Landscape Governance and Management

Governance covers collaboration of government and non-government actors, with emphasis on power relations, decision-making and resources (knowledge and funding), discourses and relevant rules and regulations. This often includes policy-making and engagement of stakeholders for co-development of landscapes on different scales. 

Management covers strategic, inclusive and long-sighted approaches for continual re-planning, re-design, re-construction and maintenance of urban open spaces, with organisational perspectives such as strategic leadership and development of methods (e.g. overviews, inventories, valuations, cooperations and partnerships). 

In combining governance and management, we develop, promote and apply strategic management and governance to support the supply of ecosystem services via nature-based solutions, including social benefits, which is an important issue for the group.

The Theme Group has a strong international network, but also a long history of close collaboration with practice, for example with local governments, organisations and private businesses. Central research questions relate to how governance and management can be developed to support resilience, use and relevance of open spaces, often within an applied development and innovation-driven context. 

Project funding is obtained from e.g. the Swedish Research Council (Formas), Sweden’s Innovation Agency (Vinnova), KSLA, Movium Partnership, Nordforsk and EU. Thus, we are involved in projects at both national and international level, from local governments to large-scale international projects.

We contribute to different education programs at all levels at SLU. Educational activities primarily concern the Landscape Architecture programme, the Landscape Engineering programme and the Master programme on Sustainable Urban Development at SLU, Alnarp. The group participates in PhD education within and outside the department.

Our expertise 
Specific key expertise of the group’s members includes cross-, inter- and transdisciplinary work modes; organisational and policy analysis; long-sighted management approaches; methods and techniques for monitoring and valuing; assessment of the behaviours and needs of specific user groups; and cooperation across and within varying organisational structures and scales, in particular within the landscape professions.  

Projects
Find out more about a number of current projects and explore the specific educational activities we coordinate or contribute to:
Landscape Governance and Management projects

Courses

PhD course: Researching Landscape Governance

Meetings and events 
The Governance and Management group organizes a zoom meeting every third week to talk about Landscape Governance: Welcome to the Governance Talks

Since 2021, the Outdoor Environment Day has been arranged annually by the subject group Landscape Governance and Management and SLU Landscape. The aim is to promote the exchange of knowledge about outdoor environmental management between research and practice.

Articles
SLU talk in Buenos Aires about Nature-based Thinking in design and management (22-06-17)