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In urbanising regions, urban sprawl and infrastructure cause profound alterations of natural habitats. Initial decisions on urban expansion and major infrastructure investments are often made on a strategic level where the long-term development of a region is determined. For these types of decisions a strategic environmental assessment can be prepared. However, the lack of an adequate conceptual and methodological framework can pose a major problem for the prediction of impacts, not least concerning biodiversity. This paper will highlight the need for effective methods for biodiversity analysis at landscape and regional levels, with reference to the long-term urban development of the Stockholm and Mälaren regions. Problems of habitat loss, fragmentation and other impacts related to large-scale urbanisation and infrastructure developments will be addressed. GIS-based methods focusing on predictive ecological modelling will be discussed in a scenario context. The implementation of such methodologies in the strategic environmental assessment process would allow a better integration of biodiversity in planning and decision-making, further promoting a sustainable planning system.

Sustainable urban development has been widely recognized as requiring energy and transport efficient urban growth, while ecological issues are often not well integrated in sustainability assessments and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). In order to achieve such integration, methods and tools based on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in a Landscape Ecological Assessment (LEA) framework were developed and integrated in planning in four case studies in and around the city of Stockholm, Sweden. This involved the application of recently developed methods for impact prediction and for integration into the planning processes. The aim of the study was to compare the case studies concerning strengths and weaknesses of LEA and its GIS-based components. The methodology enabled identification of important structures in the landscape to support biodiversity, across administrative borders. The LEA facilitated discussions on consequences of alternatives for localisation of built-up areas, infrastructure and other developments as well as management. The GIS-based LEA approach could thus contribute to a sustainable urban development with consideration of the landscape-level biodiversity values integrated with energy-efficient urban growth trajectories.

The construction sector consumes significant quantities of energy and contributes substantially to greenhouse gas emissions. It is imperative that the sector considers a renewable component to its energy procurement. The sector has adopted various policy instruments such as impact assessment and green procurement for improving its environmental performance. Green procurement involves the procurement of services, products and also energy that meet environmental requirements. This paper focused primarily on the conceptualisation of the inter-link between impact assessment and green procurement. Furthermore, interviews were conducted with three fundamental categories of stakeholders that involved client, contractor and energy company. Although the interview responses showed varied perspectives on the inter-link, most of the interviewees acknowledged its need and suggested certain approaches towards establishing the inter-link. The highlighted approach was to consider the use of commercially available environmental certification tools and focus on areas such as partnerships. Future research should examine how environmental certification tools could facilitate the inter-link and how partnerships need to be arranged therein.

The construction sector consumes significant quantities of energy and contributes substantially to greenhouse gas emissions. It is imperative that the sector considers a renewable component to its energy procurement. The sector has adopted various policy instruments such as impact assessment and green procurement for improving its environmental performance. Green procurement involves the procurement of services, products and also energy that meet environmental requirements. This paper focused primarily on the conceptualisation of the inter-link between impact assessment and green procurement. Furthermore, interviews were conducted with three fundamental categories of stakeholders that involved client, contractor and energy company. Although the interview responses showed varied perspectives on the inter-link, most of the interviewees acknowledged its need and suggested certain approaches towards establishing the inter-link. The highlighted approach was to consider the use of commercially available environmental certification tools and focus on areas such as partnerships. Future research should examine how environmental certification tools could facilitate the inter-link and how partnerships need to be arranged therein.