Göteborg, Göteborg (FUA), Sweden
City population: 939291
Duration: 2021 – 2030
Implementation status: Ongoing
Scale: Sub-microscale: Street scale (including buildings)
Project area: 2800 m2
Type of area: Public Greenspace Area, Building
Last updated: March 2025

The Gothenburg Botanical Gardens are replacing and expanding their old greenhouses, which had serious flaws in terms of work environment, climate and accessibility [Ref. 1]. The new greenhouses will be divided into sections with a diverse set of climates and preserve over 4000 species, some of which are extinct in their natural environments [Ref. 1-2]. A new visitors centre is also being built and will have ameneties such as a café, a shop, toilets and places to sit, which will improve the Botanical Gardens' ability to invite the public and educate about biodiversity. The greenhouse project aims to strengthen the Gardens' national and international standing within research and education [Ref. 4]. A significant share of the visitors today are domestic and international tourists, and the new greenhouses aim to promote that further. The Botanical Gardens are owned by the regional government (Region Västra Götaland), which is funding these new project activities. The construction is ongoing and plans to finish in 2028, but the greenhouses will not be fully open to the public before the inauguration in 2030. The project has an investment budget of about 56 million EUR, and will, in total, occupy 6600 sqm [Ref. 1-3].

Illustration of the new greenhouses seen from the ground, large greenhouses with a park and people in front.
Illustration of the new greenhouse
https://peab.se/om-peab/bolagsinformation/press-och-media/pressmeddelanden/2023/september/peab-bygger-nya-vaxthus-i-goteborgs-botaniska-tradgard/

Overview

Nature-based solution

  • Nature in buildings (indoor)
  • Other
  • Parks and urban forests
  • Botanical gardens

Key challenges

  • Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
  • Green space creation and/or management
  • Habitat and biodiversity conservation
  • Health and well-being (SDG 3)
  • Creation of opportunities for recreation
  • Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
  • Environmental education
  • Economic development and employment (SDG 8)
  • Tourism support

Principal problems in Functional Urban Area (FUA)

  • Environmental Degradation
  • Biodiversity loss

Key priorities

Biodiversity (conservation and/or restoration)

Focus

Creation of new green areas, Creation of any other green urban spaces, Knowledge creation and awareness raising, Educational and awareness raising programs

Project objectives

- The collection of plants should have a high quality and be accessible for research and educational purposes. - The greenhouses should consistently and correctly provide different climate zones for the presevation of a large variety of plants, including threatened and extinct species. - The educational and recreational experiences offered at the visitor's centre and greenhouses should attract school classes of children and youths, as well as the general public, from the entire region. - The new greenhouses should promote the tourism and hospitality industry in the region and have a high international standing. [Ref. 1-5]

Implementation activities

1. Identify issues with current greenhouses, formulate goals, and plan for new greenhouses. 2. Demolition of old greenhouses and construction of new greenhouses. 3. Maintenance of plants in the current greenhouses during the transition period. 4. Gradually opening greenhouses to the public as construction finishes. [Ref. 1-5]

Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities

Biodiversity conservation:

  • Protect species
  • Undertake specific measures to protect species
  • Undertake specific measures to protect endangered species
  • Undertake specific measures to protect valued species
  • Take measures for ex situ conservation
  • Means for conservation governance
  • Raise public awareness
  • Public engagement
  • Create and use scientific knowledge for conservation

Main beneficiaries

  • Researchers/University
  • Citizens or community groups
  • Young people and children

Governance

Management set-up

  • Government-led

Type of initiating organisation

  • Regional government

Participatory approaches/ community involvement

  • The project didn't involve any form of stakeholder participatory activities

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

Region Västra Götaland, the regional government, owns the Gothenburg botanical garden, and the board of the garden is constituted by politicians of the region. The regional parliament sets the long-term goals and budget, including for the greenhouse construction project [Ref. 5, 7]. A construction contract was given to Peab, which will build the greenhouses and visitors centre [Ref. 3].

Project implemented in response to ...

... an EU policy or strategy? Yes (The regional parliament decided on a long-term strategy for the Botanical Garden in 2016, which the goals of the greenhouse project are designed to contribute to. The strategy is summarized as such: "1. Gothenburg's botanical garden must have such a high standard of plant collections and accessibility that enables research and qualified education. 2. Gothenburg's botanical garden must reach children and young people throughout Västra Götaland. 3. The botanical garden must be a matter for the whole of Västra Götaland. 4. Gothenburg's botanical garden's unique operations must be part of the tourism industry in Western Götaland 5. The botanical garden must be an activity with international luminosity that is visible and engaging." [Ref. 5]. )
... a national policy or strategy? Unknown
... a local policy or strategy? Unknown

Type of enablers

Unknown

Financing

Total cost

More than €4,000,000

Source(s) of funding

  • Public regional budget

Type of funding

  • Earmarked public budget

Non-financial contribution

Unknown

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

  • Climate change
  • Energy efficiency improvements
  • Expected energy efficiency improvements
  • Green space and habitat
  • Increased green space area
  • Expected increased green space area
  • Reduced biodiversity loss
  • Expected reduced biodiversity loss
  • Increased protection of threatened species
  • Expected increased protection of threatened species

Economic impacts

  • Unknown

Socio-cultural impacts

  • Health and wellbeing
  • Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
  • Expected gain in activities for recreation and exercise
  • Enhanced cognitive restoration, relaxation and stress relief
  • Expected enhanced cognitive restoration, relaxation and stress relief
  • Education
  • Increased support for education and scientific research
  • Expected increased support for education and scientific research

Type of reported impacts

Presence of formal monitoring system

Unknown

Presence of indicators used in reporting

No evidence in public records

Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports

No evidence in public records

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

No evidence in public records

Potential risks of implementation and trade-offs

Other

References

1.
VGR Fastigheter (2024). Botaniska trädgården Göteborg, växthus och besökscentrum. Region Västra Götaland, Accessed on August 8, 2024, [Source link];
2.
Holmberg, W. (2024). Från alpin till tropisk miljö när Botaniska mångmiljonsatsar. Dagens Nyheter, Accessed on August 8, 2024, [Source link];
3.
Peab (2023). Peab builds new greenhouse in the Gothenburg Botanical Garden. Accessed on August 8, 2024, [Source link];
4.
Gothenburg botanical garden (2024). Vi bygger nytt. Accessed on August 9, 2024, [Source link];
5.
Region Västra Götaland (2019). Nya växthus och besökscentrum i Göteborgs botaniska trädgård. [Source link];
6.
Gothenburg Botanical Garden (2024). Samlingar och forskning. Accessed on August 9, 2024, [Source link];
naturescapes bannerInformation about this nature-based solution was collected as part of the Naturescapes project funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No 101084341.