ECOBUDGETS

The project unites partners at the forefront in piloting climate budgeting and nature accounting – City of Bergen and Vestland County Council – expertise from human geography, biology, political science and law at University of Bergen, NIBIO and NINA, and sustainable futures literacy agents Fremtenkt. ECOBUDGETS uses state-of-the-art methodologies for contributions to scientific literature on accountability and metrics in sustainable governance and real-world impact on climate and nature sustainability.

The key research question of ECOBUDGETS is: how can sustainability budgeting become actionable for political and administrative decision-making? The overarching objectives of the project are to (1) identify effective tools and methodologies relevant to decision-making and (2) understand how these can contribute to more sustainable decisions – in other words, to make the budgets more usable and used in concrete decision- making. To achieve this, ECOBUDGET draws on competence from human geography, political science, biology, and law; and collaborates with authorities at the forefront of practical development and testing of the budgeting approach. The project builds on completed and ongoing projects on climate budgeting and land use mapping (Klimabudsjett 2.0, EcoMAP , NYVEST), and complements these by examining how the methodological innovations they offer can be integrated into governance processes