**5. Results**

Below, the identified key factors for implementing ES in local planning in relation to the practitioner's experiences and views are discussed according to the three themes (see also Table 3). In most cases, general patterns are presented rather than individual viewpoints of the different participants.

#### *5.1. Regulatory Framework and Political Support*

Within the Swedish context, the planning of ES is regulated through both the Planning and Building Act (PBA) and the Environmental Code. According to many participants in our study, ES is still regarded as an aesthetic question, rather than a technical requirement in the legislation. More specifically, the participants pointed out that in accordance with the legislation, the detailed development plans can control what actions cannot be taken, but the possibility of placing stronger demands on developers to conduct specific actions is limited, including implementation of measures to enhance ES. The limitations of PBA regarding ecosystem services are also highlighted by [60], who argue that, in contrast to, for example, parking spaces, there are a lack of clear standards related to the size and number of blue-green space, which places them at risk in land use decision making processes. The participants emphasized that the need arises to develop voluntary municipal policies related to ES in urban development projects in order to provide targets and measures for the inclusion

of ES in planning and decision-making. One practitioner highlighted the importance of integrating knowledge from green space plans into the comprehensive plans because then there is a "possibility to really push ecosystem services into the comprehensive plans". Furthermore, in the municipality of Huddinge, ES has been incorporated into the municipality's overarching goals to become a sustainable municipality by 2030. One goal identified was "balanced ecosystem services" (see also [61]), including several sub-goals related to ES (e.g., reduced climate impact, water), which the municipality was working towards. Aligning ES work with existing regulations and municipal organizational goals has been suggested to be important for motivating the integration of ES thinking [62]. The participants also emphasized that to support ES in local policy, there is a need to strengthen the integration of ES in EU policies and regulations. The importance of EU legislation was emphasized by exemplifying how di fferent issues become more or less prioritized due to how they are framed in a juridical sense. For example, in the studied municipalities, regulating ES related to water quality tends to have stronger support in the legislation because of binding instruments at higher governance levels, such as the EU Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC), with clear indicators and requirements that all EU member states must achieve in relation to ecological and chemical water quality.

Even though there is a strong national political support to integrate ES into societal decision-making including urban planning processes, the political support at the local municipal level was identified as a key factor for advancing the implementation of ES. Political shifts were described as directly influencing the available resources, as well as prioritizations among planning objectives and approaches. According to the participants in our study, the benefits of working with ES to achieve national and regional visions must be conveyed to the politicians. More specifically, a participant stated that, "decision-makers are on board when you can translate nature into their conceptions (e.g., storm water, economic benefits)." Hence, communicating the ES concept to local decision-makers was another key factor identified. In Stockholm County, a network of eight southern municipalities in the central urban region employed a development coordinator tasked with communicating within and across municipalities, as well as with municipal decision-making bodies (e.g., local politicians, municipal CEOs). More concretely, in one of the workshops, a local politician suggested using more scenarios to illustrate and serve as a communication tool with the potential to gain interest among politicians.

#### *5.2. Organizational Capacity Building for Implementing ES in Municipal Planning*

In a decentralized planning system like in Sweden, local capacity building is important. There is a need for local knowledge to maneuver confronted challenges in the specific local contexts. According to the participants, an important success factor is the internal basic knowledge of ES. Furthermore, the level of integration of ES in the detailed development plans could vary depending on the basic knowledge of ES of the persons involved in the planning process. Consequently, it was suggested that when the ES knowledge base is lacking, it becomes important to build capacity and learn from others. There is also a need for the knowledge to be maintained and developed within the municipal organization and their daily practices. One format to facilitate knowledge exchange and learning discussed was the development of meeting platforms where municipal practitioners could share their experiences and examples of working with ES. One such national platform exists regarding climate change adaptation in Sweden (Swedish Portal for Climate Change Adaptation). Also, the new online guidance on ES in urban planning, developed by the National Board of Housing, Building, and Planning has ambitions to provide such a platform [63]. Furthermore, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) has also developed a guide on how to value ES, with step-by-step directions and examples [64]. However, the practitioners discussed that for those municipalities that have already started developing their own routines for integrating ES into planning, these guidance documents were developed too late to provide the needed support. They expressed a need of advisory support for keeping and extending the use of ES within the planning practice, as well as with capacity building within the organization. More specifically, the practitioners emphasized the importance of strengthening the advisory role on the regional level where the County Administrative Board (CAB), is tasked with reviewing the detailed development plans before an application for a construction permit is submitted. According to the practitioners, a limited number of ES are amongs<sup>t</sup> the criteria that are checked in the review process. For example, ES connected to water quality is checked, which has led to water issues gaining momentum and more resources being allocated to studies for handling storm water and flooding within the municipalities. As emphasized by the practitioners, if legislation is strengthened to enable the regulation of a full range of ES in the detailed development plans, the advisory role of the CAB could have the potential of ensuring the implementation of actions related to ES.

