Governance and management towards more diverse forest landscapes in the Gävleborg region
We invite you to participate in a workshop aimed at strengthening efforts to diversify forest landscapes in the Gävleborg region. The workshop is part of the research programs LANDPATHS and Mistra Environmental Communication. The focus of the day will be on issues related to governance, management and learning in times of uncertainty.
? Date: October 1, 2025 ? Time: 09:30 – 15:00 ? Location: Högbo Brukshotell, Hans Hiertas v 5, 811 92 Sandviken
In a time of war, climate change, biodiversity loss and a changing political landscape, questions about how we govern, manage and use our Swedish forests are being cast in a new light. Against the backdrop of a more uncertain world, it is becoming increasingly important to promote different functions and values in the landscape.
Recently, there have been a number of initiatives to shift from clear felling to less intensive forest management practices. Although industrial felling still dominates, there are important examples of alternatives to felling that challenge institutionalized norms and help to legitimize new ideas and developing new conceptions of forests and forestry.
The aim of the workshop is to explore how we can work within existing governance and management structures to empower initiators, facilitate networking and enable more people to act in ways that increase forest diversity. During the workshop, participants with different interests and knowledge in forests, from the private and public sectors, will discuss and think together about the following questions:
Who are the key actors driving the diversification of the forest landscape?
What kind of initiatives, innovations and relationships do these actors promote or discourage?
How can their roles be strengthened?
What room for action exists within existing governance and management?
We hope you will join us to share your insights and help develop governance and management that strengthens the diversity of the forest landscape.
Envisioning urban futures is as much a social and political act as it is a spatial one. It involves negotiating how we want to live together, what values we prioritise, and whose voices are included in shaping those futures. In the case of south east Uppsala—where a large-scale development plan includes 21,500 new housing units, a train station, and tramlines—this act of collective imagining has become a site of contestation.
A future vision for south east Uppsala 2025
Whose vision shapes the city?
Insights from our workshop held on 28 March 2025 revealed not only sharp critiques of the Uppsala municipality’s plan but also a deeper tension around whose visions for the city are allowed to shape its future.
A central finding from the workshop discussion is the constrained capacity for collective urban envisioning. The pre-determined scope and parameters of the municipality’s proposal cast a long shadow over what was intended as a co-creative, open-ended exercise in urban imagination. The plan’s dominant framing seemed to set the agenda in a way that inhibited local stakeholders—residents, civil society actors, and others—from articulating alternative imaginaries of what the area could become in the future. While green spaces were generally appreciated during the discussion, they were often mentioned as “the icing on the cake” rather than central elements. As a result, discussions centred less on collaboratively creating desirable visions and more on shared concerns around the top-down nature of the formal planning process.
From critique to collective action
This sense of exclusion is echoed in the prevalence of critical narratives directed at the municipality. Many participants voiced concerns over the sheer magnitude of the proposed development and pointed to a lack of meaningful public consultation during the early planning phases. There is also a widespread perception that environmental concerns—such as the preservation of nearby natural areas like Lunsen and Årike Fyris—have not been given adequate weight. These criticisms reflect not only discontent with specific aspects of the plan but also broader concerns about transparency, public participation, and the democratic legitimacy of the planning process.
These critiques stood in stark contrast with the municipality’s assertion that citizen dialogue had been conducted thoroughly and that public opinions were incorporated into the planning process. During the workshop, a political representative emphasised the need to balance individual preferences with broader sustainability objectives—an approach that would inevitably involve difficult trade-offs. At the same time, there are clear calls for more innovative thinking, long-term planning and a landscape perspective that accounts for both local values and global challenges.
Re-imagining planning through co-creation
Interestingly, the workshop conversations also revealed strong place-based resistance among certain local residents, often manifesting as Not-In-My-Backyard (NIMBY) sentiments. Such responses speak to deep emotional and historical attachments to place. They highlight the underlying tensions between place-based attachments and the municipality’s overarching urban development ambitions. Resistance in this context is not necessarily about opposing urban development, but perhaps more about opposing a vision of development that feels imposed and disconnected from local identities and values.
Together, these findings suggest that creating opportunities for shared imagining among diverse stakeholder groups is key to making urban landscape management inclusive and co-creative. Such collaborative envisioning can complement formal planning frameworks by fostering spaces where community-driven ideas and narratives can meaningfully shape urban futures. Furthermore, the findings call for a shift in focus – from solely critiquing the structural limitations of formal planning to recognizing and embracing individual and collective agency to bring about change, even within those constraints.
