UNDER: Geosystem services underneath for sustainable communities and improved spatial planning practices

Geosystem services (GS) can be defined as the contributions humans derive from the subsurface: the use of the subsurface to build and construct within and on top, groundwater, energy and material extraction, storing of e.g. water, energy and carbon dioxide, providing habitats for diverse species and support for surface life, and serving as an archive of cultural and geological heritage. Sectorial management and lack of consequent consideration of subsurface geosystem services and competing or complementary subsurface uses promote the first-come-first-served principle, potentially hindering a sustainable management of the subsurface and compromising inter- and intra-generational equity. The research project “UNDER: Geosystem services underneath for sustainable communities and improved spatial planning practices” has the overall goal to develop a framework for systematic and structured consideration of geosystem services in Swedish planning practices that can support a path towards sustainable cities and communities. The specific objectives of the UNDER project are to: i) advance the concept of GS by identifying and mapping associated societal values (social, environmental and economic), ii) identify methods to assess societal values and investigate possibilities for integration in existing tools, iii) identify structures of governance and develop a broader and practice-informed understanding of the different societal actors in subsurface planning, and iv) create a participative learning environment, extended beyond the project implementation period leading to transformative processes in planning practice. The project is case study driven and works in collaboration with Swedish municipalities. Four ongoing spatial planning processes in Swedish municipalities have been selected as case studies, which will provide a variety of spatial planning contexts and objectives. The project is a multi-disciplinary, international project with funding from the Swedish research council Formas, running during 2021 - 2025. The presentation of the project will focus on the project activities, preliminary results, and future work.