Additionally, within municipal organizations, there is a frequent change of employees, also confirmed by [65]. This could present challenges, especially if key personnel leading ES initiatives leave a project, process, or the organization. The next person to take over the position may or may not have the same level of knowledge, experience, or motivation to continue with the previous initiatives. Thus, developing processes and routines for transferring knowledge e fficiently and institutionalizing ES knowledge and procedures within municipal organizations is a key factor. Also, the development of systematic monitoring plans with relevant indicators can aid in identifying if ES was integrated in the planning process and actually resulted in implementation as well as contributing to capacity building. Examples provided by the practitioners from the case study municipalities included the municipality of Huddinge, which since 2017, has an annual follow up of their 89 environmental goals in order to monitor the status of implemented actions, initiated measures, delayed actions, and goal completion. The conservation of green areas and biodiversity are amongs<sup>t</sup> these goals. In the municipality of Täby, a practitioner shared the experience of how to structure a follow-up phase. This has been "incorporated into the planning process, which takes place after the adoption of the detailed development plan, and before submission of an application for a construction permit." The follow-up aims to ensure that the quality level of the planned development follows in accordance with what had been agreed by the municipality and developers during the planning process.

#### *5.3. Tools and Practices for ES Implementation in the Local Context*

In Sweden, the 290 municipalities di ffer in land use, population, and financial resources a ffecting the possibilities of implementation of ES in local planning. When working with ES in local municipal planning, the need for incorporating ES into municipal routines was discussed by the participants, with many emphasizing the need to find established ways of working, evaluating practice in the di fferent departments, identifying any gaps and who should fill those gaps. The participants pointed out that several of the progressive municipalities in the Stockholm region have developed their own planning instruments on a voluntary basis as a complement to required municipal comprehensive plans, in order to support planning processes that recognize specific issues such as ES. One example is Upplands Väsby municipality, that has developed extensive planning instruments on ES including "Mapping of Ecosystem Services" and "Development Plan for Ecosystem Services". More recently, the municipality has developed an action plan to support the implementation of the established strategies for ES in municipal activities. Parallel to the voluntary instruments, the participants emphasized the importance of driven individuals to lead the learning process on how to use these planning instruments within the organization for successful implementation.

Also, the participants highlighted the importance of specific roles and clear responsibilities for implementing the ES approach. The planning process was described as being long and extensive and the individuals involved in setting the strategic vision are often not involved in the implementation phase. Consequently, the vision set at the start regarding specific ES (e.g., tree planting) may not be implemented. As one of the participants stated, "when developing the detailed development plan in particular, there should be at least one person involved with the competence of ES." However, depending on the resources available in the municipalities, this is not always the case. Furthermore, the material concerning ES was described as being extensive but fragmented. There is an overall lack of clarity regarding who should be responsible for consolidating ES at the municipal level and there are di fferent approaches by di fferent municipalities, which also impact how it is implemented [66].

In the studied municipalities, two potential tools for ES in the planning of new developments were highlighted, Point System 2.0 and the green space factor (GSF). Point System 2.0 was an adaptation of the original Point System to include ES and was developed in Upplands Väsby. The GSF has been implemented in several of the municipalities in Stockholm County. The aim of the Point System is to facilitate collaboration and encourage construction companies to work with sustainability measures at an early stage. Through the application of this tool, the developers will receive points for implementing sustainability measures, which, in turn, generate discounts on the price of the land. In Upplands Väsby, a points system was applied to a large-scale project, Fyrklövern, which has been described as the largest residential building project in the municipality in 30 years, involving 14 di fferent construction companies (see also [67]). As a basis for the points system, a series of dialogue meetings with the citizens and di fferent actors involved in the planning and development process were organized to identify novel ideas for the new development project. The experiences gained from the implementation of the points system were being used to develop an updated version, which includes measures for ES. According to the practitioner, this version has the potential to be a "tool for discussion to keep the ES alive, providing more room to discuss what we want in a particular place". The GSF is a tool for increasing green spaces within development projects while minimizing the extent of sealed or paved surface designs that have been applied in many cities around the world (e.g., Malmö, Seattle, Berlin) [68,69]. In Stockholm, it has also been used in several of the municipalities and was appreciated by the practitioners as a way to facilitate dialogue between municipalities and the developers. GSF enabled concrete measures to increase the proportion of greenery on the land that had been set for development.

As a means of building capacity in terms of internal learning and establishing routines, Haninge municipality organized an educational workshop about GSF for the di fferent departments to enhance the usage in detailed development planning processes.

Furthermore, the experience from Upplands Väsby was that "maps to identify ES were the starting point to bring ES into the planning process and permitted knowledge to be gained on what exists, what is needed and what means exist for fulfilling the needs." However, a question was raised regarding how long these maps would be relevant and the need to continuously update them was emphasized, although there was often a lack of resources to do so.


**Table 3.** Summary of challenges and key factors for strengthening ES implementation.
