The quest for sustainable urban development requires innovative planning approaches more apt to cater for transformative action. Based on a case study approach, this study aims to explore the potential for local planning to develop practical approaches able to accelerate the transition towards sustainable urban development. To guide spatial development towards sustainability, the analysis of the results shows that local planners need to envision a process design as to advance the understanding of how a site or area can be developed. The act of process design involves pending between processes of contextualization (i.e. exploring five distinguishable domains of planning inquiry) and concretization (i.e. deciding upon a course of action by executing activities that form a process trajectory). Regarding the potential of local planning to develop transformative approaches, it is concluded that: (i) local planners possess capabilities that allow them to probe the future of places and produce insights about prospective change, (ii) the transformative capacity of local planning practices is bound to the development of the identified domains of planning inquiry and (iii) forthcoming evaluations organized around the act of process design can reveal insights regarding the possibilities to put the notion of sustainability into practice at the local level.

Eutrophication assessments in water management to quantify nutrient loads and identify mitigating measures seldom include the contribution from horse facilities. This may be due to lack of appropriate methods, limited resources, or the belief that the impact from horses is insignificant. However, the recreational horse sector is growing, predominantly in multi-functional peri-urban landscapes. We applied an ecosystem management approach to quantify nutrient loads from horse facilities in the Stockholm Region, Sweden. We found that horses increased the total loads with 30-40% P and 20-45% N, with average area-specific loads of 1.2 kg P and 7.6 kg N ha^-1 year^-1. Identified local risk factors included manure management practices, trampling severity, soil condition and closeness to water. Comparisons of assessment methods showed that literature standard values of area-specific loads and water runoff may be sufficient at the catchment level, but in small and more complex catchments, measurements and local knowledge are needed.

Background: Urban green spaces are important for human health, but they may expose visitors to tick-borne diseases. This not only presents a potential public health challenge but also undermines the expected public health gains from urban green spaces. The aim of this study is to assess the public health risk of tick-borne diseases in an urban green space used for recreation in Stockholm, Sweden.

Methods: We used a mixed method approach identifying both the magnitude of the tick hazard and the extent of the human exposure to tick-borne diseases. At six entry points to an urban green space, we sampled ticks and documented microhabitat conditions from five randomly assigned 2 m × 2 m plots. Surrounding habitat data was analyzed using geographical information system (GIS). Nymphs and adult ticks were tested for Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and Anaplasma phagocytophilum using TaqMan qPCR. Positive B. burgdorferi (s.l.) ticks were further analyzed by nested PCR amplification and sequence analysis. Population census data and visitor count data were used to estimate the degree of human exposure to tick-borne diseases. To further understand the degree to which visitors get in contact with infected ticks we also conducted interviews with visitors to green spaces.

Results: High tick densities were commonly found in humid broadleaved forest with low field vegetation. High pathogen prevalence was significantly correlated with increasing proportions of artificial areas. Integrating the tick hazard with human exposure we found that the public health risk of tick-borne diseases was moderate to high at most of the studied entry points. Many of the visitors frequently used urban green spaces. Walking was the most common activity, but visitors also engaged in activities with higher risk for tick encounters. Individual protective measures were connected to specific recreational activities such as picking berries or mushrooms.

Conclusions: The number of visitors can be combined with tick inventory data and molecular analyses of pathogen prevalence to make crude estimations of the public health risk of tick-borne diseases in urban green spaces. The risk of encountering infected ticks is omnipresent during recreational activities in urban green spaces, highlighting the need for public health campaigns to reduce the risk of tick-borne diseases.

In 2017, ticks and field data were collected from 12 different sites in Stockholm County originally chosen as random controls for another study but was never used. In 2019, we collected ticks and field data at 35 randomly selected sites along the natural-urban gradient. To calculate and urbanization index, we used the proportion of artificial surfaces surrounding each site. All sampling sites were visited once with a total of 295 sampling plots inventoried for ticks and field data. For each sampling plot, we recorded date, time, temperature, weather conditions, number of ticks, vegetation height and tree stem density surrounding the inventory plot. To retrieve large landscape characteristics, we established 10 buffer zones ranging from 100m to 1000m around each sampling site in GIS using satellite land cover maps (retrieved from: https://www.naturvardsverket.se/verktyg-och-tjanster/kartor-och-karttjanster/nationella-marktackedata/ladda-ner-nationella-marktackedata/). These maps have a spatial resolution of 10m and include the following main categories 1) Forest and seminatural areas, 2) Open areas, 3) Arable land, 4) Wetlands, 5) Artificial surfaces and 6) Inland and marine water. These main categories are further divided into subcategories with detailed information regarding the different land cover classes. In the analyses, we used the main categories, with the exception of Forest and seminatural areas where we included eight individual forest types: Pine forest, Spruce forest, Mixed coniferous forest, Mixed forest, Broadleaved forest, Broadleaved hardwood forest, Broadleaved forest with hardwood forest and Temporarily non-forest. To calculate landscape configuration metrics at each sampling site, we used land cover data from the GIS buffers with a 1000m radius, exported to GeoTIFF format and analyzed them with FRAGSTATS version 4. For landscape heterogeneity we used Shannons’ diversity index (SHDI) and to measure the aggregation of landscape attributes we used Contagion (CONTAG). As measures of forest configuration, we used percent of forest cover (PLAND) and total forest edge length (TE). All statistical analyses were performed with R version 4.0.3. To analyze the effect of possible risk factors for tick abundance in different greenspaces across the natural-urban gradient, we used generalized linear mixed models assuming Poisson distributed residuals. As the data contained a larger proportion of zeros than would be expected according to a Poisson or a negative binomial distribution causing overdispersion, we fitted zero-inflated Poisson models using the package glmmTMB (generalized linear mixed models using Template Model Builder).

