Urban Landscapes and Forests

What will the green energy landscape of the future look like?

Global Urban Sustainability , Urban Design , Urban Landscapes and Forests

A Master's level course for future landscape architects deals with major global societal issues, such as sustainable energy production, economic growth and the consequences our choices have in our future landscapes. A green energy transition is necessary for…


Continue reading

What are urban forestscapes?

play movie
Governance , Urban Ecosystem Services , Urban Landscapes and Forests

On the 7-8th of June 2023, SLU Urban Futures brought together researchers and practitioners for the third conference in the series 'Getting our cities Right'. The theme was 'From Green Infrastructure to Urban Forestscapes'. Six keynote spakers gave…

Therapeutic landscapes beyond the lush season: extending the well-being benefits of urban green and blue spaces through outdoor leisure

Social Inclusiveness and Health , Urban Landscapes and Forests , Urban Wildlife

This project examines possibilities for planning and use of nearby green/blue spaces beyond the ‘lush season’, to extend access to their benefits as ‘therapeutic landscapes’ throughout the year.


Continue reading

Urban wildlife management

Urban Biodiversity , Urban Landscapes and Forests , Urban Wildlife

(Fact sheet in Swedish) Många viltarter har ökat under de senaste hundra åren. Vilt i urbana miljöer erbjuder värdefulla ekosystemtjänster men medför också problem. Movium Fakta #6, skrivet av Fredrik Widemo, handlar om samspelet mellan djur och människor.


Continue reading

OUT-FIT: Health-promoting outdoor environment in special housing for the elderly

Social Inclusiveness and Health , Urban Design , Urban Landscapes and Forests

(Article in Swedish) Det finns inga regler som bestämmer hur tillgången till utevistelse och naturupplevelser ska ske för äldre personer som bor på särskilda boenden i Sverige. Göteborgs universitet, Chalmers och SLU driver ett gemensamt forskningsprojekt som bland…


Continue reading

Getting our Cities Right #2 – From Living Laboratories to urban healthscapes

Living Labs , Method Development , Urban Landscapes and Forests

In October 2022 the second conference of SLU Urban Futures’ series Getting Our Cities Right took place at SLU Campus Alnarp. The focus was on Living Laboratories as new formats for research, teaching, and societal interaction. Read the…


Continue reading

ARWIDSSON TALKS – Vardagsnatur

Governance , Social Inclusiveness and Health , Urban Landscapes and Forests

(Podcast in Swedish) Matthias Qviström, professor i Landskapsarkitektur vid SLU, belyser samspelet mellan den fysiska planeringen och landskapets utveckling i podcasten Arwidsson Talks. Samspelet (och konflikterna mellan) mellan stad och land, inte minst i stadsnära landskap, har varit…


Continue reading

Living labs – Gröna Fakta 6/2022

Living Labs , Method Development , Urban Landscapes and Forests

(Article in Swedish) 'Living labs, levande laboratorier, kan vara ett förhållningssätt och en arena för samproduktion av kunskap och utforskning i realtid och i direkt koppling med omgivningen. Med exempel från olika platser lyfts i detta Gröna Fakta…


Continue reading

Arguments for greener cities

Global Urban Sustainability , Urban Ecosystem Services , Urban Landscapes and Forests

(Research compilation in Swedish) Vilka fördelar har gröna städer? Argumenten för gröna städer är överväldigande för den som följer aktuell forskning. Växter i stadsmiljöer har positiva effekter för invånarnas hälsa, klimatet, den biologiska mångfalden, den sociala sammanhållningen och…


Continue reading

How animals are affected by living in the city

Urban Biodiversity , Urban Landscapes and Forests , Urban Wildlife

(News item and video in Swedish) För några år sedan tog sig gråsälar via strömmen in i centrala Norrköping. Rovfåglar och ugglor häckar på höga byggnader i flera städer, och bävrar verkar trivas mitt i Norrköping. Lever vilda…