The case of south east Uppsala is not just a technical matter of infrastructure, housing density or the encroachment on nature and green spaces. It is also a question of how to strike a balance between formal planning institutions and decisions made within representative democracy, and the potential that arises from innovative, co-creative approaches to imagining the collective future of multifunctional urban landscapes.
An engaged group of 20 people, primarily consisting of farmers from farms around the vast region of Härjedalen, gathered in Hede on a sunny Monday in early April. The topic of the day was imagining futures for agriculture in Härjedalen.
Participants gathered at Wemer Wärdshus in Hede, Härjedalen. Photo: Johanna Tangnäs.
Challenges and opportunities in the area
There are many challenges in terms of infrastructure and financing, but also very clear advantages and strengths. The region is rich in biodiversity, has favourable conditions for natural grazing, and many of the country’s remaining active mountain pastures (fäbodar) are located here. Keeping the landscape open, continuing with natural grazing, and cultivating the land in a wise manner are crucial for ecosystems, but also for ensuring that people can continue to live and make a living here, even for future generations.
Our research has shown how policies and support measures (mainly from the EU) highlight the importance of the work being done in small-scale agriculture and local communities. At the same time, the existing support systems and structures at both the European and national levels are not particularly favorable for the landscape and the forms of land use that exist in Härjedalen. Furthermore, it has become clear that farmers themselves are not sufficiently consulted on what they need in order to continue, and how they can contribute to biodiversity and strengthened food production in agriculture.
The questions discussed during the day focused on desired futures and possible paths to reach them:
What positive futures for agriculture can you envision – in terms of production, livelihoods, living conditions, and nature?
How can future agriculture in Härjedalen continue to produce food and contribute to biodiversity?
What could enable these positive futures – what changes are needed in support systems and conditions?
What does the EU’s agricultural support mean for the development of good futures for agriculture in Härjedalen?
Late winter hills in Härjedalen. Photo: Johanna Tangnäs.
A wide range of participants
In addition to farmers, a few other business owners participated (many combine farming with other businesses in Härjedalen), along with two representatives from the municipality, one from the Rural Economy and Agricultural Societies (Hushållningssällskapet), one from the Federation of Swedish Farmers (LRF), one from the Association for Swedish Pasture Culture and Outland Use (Förbundet Svensk Fäbodkultur och utmarksbruk), and four researchers from the Landpaths program: Johanna Tangnäs, who moderated the day; Tuija Hilding-Rydevik, who planned and prepared the workshop together with Johanna; Tommy Lennartsson, who contributed knowledge about multiple land use in Härjedalen’s contemporary and historical agricultural landscape; and Neil Powell, who supported the group in discussions and conversations about the future.
Recurring themes in the discussions
A summary of the desired scenarios and proposals that emerged during the day will be presented in various forms throughout the year. Some recurring themes included: a stable, long-term, and more holistic form of support that encourages and enables young people to take over; support for various forms of farming based on local conditions; and a general desire for more of the infrastructure needed for natural-grazing-based farming to thrive – such as local slaughterhouses, dairies, and someone to collect the milk. There was also a strong wish for better protection against farmland being bought up and then left unused, ungrazed, or even uninhabited.
The next step will be to summarize the proposals that came up during the day and hold a brief follow-up meeting at the end of April with all participants. The proposals and visions of the future, together with other results from the research program, will form the basis for input to responsible national authorities and for continued research.
Landpaths researchers within subproject urban landscapes and future imaginaries discussed the future of greenery in southern Uppsala with citizens and stakeholders during a short workshop in Sävja, southern Uppsala at the end of November 2024. The development of southern Uppsala has been a topic of discussion and public resistance after the municipality announced its plans to build housing for 50 000 new inhabitants in southeastern Uppsala that is currently inhabited by 10 000 people, by 2050 and a tram line connecting the southeast and southwest of the city.
Early in the morning of a grey and rainy Thursday in November, the café at Linnés Sävja filled with lively conversations between about 25 participants, including members of local outdoor associations, people working in culture and education, and representatives from different interest organisations. All had been invited by the urban landscapes and future imaginaries sub-projects within LANDPATHS to a workshop to discuss the future of green spaces in southern Uppsala.
Divided into five groups of about six people each, the participants greeted each other and were welcomed by Lara Tickle, postdoc in the urban landscapes subproject. Thereafter, Marcus Hedblom, professor in landscape architecture at SLU Uppsala and leader of the urban landscape subproject explained the latest scientific findings on the importance of urban green spaces.
