This thesis examines how an ecosystem based approach, and more specifically, the utilization of green roofs, can become implemented at a larger scale, as part of cities strategies to become more resilient i.e. towards the impacts of global climate changes. In addition to these impacts, climate scientists predict that increased levels of precipitation will become a future challenge for Northern European cities in particular.
In this regard, green roofs have gained renewed attention the past few years. This technology has the ability to contribute with multiple benefits in an urban environment, where more dense buildings and structures challenge the space available for ecosystem services to be present. Green roofs were chosen as a main focus because of their abilities to not only adapt and mitigate climate related challenges, but also because of its ability to become implemented in areas with poorly utilized space, such as on rooftops.
Through the use of Polycentric Governance, the drivers, barriers, networks and tools used to either expand or impede the use of green roofs in cities, have been identified and processed. This has been done in a way to allow a framework for successful implementation of green roofs to be constructed. This framework have been structured through an exclusively qualitative data collection, and used to propose how both public and private actors could collaborate in order to ensure that a larger volume of ecosystem services becomes a part of the future urban landscape.