Continue reading

Live pod: Learning about research on landscapes for a sustainable society

Social Inclusiveness and Health , Urban Ecosystem Services , Urban Landscapes and Forests

(Link to Spotify) How can we research and how do we research, in SLU Landscape, with the objective of creating a more socially sustainable and health-promoting society? Human Land podcast, together with researchers from SLU Landscape, will explore…


Continue reading

The time is ripe for a Living Lab Campus

Living Labs , Method Development , Urban Landscapes and Forests

Campus Alnarp has a long tradition of using the outdoors for testbeds, trial areas and landscape laboratories. In the autumn of 2022 a new doctoral project in Alnarp will explore the possibilities of using the landscapes of the…


Continue reading

Living Lab SLU Landscape – collaboration-capacity building

Living Labs , Method Development , Urban Landscapes and Forests

This initiative, running since 2015, focuses on inter-disciplinary engagements within a university context, with the aim of developing tools for synthetically bridging geographically isolated, and historically separate academic research domains.


Continue reading

Alnarp’s Living Lab Landscape

Living Labs , Method Development , Urban Landscapes and Forests

Alnarp can be seen as an agricultural and forest island in the highly urbanized region of Malmö, in the south of Sweden. The dynamic campus landscape constitutes a valuable resource for transdisciplinary research, teaching and collaboration.


Continue reading

SLU Urban Futures meets Michel Desvigne

play movie
Living Labs , Urban Design , Urban Landscapes and Forests

Alnarp Campus is situated in the increasingly urbanized Öresund region. With its vast park and outdoor areas it can develop into a unique venue for students, scientists and citizens into a Green Living Laboratory for sustainable development.

The landscape architect program 50 years

Urban Design , Urban Landscapes and Forests

(Video in Swedish) The landscape architect program at SLU celebrates 50 years in 2021. A short film was created where we get to hear some of those who were involved in building up the landscape architect education in…


Continue reading

Urban open space governance and management

Governance , Urban Ecosystem Services , Urban Landscapes and Forests

An anthology about the development and management of the urban landscape, suitable as course literature as well as for anyone interested in urban open space and sustainable development.


Continue reading

Children’s encounters with animals in everyday life

Social Inclusiveness and Health , Urban Childhoods , Urban Landscapes and Forests

(Article and report in Swedish) Hur möter barn och ungdomar djur i vardagslivet? Och hur kan vi ta hänsyn till deras behov av att möta och umgås med djur? I en rapport från framtidsplattformen SLU Future One Health…


Continue reading

New guest professor connects urban and rural through food and culture

Social Inclusiveness and Health , Urban Food and Agriculture , Urban Landscapes and Forests

(Article in Swedish) Håkan Jönsson, är gästprofessor på Institutionen för människa och samhälle. Med bakgrund som kock och med stor kärlek till mat, landsbygd och landskap hoppas han kunna koppla ihop för människan livsviktiga områden i sin nya…


Continue reading

Campus Lab Landscapes: Creating dialogue between Alnarp, Uppsala, and Umeå

Living Labs , Method Development , Urban Landscapes and Forests

During the SLU Landscape Days 2021, SLU Urban Futures hosted an interactive workshop to open a dialogue on conceptualizing and creating living labs on university campuses. Read more about the event and the definitions of living labs.


Continue reading

Soundscape Perceptions and Preferences for Different Groups of Users in Urban Recreational Forest Parks

Global Urban Sustainability , Social Inclusiveness and Health , Urban Landscapes and Forests

Although the soundscape in cities is receiving increased attention in urban planning, there is still a lack of knowledge of how personal factors influence the perception of and preference for soundscapes. This study from Xi’an, China, explores the…


Continue reading

The power of design and landscape perspectives

Global Urban Sustainability , Urban Design , Urban Landscapes and Forests

Landscape architecture, in research and practice, is a field with potential to greatly influence and strengthen urban transformations and sustainable development. We met with Gunilla Lindholm, associate professor in Landscape Architecture at SLU, to hear more about this…


