GIS (PPGIS) survey dataset depicting over 16,000 spatially referenced social values for green areas mapped by a sample of 3237 residents of Helsinki. We found that non‐spatial relationships between social values, biodiversity and carbon flow are value‐specific and diverse in terms of strength, shape and direction. Spatial overlap between priority areas of social values and those of biodiversity and carbon flow was moderate and variable across different urban contexts. This diversity was further nuanced by the result that urban residents of different socio‐economic contexts valued green areas in different ways. Policy implications. Our findings imply that successfully leveraging urban green areas for simultaneous benefits to climate, biodiversity and social outcomes depends strongly on the surrounding social and ecological urban context. Key to maximizing synergies and balancing trade‐offs between the three are inclusive and participatory planning processes that jointly assess the social and ecological values of green areas. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Blue spaces are being increasingly linked to a public health agenda, as the presence of water increases perceived restorativeness. Much research has examined coastal nature experiences and sense of place in coastal areas specifically, but little research has attempted to compare sense of place across different types of natural environments. In this study, we used place meanings to investigate how people perceive, experience, and attach to coastal and inland natural environments, providing new insights into human-nature relations in coastal and inland environments in Denmark. The study uses a mixed methods approach, combining qualitative analysis of free-text responses from a national online PPGIS survey with statistical analysis of background information. Responses from 500 coastal and 500 inland nature visitors were analysed through an inductive coding process, which elicited one hundred different place meanings. These meanings were categorized according to Williams’ (2014) layers of tangible and intangible place meanings. The meaning layer distribution was similar between coastal and inland nature visits, just as the most frequent place meanings were similar across the environments (e.g., Nature, Nice, Forest, Walk). However, significant differences were found among some individual place meanings (e.g., Wild, Vacation, Healing and comfort were more frequent for coastal visits), suggesting special coastal place meanings that should be further explored in future research. The analysis of place meanings was supplemented by an analysis of relevant visit characteristics behind the 500 coastal and 500 inland visits, suggesting great attraction coupled to coastal places (e.g., longer travel distance).

Integrated urban infrastructures provide multiple benefits to people and society. Efforts to develop green spaces and active mobility infrastructures both share concerns about the environment and public health but are understudied in an integrated manner. This study focuses on this integration in core urban areas through urban green travel environments. The involvement of both lay and expert knowledge can benefit the planning of integrated urban infrastructures like these. Therefore, this study applies a mixed method approach: perceptions of and requests for urban green travel environments were explored through public participatory GIS (PPGIS) survey with residents in Copenhagen, and semi-structured expert interviews were used to explore how Danish planners perceive the benefits, barriers, and planning factors for planning urban green travel environments. Residents perceived green spaces as urban green travel environments and requested further greening of the streets. In interviews, planners acknowledged the benefits of planning urban green travel environments. Through analysis of these interviews, we identified four key planning factors: infrastructure design and management, balance with other green space functions, collaboration, and people's awareness, as well as the main barriers being related to lack of space and budget. Further, the knowledge from residents and the planners were integrated. This study discusses ways to overcome identified barriers, and provides guidance not only for planning urban green travel environments but also engaging them in political agendas. This study contributes to scholarship on active mobility and urban green space planning by providing a case that combines the knowledge of both residents and planners.

Nature experiences and active mobility both deliver well-being and health benefits but have rarely been investigated together. Conceptualizations of nature experiences largely focus on intention, and the planned motivations for visits. However, nature experiences can also be perceived incidentally, if daily living activities like trips are encouraged towards green spaces. In a public participation GIS (PPGIS) survey of five local districts in Copenhagen, 517 respondents mapped 688 places along their walking or cycling shortcut trips through green spaces. This study investigated what types of green space provide opportunities for such shortcuts, what incidental nature experiences can be perceived there and the different responses of pedestrians and cyclists. This study also explored the relation between incidental nature experiences and green space characteristics in the form of tree cover density. Lastly, this study explored whether frequent short trips through green spaces relate to nature connectedness. The results show that public green spaces and urban cemeteries in Copenhagen allow for such shortcut trips. Enjoyment of pleasing views is the most perceived incidental nature experience. Pedestrians are found more prone to experience surprise, inspiration and emotion, while cyclists prefer shortcuts close to water, which they value highly. The study suggests that high tree cover density is key to delivering incidental nature experiences. Furthermore, the study shows that people who make frequent trips through green spaces have higher levels of nature connectedness, indicating that incidental nature experiences during shortcut trips trigger the reconnection of people and nature. The study ’ s results support a synergistic approach to integrating green spaces and active mobility in planning and management practice, where incidental nature experiences should be emphasized.

