Resource description:
This deliverable synthesises the results of the three BioValue Arenas for Transformation—Trento (Italy), Mafra (Portugal) and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Germany)—and provides an integrated analysis of how spatial planning, environmental assessment and economic–financial instruments can be combined to support biodiversity-positive transformative change.
The report assesses each Arena’s socio-ecological context, planning system characteristics, governance structures and biodiversity challenges, examining how diverse pressures—river corridor degradation, land-use conflicts driven by urbanisation and tourism, and peatland drainage for agriculture—affect biodiversity outcomes. It documents the co-production processes carried out with municipalities, regional authorities, NGOs, farmers, landowners and consultants to identify locally relevant pathways for transformation.
Using BioValue’s conceptual frameworks, the report analyses how each Arena mobilised Spatial Planning & Management Instruments (SP&MIs), Environmental Assessment Instruments (EAIs), and Economic and Financial Instruments (E&FIs) for enhancing biodiversity.
The synthesis identifies cross-cutting barriers—institutional fragmentation, limited biodiversity data, insufficient monitoring, short planning cycles and legal rigidity—as well as enabling conditions, such as political leadership, stable governance arrangements, multi-stakeholder dialogue and enhanced ecological baselines.
The report provides a set of opportunities for each Arena and highlights transferable lessons for European planning authorities. It demonstrates that system-wide change requires aligning spatial planning with environmental assessment and financial mechanisms, strengthening participatory governance, and integrating biodiversity objectives across all planning stages.
This resource offers planners and policymakers a practical understanding of how diverse planning contexts can advance towards biodiversity-centered transformative change.
Author/Contact:
University of Lisbon – Instituto Superior Técnico
Contributors: Mafra Municipality; Comune di Trento; CoKnow Consulting.
Contact: Margarida B. Monteiro, margarida.monteiro@tecnico.ulisboa.pt
Advantages:
- Provides real-world evidence from three diverse planning contexts.
- Demonstrates how planning, assessment and financial instruments can reinforce one another.
- Offers transferable insights for municipalities and regions aiming to integrate biodiversity aims.
Constraints:
- Context-specific results may require adaptation for different planning systems.
- Context-specific results may require adaptation for different planning systems.
- Transformative change depends on political commitment and long-term governance capacity.