Marcus Hedblom presented research on human health effects of urban green spaces and Lara Tickle welcomed the participants. Pictures: J. Lundberg-Felten
Urban greenspaces important for human health, biodiversity and temperature control
In cities, 57% of all outdoor recreation happens in green urban spaces within a distance of 2km from the citizen’s home. Therefore, careful planning of the distribution of greenspace is important. The beneficial effect of greenery such as forests on human health has been shown to stem from visual appearance, sounds (e.g. bird song) and even scent. Children play more actively and creatively in forests as compared to playgrounds, where play takes on a more competitive nature.
Although fostering biodiversity is encouraged in urban green spaces, 51% of all green areas in cities are still lawns (managed grass). More effort is needed to add variety, especially as it is now known that both mental and physical diseases such as chronic inflammation, allergies and depression are increasing among the urban population and green spaces are a remedy for these city-life symptoms. In the light of climate change and longer heat waves in summers, green areas are also crucial since they provide shade and lower the ambient temperature.
Despite the fact that these positive effects are known and policies for creating urban green spaces exist, they are often not well integrated in practice and sustainability discussions become too frequently focused on grey elements (buildings) rather than green spaces.
Challenges for Southern Uppsala
Having listened to this information, the participants were asked to think about their own vision for southern Uppsala, and which opportunities and challenges they foresee. They were also asked to formulate a headline that they would like to see in the news in 2050, to describe the green spaces in Uppsala and how the urban landscape has changed since the completion of the planned development in southern Uppsala.
Given the ongoing heated debate about the planned development, the awareness of challenges was clearly sensed during the discussions. Participants mentioned a desire for more long-term perspectives during city planning, better knowledge among decision makers, a willingness to scrutinize current norms and improved integration of ecological, social and sustainability aspects in the planning phase, and enhanced participation among citizens.
Participants are discussing visions and summarizing their ideas on paper. Picture: J. Lundberg-Felten
An opportunity for multifunctionality
However, opportunities were also described, such as the proximity of southern Uppsala to an established nature reserve (Lunsen) that can be integrated as ‘grown green space’ with high biodiversity, the possibility to work with nature to foster integration in this neighborhood that has a significant contribution of immigrants, an opportunity for citizens to become active and to influence the decisions that are made, and an opportunity to connect culture and nature and create green multifunctional activity spaces. Participants proposed imaginary newspaper headlines for such scenarios that read “Uppsala succeeded in combining biodiversity and city development”, “Uppsala municipality rethinks city planning”, “Southeastern Uppsala – where citizens get to decide” and “The forest as a place for integration”.
Next steps
Another workshop will take place in March 2025, to continue the development of the visions for the area, and identify possible ‘seeds of change’ that would help the opportunities become a reality.
In 2023, LANDPATHS researchers ran a series of three workshops in Voxnadalen Biosphere Reserve. The aim was to bring a wide range of stakeholders together to talk about their future visions of multifunctional forest landscapes. Sara Holmgren (SLU) and Max Whitman (Uppsala University) tell us more.
Before the workshop series, we had two hopes. Firstly, we wanted to facilitate meaningful discussions about the forest landscape and its future. Secondly, we wanted to have exploratory conversations that would lead to concrete ideas that participants would be willing and able to develop further. By creating a conversational space grounded in respect and curiosity for different perspectives, we laid a solid foundation for both social learning and innovation-promoting processes.
Participants at the first workshop. Photo: Thao Do.
The collaboration between LANDPATHS and the biosphere reserve provides us with a unique opportunity to explore how global challenges related to land use can be addressed locally in a way that benefits biodiversity, builds resilience against climate change, and contributes to social and economic development.
The hope is to take the insights generated through all the conversations and weave them into one or more focused projects that can be implemented locally. Themes that participants have returned to include quality timber production and its value chains, alternative forms of biodiversity-promoting measures, and collaborative planning across property boundaries. These themes have many aspects, but there is potential for many positive synergies among them.
Here are some reflections from some of the participants about their own experiences from the process:
“There have been interesting questions where actors from different areas within forestry can share their views on the forest as a resource, sustainability, and local collaboration. Most importantly for us is that the meetings between people spark creativity and new ways of thinking, which we intend to implement in parts of our own operations, along with the hope for new constellations and collaborations.”
Filip Hedberg, Top Branch Sweden / Björnsafari i Hälsingland
“Participating has given me ample opportunities to meet people with different perspectives on forestry, climate, and biodiversity. I believe it has provided me with new knowledge and, above all, new paths to consensus and understanding.”