För att förstå utbredningen av den vanliga fästingen Ixodes ricinus, undersökte vi hur både lokala faktorer och olika landskapsegenskaper påverkar förekomsten av fästingar i grönområden längs med urbaniseringsgradienten i Stockholms län, Sverige. Fästingar och fältdata samlades in under 2017 och 2019 och analyserades i relation till habitatdata och landskapsdata framtaget från geografiskt informationssystem (GIS). 2017 samlades fästingar och fältdata in från 12 olika platser i Stockholms län som ursprungligen hade valts som slumpmässiga kontroller till en annan studie men aldrig använts. 2019 samlades fästingar och fältdata in från 35 olika platser längs med urbaniseringsgradienten. Dessa 35 platser valdes slumpmässigt ut med hjälp av GIS. För att beräkna urbaniseringsgraden för varje plats, använde vi andelen exploaterad mark i en 1000m buffertzon. För de 12 första insamlingsplatserna under 2017 valde vi slumpmässigt ut 10 2m × 2m rutor för inventering av fästingar och fältdata. På de 35 platser som vi inventerade 2019, samlade vi in fästingar i 5 2m × 2m rutor. Vi besökte alla platser en gång och totalt inventerades 295 provtagningsrutor. För varje ruta noterade vi datum, tid, väderförhållande, antal fästingar, vegetationshöjd och trädstamstäthet runt varje ruta. För att ta fram landskapsdata skapades 10 buffertzoner från 100m till 1000m radies runt varje insamlingsplats i GIS tillsammans med Naturvårdverkets Nationella Marktäckedata. Dessa satellitkartor har en upplösning på 10m och har följande huvudkategorier 1) Skog, 2) Öppen mark, 3) Åkermark, 4) Öppen våtmark, 5) Exploaterad mark, och 6) Vatten. För att identifiera riskfaktorer valde vi att använda dessa huvudkategorier med undantag for kategorin Skog där vi valde att inkludera de åtta olika skogstyperna: Tallskog, Granskog, Barrblandskog, Lövblandad barrskog, Triviallövskog, Ädellövskog, Triviallövskog med ädellövsinslag och Temporärt ej skog. För att ta fram statistik och beräkna konfigurationen av landskapet runt varje insamlingsplats, använde vi marktäckedata från 1000m buffertzonen som exporterades till GeoTIFF-format och som sedan analyserades med FRAGSTATS version 4. Vi använde Shannons diversitetsindex (SHDI) för att uppskatta mångfalden av marktäcketyper runt varje insamlingsplats. För att mäta aggregeringen av de olika martäcketyperna i landskapet använde vi Contagion (CONTAG). Som ett mått på skogens konfiguration använde vi PLAND, som är proportionen av skog i landskapet och total edge (TE) som är den totala skogskantslängden. Alla statistiska analyser har gjorts med R, versionen 4.0.3. För att analysera effekterna av olika riskfaktorer på fästingförekomst i olika grönområden, använde vi generaliserade linjära mixade modeller med Poisson-fördelade residualer. Eftersom datasetet innehöll fler nollor än vad som förväntas enligt en Poisson eller negativ binomialfördelning som orsakar överdispersion, använde vi nollinflations-Poissonmodeller i paketet glmmTMB.