Continue reading

Urban Forum – Practice meets Academia

Method Development , Urban Design , Urban Landscapes and Forests

Urban Forum is a collaboration between SLU Urban Futures and Urban Arena at Lund University. An Urban forum is a place where practice meets academia, for practitioners and practice-oriented researchers to exhibit their work, finished or in progress,…


Continue reading

Podcast: Designing environments for the human needs

Social Inclusiveness and Health , Urban Design , Urban Landscapes and Forests

Researcher Jonathan Stoltz from SLU shares his current research about how environments can be designed to cater for the human needs. The podcast hopes to inspire city designers to creatively integrate evidence-based design in their planning practices to…


Continue reading

The Landscape Architecture Programme 50 years

Urban Design , Urban Landscapes and Forests

The Landscape Architecture Programme at SLU turns 50 years in 2021. This will be celebrated through a series of roundtable discussions, campus events, a film and an overview of the development of the education over 50 years.


Continue reading

Effects of uncontrolled urbanization on river streamflow and water quality

Global Urban Sustainability , Urban Landscapes and Forests

Urbanisation cause degradation of water quality and streamflow in rivers and streams worldwide. Benjamin Gossweiler Herrera evaluated land changes, water quality and flow in the river after three decades of urbanization in his new doctoral thesis.


Continue reading

Sustainable Leisure Mobilities in Compact Towns: Changing patterns of outdoor recreation in transit-oriented development (TOD)

Governance , Social Inclusiveness and Health , Urban Landscapes and Forests , Urban Mobility

An SLU research project that contributes to an understanding of the potentials for wellbeing and sustainable leisure mobilities in compact cities, and to green structure development.


Continue reading

Lab Stories – Alnarp Rehabilitation Garden

play movie
Living Labs , Social Inclusiveness and Health , Urban Landscapes and Forests

Alnarp Rehabilitation Garden is one of SLU's living labs and an arena that invites to multi-, inter- and transdisciplinary research and collaboration. SLU Urban Futures met Anna María Pálsdóttir and Vanessa Mårtensson to learn more about this kind…

Lab Stories – Alnarp Landscape laboratory

play movie
Living Labs , Method Development , Urban Landscapes and Forests

(Video in Swedish) SLU Urban Futures met Björn Wiström and Erik Svensson in charge of the maintenance and development of the Alnarp Landscape Laboratory, covering about 20 hectares of land for experimental design, construction and management.

’Barn Plats Lek Stad’ – strategies for child-friendly urban planning

play movie
Social Inclusiveness and Health , Urban Childhoods , Urban Landscapes and Forests

(Video and book in Swedish) Tankesmedjan Movium vid SLU har släppt en ny bok med titeln Barn Plats Lek Stad – strategier för barnvänlig stadsplanering. – Ska vi lyckas skapa ett hållbart samhälle måste barns och ungas perspektiv…

Wildlife in the city

Urban Biodiversity , Urban Landscapes and Forests , Urban Wildlife

Hur står sig djurens rättigheter när vi planerar våra städer? Ska vi ha stora parker i städerna eller många små för att de vilda djuren ska trivas? Vilken stadsplanering är bäst för djuren och vilken forskning saknar vi?…


Continue reading

Teaching with the sky as the ceiling – positive effects when children and teaching move outdoors

Method Development , Urban Childhoods , Urban Landscapes and Forests

Schools that relocate the classroom outdoors can expect a large number of positive effects. In addition to reducing the spread of infection, research shows that teaching conducted outdoors rapidly improves the pupils’ concentration, working memory and motivation to…


Continue reading

Garden owners should gain more knowledge about invasive species

Governance , Urban Biodiversity , Urban Landscapes and Forests

In a changing climate, the threat from invasive alien species is expected to increase. Researchers are now finding out how garden owners view garden plants and the problem of invasive species. (Article in Swedish.)


