What could Success look like for Finland’s National Restoration Plan? Reflections from the MUST Forum on Socioecological Connectivity.

On April 15, a MUST Forum brought together researchers and members of the Urban Environments Working Group responsible for co-creating actions relevant to Article 8 of the Nature Restoration Regulation (NRR) in the National Restoration Plan. Drawing on the freshly published MUST Policy Brief, the discussions offered ideas and considerations on how to integrate measures for improving the quality of urban environments into the National Restoration Plan, and eventually go beyond the quantitative measures set under Article 8.

Three key insights emerged from the forum as a basis for further discussion:

    1. Going beyond quantitative targets outlined in NRR Article 8: Defining indicators beyond the amount of green space and canopy cover is important for capturing the quality of urban nature, functional connectivity and the socio-ecological values of various stakeholder groups.
    2. Connecting city and regional plans on restoration with the national plan: Regional biodiversity plans such as LUMO show strong momentum at the municipal level. However, current fragmentation between city, regional and national plans risks limiting impact. Scaling up regional successes and ensuring vertical alignment between governance levels could help in achieving end-results that benefit the most both nature and wellbeing of citizens.
    3. Actively engaging with different stakeholders including cities, industries, and citizens in restoration initiatives: As one contributor put it, “we need new alliances—between ecologists, planners, educators, and citizens—to drive transformative restoration.”

There is a substantial amount of work ahead, but through the continued inclusive discussion between various stakeholders, Finland can emerge as a leader in urban nature restoration across Europe.

Thank you for the participants of the thematic working group 3 and researchers Sonali Sharma, Erik Andersson, Christopher Raymond, Nora Fagerholm, Alex Lechner, Rémi DUFLOT, Juho Rajaniemi, Kari Jalonen for presentations🌱

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