Systems-based frameworks offer a promising opportunity to integrate smart and green city approaches to create positive contributions to urban sustainability. In particular, digital public participatory GIS (PPGIS) presents a tool for combining technological approaches to urban planning with an agenda for more just nature-based solutions (NBS) by elucidating community voices and subjective perspectives. In this study, we investigate the potential for PPGIS to support more just and inclusive planning and implementation of NBS in a marginalized housing area (Hørgården) in Copenhagen, Denmark. Combining digital PPGIS with qualitative approaches, we identify residents’ meaningful places, narratives about community priorities and needs, and relational values expressed therein. We identify three key findings: (1) an absence of demographic difference in meaningful places identified in Hørgården; (2) a core-periphery structure in the presence of relational value and distribution of sites identified as unsafe or in need of care that is the inverse of that found in Danish policy discourse, and (3) the essential role of qualitative, community-engaged, and reflexive approaches to PPGIS in deriving these results. Based on these findings we conclude that smart technologies like digital PPGIS, framed within systems-based approaches and utilized in locally sensitive and responsive ways, can contribute to more just NBS for sustainable cities by connecting local neighborhood experience to municipal planning and policy agendas.

Managing nature-based solutions (NBS) in urban areas for carbon mitigation and biodiversity outcomes is a global policy challenge, yet little is known about how to both assess and weave diverse knowledge systems and values into carbon-biodiversity trade-off assessments. This paper examines the spatial relationships between biophysical and social values for carbon sequestration potential (measured as carbon dioxide, CO 2 , flux) and biodiversity in Helsinki, Finland, using integrated valuation. The approach combines methods from carbon sequestration modelling, expert scoring approaches to biodiversity assessment and public participation geographic information systems (PPGIS). Results indicate strong spatial associations between biophysical assessment of CO 2 flux and biodiversity priorities, and weaker associations between biophysical and social values. Integration of social and biophysical values leads to multiple pathways for protection of NBS to achieve carbon mitigation and biodiversity outcomes, as well as options for the spatial targeting of education and capacity building programs to areas of local concern.

We report the outcomes of a comprehensive study of the potential consequences of the implementation of the EU Maritime Spatial Planning Directive (MSPD) in Danish waters. The analyses are anchored in a framework developed in support of data-driven Ecosystem-Based Maritime Spatial Planning. The data for the models include not only human stressors but also information on the distribution of ecosystem components ranging from planktonic communities over benthic communities to fish, seabirds and marine mammals. We have established a baseline, based on state-of-the-art data sets, with respect to combined effects upon ecosystem components. Future scenarios for the developments in human stressors were estimated for 2030 and 2050 based on information on existing policies, strategies and plans and were compared to the baseline. In addition, we developed a scenario for implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), i.e. working towards meeting the objectives of Good Environmental Status. Our results indicate that (1) combined human stressors will possibly increase in 2030 and 2050 compared to the baseline, (2) increased combined human stressors are likely to lead to a worsening of the environmental and ecological status sensu the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and the Water Framework Directive (WFD), and (3) the MSPD implementation process appears to conflict with the MSFD and WFD objectives. Accordingly, we are sceptical of claims of an untapped potential for Blue Growth in Danish marine waters.