Continue reading

Smart urban food production

Global Urban Sustainability , Urban Food and Agriculture , Urban Landscapes and Forests

Food production and consumption entail major sustainability challenges such as climate change, resource consumption and ecological impact. Cities and urban environments are considered central to the development of the food system because they drive both distribution and consumption…


Continue reading

Helsingborg’s urban lawns can operate 250 biogas cars per year

Urban Biodiversity , Urban Ecosystem Services , Urban Landscapes and Forests

(Article in Swedish.) Klimat- och miljömålen gör att Sverige behöver satsa betydligt mer på lokalt producerad biogas. En ny rapport från SLU visar hur urbana gräsytor i Helsingborg har potentialen att driva cirka 250 biogasbilar per år.


Continue reading

Development of playscapes for children’s nature encounters

Urban Childhoods , Urban Ecosystem Services , Urban Landscapes and Forests

(Report in Swedish) I projekt efter projekt där lekmiljöer för barn skall iordningställas så ser vi hur leken undermineras genom att ytor med naturmark decimeras, vegetationen hålls tillbaka och konstgjorda material ersätter natur. Mot denna utveckling behövs nya…


Continue reading

Animal Adaptations to Survive the Anthropocene

Global Urban Sustainability , Urban Landscapes and Forests , Urban Wildlife

The world is changing fast. Some animals adapt and may even thrive in the presence of humans, while other species decline and face extinction. Dr. Kays will present his research using animal tracking and camera traps to study…


Continue reading

Meet your wild neighbours

Social Inclusiveness and Health , Urban Landscapes and Forests , Urban Wildlife

Wildlife populations in Sweden have increased while cities have expanded into natural areas. Furthermore, many Swedish cities have a green infrastructure of forests and parks that allows wildlife to move into the city. As a consequence, there seems…


Continue reading

Landscape Laboratory Alnarp 2.0 – towards a Landscape Lab Office

Living Labs , Method Development , Urban Landscapes and Forests

The Alnarp Landscape Lab can be identified as a new form of wooded urban open space and a living lab for urban woods, accessible to urban publics as much as to urban researchers, teachers, and students.


Continue reading

Urban ecosystem services in strategic planning in Swedish municipalities

Governance , Urban Ecosystem Services , Urban Landscapes and Forests

Research to date on urban ecosystem services has mainly been conducted in large cities, particularly in China, the USA and some European countries. This study examined the provision of urban ecosystem services in a Swedish municipality context, based…


Continue reading

Stad #31 – The urban norm

Social Inclusiveness and Health , Urban Design , Urban Landscapes and Forests

“Must city and country be opposites?” so asks STAD Magazine, echoing a commitment to think urban and rural together, in many arenas at SLU. The material highlighted here was selected to display perspectives, interlinkages and questions that spanning…


Continue reading

Movium Think Tank

Urban Design , Urban Ecosystem Services , Urban Landscapes and Forests

Since 1980, Movium Think Tank has worked for knowledge development and knowledge dissemination in issues relating to urban development in Sweden. Today Movium offers a number of services, courses and publications designed for practitioners in the urban realm.…


Continue reading

Emily Wade, adjunct professor of landscape-adapted infrastructure

play movie
Urban Design , Urban Landscapes and Forests , Urban Mobility

Emily Wade, SLU Adjunct Artistic Professor and Landscape Architect, was one of the keynote speakers at the SLU Landscape Day in 2020. She introduced the development of a new hub in SLU exploring how the design of infrastructure…

Uppsala Municipality Collaboration

Governance , Urban Ecosystem Services , Urban Landscapes and Forests

The goal of this project is to strengthen collaboration between SLU and Uppsala Municipality and to create synergies between the work of Uppsala Municipality and the research conducted at SLU that will have mutual benefits for both organisations…


Continue reading

Designing for Energy Transition – Dirk Sijmons (NL)

play movie
Governance , Urban Design , Urban Landscapes and Forests

SLU Urban Talk - 17 January 2019. Dirk Sijmons, founder of the H+N+S office and former State Landscape Architect of the Netherlands examines the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy from a spatial design perspective.

Co-creation!

Do you miss something here? Would you like to contribute? Please let us know: urbanfutures@slu.se