*4.4. Workshops*

Based on the discussion in the focus group, a sequence of three half-day workshops were organized on three separate occasions (April, May, and June 2019), discussing the same topic and involving different participant constellations. Workshops were chosen to gather information because they provide the opportunity to elicit rich information from participants selected through purposeful sampling [57]. Furthermore, workshops provide the opportunity for stakeholders of different organizations to collaborate with one another and share experiences [58]. The participants of the workshops included representatives from local and regional governance, construction sector, consultants, and academia (Table 2). In general, the same participants did not participate in more than one workshop. The mixed group of participants allowed for the gathering of different perspectives and views. The discussions in the sequence of workshops focused on factors to advance ES practice in municipal planning, along with challenges that may hinder the implementation.


**Table 2.** The constellation of participants attending the workshops in April, May, and June 2019.

#### *4.5. Semi-structured Interviews*

Following the focus group and workshops, five semi-structured interviews (60–90 min) between July and September 2019 were conducted with selected municipal practitioners to validate the researcher's understanding of the gathered information. Prior to the interviews, an interview guide was developed following [59], which summarized the challenges, needs, and key factors identified in the preceding research settings. Identified key factors for advancing ES in planning practice were presented to the participants, providing them the opportunity to elaborate on the researcher's findings. The interviewees were selected based on their involvement in the focus group and workshops, as well as their leading role in working with activities involving ES in the respective municipalities.

#### *4.6. Thematic Analysis*

A thematic analysis in accordance with [54] was conducted based on the theoretical framework and the views and experiences gathered from the focus group, workshops, and interviews. Three main themes were identified: (i) regulatory framework and political support (ii) organizational capacity building for implementation of ES in municipal planning (iii) tools and practices for ES in the local context. The themes were refined through an iterative process in relation to the workshop and interview series. For each of the themes, challenges, and needs were identified. Next, key factors for strengthening ES implementation were linked to the challenges and needs within the three themes.
