New article on planning and management

The new article "Nature for everyone? "Planning perspectives on accessibility, disability and participation in the Swedish outdoors" has been published in Planning Practice & Research – a journal aimed at academics, professionals and students in spatial planning. In the article, researchers Sandra Wall-Reinius and Rosemarie Anke, who are active in the project, highlight how accessibility and social inclusion can be improved through planning and management to promote health through equal access to nature.

For older people and people with disabilities, it can be difficult to participate in recreation due to inaccessible nature. It can lead to exclusion from outdoor experiences and health benefits. The lack of accessibility is an obstacle to participating in outdoor activities on an equal footing and therefore nature-based solutions for quality of life are crucial. 

"We have interviewed representatives from Swedish municipalities and county administrative boards and also from interest groups for people with physical disabilities. Through this, we have been able to identify a number of challenges in the planning and management of the outdoor landscape in relation to accessibility and participation," says Rosemarie Ankre.

Six categories of challenges

Based on the results, the researchers were able to distinguish the following six categories of challenges in the planning and management of accessible nature:

1. The lack of financial resources is a major difficulty in the management of natural areas. 
2. Another challenge is limited knowledge about people's preferences and needs when visiting nature.
3. In addition, insufficient participation and representation of different groups in society in planning and management is a challenge. 
4. Furthermore, the lack of a common conceptual understanding of 'accessibility' poses a challenge in planning practice.
5. Weak collaboration between stakeholders, including internal collaboration within authorities responsible for spatial planning and management, prevents successful work to make nature more accessible.
6. Finally, urban densification leading to compact cities with reduced access to nature is one of the fundamental problems of contemporary urban planning ideals.

The conclusions drawn in the study are important for future work and implementation and contribute to the understanding of accessibility by examining the experiences and perceptions of those who practically work with these issues, as well as how they apply the concept of accessibility in their work.

Here you can find the article if you want to read more!