To better understand the spatial distribution of the common tick Ixodes ricinus, we investigated how local site factors and landscape characteristics influence tick presence and abundance in different greenspaces along the natural-urban gradient in Stockholm County, Sweden. Ticks and field data were collected in 2017 and 2019 and analyzed in relation to habitat type distributions estimated from land cover maps using geographical information system (GIS). A total of 1378 (992 larvae, 370 nymphs, 13 females, and 3 males) questing ticks were collected from 295 sampling plots in 47 different greenspaces. Ticks were present in 41 of the 47 greenspaces and our results show that both local site features such as vegetation height, and landscape characteristics like the amount of mixed coniferous forest, significantly affect tick abundance. Tick abundance was highest in rural areas with large natural and seminatural habitats, but ticks were also present in parks and gardens in highly urbanized areas. Greenspaces along the natural-urban gradient should be included in surveillance for ticks and tick-borne diseases, including highly urbanized sites that may be perceived by the public as areas with low risk for tick encounters.

The quest for cogent responses to sustainability goals challenges local spatial planning practices across growing metropolitan regions to develop planning approaches that enable transformative capacity in increasingly complex settings. Based on a case study conducted in the Stockholm region, this paper explores the design and organization of local planning processes to provide a basis for a discussion of alternative approaches that may enhance sustainability in plan and project development. More specifically, it aims to analyze the conditions for embedding and consolidating sustainability issues in local planning processes. The results show that the municipalities need to create conditions for an effective interplay between the planning work carried out in individual projects and the organization of resources, knowledge, and skills on which the projects depend to handle sustainability issues. This study contributes to the understanding of the challenges associated with putting sustainability into practice at the local level by identifying and conceptualizing three important barriers. By acknowledging the temporal, locational, and procedural dimensions of knowledge in local planning processes, planning practices may become better at knowing when, and in what ways, different forms of knowledge can become created, introduced, and used in a synergistic manner to aid the realization of sustainability goals.

Policies and planning processes related to land use play an important role in maintaining and developing ecosystem services. The incorporation of ecosystem services into local plans is considered an indicator of the plan's capacity to implement strategic action. This study provides a national overview of the incorporation of the ecosystem service concept in current municipal comprehensive plans in Sweden and explores the actions taken by three municipalities in Stockholm County to implement the ecosystem service concept in practice. A multi-method design was employed including a qualitative content analysis of 231 municipal comprehensive plans, a statistical analysis analyzing temporal changes from 2005 – 2017, and dialogue meetings with municipal practitioners from the three municipalities. We divided the level of integration to four categories, A (Advanced) - D (Not included). Overall, the integration of the ecosystem service concept has significantly increased in municipal comprehensive plans during the last decade. At national level, 23% of municipalities have explicitly mentioned ecosystem services, and within Stockholm County, 42%. The dialogue meetings with municipal practitioners revealed that the municipalities were at different stages of implementing the ecosystem service concept, with diverse actions being implemented for advancing practice. These included capacity building, participatory processes and development of thematic plans and operational documents. To support the future implementation of the ecosystem service concept from vision to action, both local and national initiatives are needed.

This case study from Stockholm County, Sweden, explores practitioners' experiences of barriers and bridges in municipal planning practices to support actions for ecosystem services. This qualitative study is based on information gathered from a focus group, workshops, and semi-structured interviews, which aided in identifying key factors for integrating ecosystem services in municipal planning. We identified 10 key factors divided into three themes: (i) regulatory framework and political support, (ii) local organizational capacity, and (iii) local adaptation of tools and practices. In particular, the practitioners pointed to the need for the development of legal support and regulations for ecosystem services on the national and EU policy levels. Furthermore, the need for local capacity building and understanding of ecosystem services as well as increased regional support to enhance local knowledge exchange and learning was emphasized. Also, in a decentralized local governance system such as in Sweden, to fully implement ecosystem services in urban planning for sustainable development, locally adapted practical tools and monitoring procedures were considered important.

Landscape characteristics influence both vector and host habitats affecting the spatial and temporal distribution of vector-borne diseases. Anaplasma phagocytophilum is one of the most widespread tick-borne diseases in Europe causing tick-borne fever (TBF) in domestic ruminants, and granulocytic anaplasmosis in humans, horses and companion animals. The aim of this study was to identify landscape factors associated with Equine Granulocytic Anaplasmosis (EGA) cases in a refined temporal and spatial analysis by combining land cover data and presence/absence disease data, using a geographical information system (GIS). This study is a retrospective analysis utilizing 1030 EGA diagnostic test results extracted from the National Veterinary Institute (SVA, Sweden). The association between EGA and different land cover types was analyzed with generalized linear models. To analyze the relation between landscape heterogeneity and EGA, we calculated the Gini-Simpson index. Our results showed a significant increase in the proportion positive EGA cases from 2002 to 2015 and marked differences in the seasonal within year distribution of EGA cases. The association with landscape configuration is shown by the positive relationship between A. phagocytophilum and coniferous forest, water bodies, and landscape heterogeneity, respectively. The information on the eco-epidemiological drivers for EGA can be central for disease control and prevention. Our method of linking land cover to disease risk may be applied to other vector-borne diseases and to other study regions.