Experimental Urban Ecosystems Accounting - improving the decision-support relevance for municipal planning and policy

Oslo is one of the capitals in Europe that is still growing and transforming rapidly. Greater Oslo has forest remnants and other biodiversity hotspot remnants within the built zone, coastline and islands, active agricultural landscapes and large forest areas with nature reserves within municipal boundaries, providing strong wilderness-rural-urban gradients both within and between Oslo and its neighbouring municipalities. A scoping study carried out in 2015 estimated cultural ecosystem services from green infrastructure in Oslo Municipality alone to be worth billions of Norwegian kroner annually. Despite these high per unit area ecosystem services values, small, fragmented urban ecosystems may not be recognized by ecosystem accounting units designed for national indicators and focusing mostly on natural resources found outside cities. The Office of the Auditor General in Norway has asked for better control and monitoring of loss of urban green infrastructure. The URBAN EEA project demonstrates synergies between experimental ecosystem accounting (EEA) for the national system of economic and environmental accounts (SEEA), and municipal level mapping of urban ecosystems and their services to the population. URBAN EEA is a collaboration between the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Statistics Norway (SSB) and the Oslo School of Architecture and Design (AHO). The project reference group includes the Oslo Region, Oslo-Akershus County Governor, and the municipalities of Oslo, Bærum and Ås.

Urban EEA has : - contributed to the development of regional and green border policies in Akershus municipalities. - contributed to the knowledge status of monetary valuation of ecosystem services from the Oslofjorden, within an ecosystem services accounting framework. - development of the blue-green factor (BGF) and demonstration of its use urban planning area level as part of a wider mapping and evaluation approach to accounting for urban planning. - evaluated how Oslos green accounts could be compiled for urban tree canopy - developed an Urban Nature Atlas which presents ecosystem location, condition and ecosystem services to the public in Oslo. - Contributed to methodological developments of Ecosystem Accounts within the UN SEEA EEA

The URBAN EEA project demonstrates synergies between experimental ecosystem accounting (EEA) for the national system of economic and environmental accounts (SEEA), and municipal level mapping of urban ecosystems and their services to the population. Mapping and valuation methods are tested in the Greater Oslo region aimed at identifying potential trade-offs and synergies in ecosystem services from green infrastructure and urban development. Spatial mapping databases are developed that are compatible with standards for national accounting, that can be accessed and updated by land use planners and policy makers, and that provide periodically updated information to the public on the status of urban ecosystems.