Sven HILLERT, försämlingspräst Alfta-Ovanåker
Sara and Max, in tandem with other LANDPATHS researchers in the forest landscapes and future imaginaries projects, will now analyse all of the insights shared at the workshops, before undertaking the next stage of the research.
View from Växbo in Bollnäs municipality. Photo: Max Whitman.
The UNESCO Voxnadalen Biosphere Reserve spans an area of 342,00 ha in Hälsingland and Dalarna. Read more at voxnadalen.org. This article is a summary of ‘På Landsvägar vi möts’, written by Hanna Alfredssom in the magazine ‘Det händer I Biosfärområde Voxnadalen – Information om Biosfärområde Voxnadalen 2023’, p.14.
We live in a rapidly changing world with complex challenges. Envisioning future landscapes that harmoniously balance biodiversity with different land uses and the interests of diverse stakeholders is a difficult task that demands creative and collaborative efforts. Researchers in LANDPATHS subproject “Imaginaries” (SP2) are embarking on a journey towards shaping these desirable futures through a co-creation approach. This involves using the collective knowledge of stakeholders and citizens to address multifaceted challenges.
Navigating complexity: challenges and uncertainties
Landscapes are interconnected systems. As a result, even well-intentioned interventions that improve conditions for one group of stakeholders can unexpectedly cause challenges for others. Taking the example of forest landscapes, there are many different stakeholders concerned with the use of those landscapes, including residents, agencies, forest owners, reindeer herders and people using forests for recreation, to name a few. These groups can have different values and ideas about the future of the landscape. At the same time, science-based criteria related to climate change and nature conservation may impose other constraints on how we manage and use forests in the future. Together, these factors can make it difficult to imagine future multifunctional landscapes where the diverse aims and interests of stakeholders can co-exist.
Different stakeholders and civil society can have different visions and goals for forest landscapes.
Creating the basis for co-creation
As part of the co-creation process, we need to unravel the perspectives of the various stakeholders and the potential differences between their visions for the future and science-based criteria.
To do this, LANDPATHS researchers have developed an iterative process for co-creating future visions (also called imaginaries) with stakeholders and citizens in different landscapes in Sweden. The process consists of four phases:
Scoping and framing
Developing imaginaries
Iterative revision of imaginaries
Governance learning
In a collaboration with the Forest landscape subproject (SP5), researchers are working with the Voxnadalen Biosphere to explore future imaginaries of multifunctional forests (read more about this case on our blog).
In Voxnadalen, the co-creation process will unfold through a series of workshops with local stakeholders such as municipalities, forest owners, forest companies, nature conservation associations, tourism companies and hunting groups. The aim of the workshops is to shed light on both established and new visions of forest futures, by exploring potential synergies that emerge from the discussions and creating innovations that can support more multifunctional and biodiverse forest landscapes in the future.
Co-creation workshop with Voxnadalen stakeholders in April, 2023. Photo: Thao Do.
Co-creation for transformation
In light with the co-creation approach, participants are seen as co-designers of the future – they contribute to a transformation process with their knowledge, perspectives and values. This fosters an environment of creativity, exploration, and experimentation and unlocks a realm of possibilities. Possible outcomes are stories and visions that embrace the richness and diversity of values and perspectives of participants and challenge traditional power structures.
One method being used in the co-creation process is the co-design of a board game that participants with diverse interests can play together. The game allows them to experiment with different possible futures and to test actions and responses in a playful, inconsequential setting. While competing interests and unequal power relations can make it difficult to reach a solution in real life, the game allows participants to test and evaluate scenarios in a way where diverse forms of knowing and acting are less distorted by power relations. The researchers are also using anticipatory narratology, a technique that is based on stories and storytelling to craft future narratives. Together, these methods help to create a safe space for the participants to talk about alternative futures. They also enable stakeholders to navigate the complexities they are faced with and reflect upon their actions in the face of uncertainty. In this co-learning environment, novel governance arrangements can emerge to support the realization of their landscape imaginaries.
Games allow workshop participants to experiment with different scenarios for their landscape.
Embarking on a journey of transformation
Through this research, SP2 aims to shed light on innovative pathways towards multifunctional biodiverse landscapes. By harnessing the power of co-creation, the aspiration is that stakeholders feel empowered to imagine and design transformations that overcome traditional barriers and sectoral silos. As the work unfolds, it invites us all to become co-designers of alternative futures that reflect a mosaic of perspectives and values.
For more information about the Imaginaries subproject, contact the research team (and link to SP2 page).
We thank Thao Do (subproject Imaginaries) for valuable input into this blogpost.
