Thomas Randrup
Thomas Randrup
Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management - Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Innovation, Adoption, and Scaling of Urban Forests
October 15, 2026 - 12:00 PM
Urban forests are increasingly recognized as critical infrastructure for addressing climate change, biodiversity loss, public health, and urban resilience. Yet despite a growing number of innovative tools and technologies, many promising approaches fail to move beyond individual projects. This lecture explores why innovation in urban forestry is often constrained by limited capacity to adopt, govern, and sustain available solutions. Drawing on research in urban forestry and nature-based solutions, it argues that successful innovation depends on three interconnected dimensions: ecological systems, organizational structures, and local communities. The presentation examines how cities can move from isolated innovations to institutional change, emphasizing the importance of scaling knowledge, capacities, and governance approaches beyond merely replicating successful projects from elsewhere. Ultimately, the talk asks a fundamental question: Is the real challenge a shortage of innovative ideas, or a shortage of systems capable of putting them into practice?
Speaker Biography
Thomas Randrup – Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Thomas is a professor in Urban Open Space Management at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) and has a special interest in the concepts of Urban Forestry, Nature-based Solutions and Strategic Green Space Management. Since 2003, he has held various full professorships in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, while he has also held leadership roles in practice. He co-founded the journal Urban Forestry & Urban Greening (Elsevier) and co-edited the books Urban Forest & Trees (Springer) and Urban Open Space Governance and Management (Routledge).
Recommended Readings
CONEXUS. (2024). Supporting nature-based solutions via nature-based thinking. CONEXUS Factsheet series.
Randrup, T. B., Buijs, A., Konijnendijk, C. C., & Wild, T. (2020). Moving beyond the nature-based solutions discourse: introducing nature-based thinking. Urban Ecosystems (2020) 23:919-926. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-020-00964-w
Sowińska-Świerkosz, B., & García, J.. (2022). What are nature-based solutions (NBS)? Setting core ideas for concept clarification. Nature-Based Solutions 2 (2022) 100009. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbsj.2022.100009