Green (and blue) spaces receive attention as important components of cities that can help to mitigate the effects of climate change, support biodiversity and improve public health. Green space planning aims to transform cities towards urban sustainability and resilience. In a longitudinal study, representatives from eleven European municipalities that had previously been interviewed in 2014 were re-interviewed in 2020-2021 on changes in urban greening and related practices. The interviewees reported mainly advancements in dealing with ecological issues, such as new plans, strategies, regulations or funding programmes for climate adaptation or biodiversity support, as well as some progress in co-governance with non-governmental stakeholders. Promising developments include breaking professional silos by creating new units that can better deal with complex urban issues. In a few cases, high-level local politicians induced profound changes. These changes stimulated the development of new planning and governance cultures, resulting in more co-creation of urban green spaces. However, from a transformation studies perspective, incremental strategies dominate, and even when municipal representatives are aware that substantive changes are needed, they often lack the means to act. For more radical system change, significant extra efforts are needed.

Urban green infrastructure can help cities tackle biodiversity loss and support well-being, but also contribute to climate change mitigation. This can be enhanced with green infrastructure policies that favor biodiversity, residential well-being, or climate benefits such as carbon sequestration. However, assessing public support for policies favoring specific green infrastructure outcomes, or potential trade-offs between them, is vital to understanding the social implications that such policies may have upon implementation. This paper presents the results of a public participation GIS (PPGIS) survey (n = 3 237) in Helsinki, Finland, concerning public support for policies favoring diverse climate, biodiversity, and well-being outcomes in green infrastructure. The results of the survey, derived with spatial and aspatial analyses, indicate that urban residents strongly support green infrastructure policies that favor climate benefits such as carbon sequestration, and are more willing to compromise the well-being benefits, rather than the biodiversity, of green infrastructure in favor of climate benefits. The results also reveal how support for policies favoring different green infrastructure outcomes varies spatially across the city, manifesting into priority areas of support for climate, biodiversity, and well-being outcomes. Finally, different ways of valuing and utilizing green infrastructure, and the socio-economic background of the respondents, predict support for policies favoring different green infrastructure outcomes. Our methods and results help take global political targets of mitigating climate change and reversing biodiversity loss into practice in cities in a manner that acknowledges the plurality of understandings on how green infrastructure should be managed, for whom, and most importantly, where.

Abstract The human relationship with nature is a topic that has been explored throughout human history. More recently, the idea of connection to nature has merged as an important transdisciplinary field of study. Despite increased scholarly attention to connection to nature, the notion of disconnection from nature remains undertheorized and understudied. In this perspective article, we argue for a more comprehensive understanding of disconnection from nature to strengthen theories of human‐nature relationships that goes beyond individual relationships and considers social and collective factors of disconnection, including institutional, socio‐cultural and power dimensions. Drawing on case insights, we present the ‘wheel of disconnection’ to illustrate how disconnections from nature manifest across individual or societal meaning‐making processes, thereby problematizing existing research that seeks to create dualisms between human positive and negative impacts on the environment in isolation from cultural or political contexts. We do not seek to discount research or important practical efforts to foster an individual's connection to nature by elevating disconnection. Instead, we hope that creating greater awareness and understanding of disconnection will be able to guide opportunities going forward for strengthening a connection to nature along a continuum from the individual to the social. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

The present paper addresses the timely need, across research and practice, to ask: how do we plan sustainable and healthier cities in a synergetic way for everyday life? Currently, urban dwellers are facing significant health challenges, especially physical inactivity. There is increasing awareness of the need to initiate active living strategies for urban dwellers to confront this challenge. Active mobility—walking and cycling—is the core of active living strategies and is promoted as both a type of physical activity and a mode of transport. However, uptake of active mobility faces many barriers, including lack of motivation and longer travel times. This paper unfolds the potential of green spaces as Third Places that can potentially counteract the challenges and in return, deliver double-layered health benefits. The sensory experiences provided by urban green spaces and associated health benefits have been largely investigated; yet, little is focused on how these experiences can be integrated as a part of daily living activities. This paper gives voice to everyday practice and discusses how these experiences can be utilized as planned motivations for the use of active mobility. This paper aims to contribute to the knowledge for future research and practice, and bring forward an open debate about healthier cities, which can bridge all related professions across urban sectors.