Giving nature a voice

ester

A background of grass, trees and some houses. On top of the landscape is an overlay with white icons displaying different ecosystem services and their levels.

vision

A digital tool for analysing ecosystem services

Urban development must balance growth with sustainability, ensuring that natural ecosystems continue to provide essential services. The digital tool ESTER will help projects harness the benefits of nature to build resilient, climate-smart communities. Based on Boverket's Excel-based tool Ester 2.0, it provides a structured way to measure ecosystem services.

A closeup photography of green moss. Used as user studie for service design and ui, ux design case Ester

ECOSYSTEM SERVICES

Measuring the Immeasurable

Ecosystem services is a way of measuring the value of nature's contributions to human society, from promoting mental health to stormwater management. There are 22 services, grouped into four categories; Provisioning, Regulating, Cultural, and Supporting.

RESEARCH

Mapping the context

Through 30+ stakeholder interviews and an in-depth analysis of 15+ tools, we identified key challenges and opportunities in valuing ecosystem services:

Bridging the Knowledge Gap
Many decision-makers lack a deeper awareness of green-blue values, making it difficult to give these values the weight they deserve.

Growing demand for ecosystem assessment
Nature-based solutions are gaining traction, increasing the need for effective assessment tools.

The power of visual impact
Tools with strong visual outputs (maps, photos and data overlays) have a greater impact on decision makers.

Field-to-Office Continuity
A future tool should allow users to collect photos and notes in the field, preventing valuable insights from being lost.

Accessibility & Knowledge Retention
Many existing tools are local Excel files, leading to knowledge loss when employees leave. Cloud-based, easy-to-use tools can bridge this gap.

Using GIS data
Public GIS layers contain valuable information and integrating these in the tool will speed up the work significantly.

By addressing these needs, a new tool can provide both transparency and ease of use for the user, as well as compelling visualisations to support decision-makers in the integration of ecosystem services into planning and policy.

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Bridging the Knowledge Gap

Many decision-makers lack a deeper awareness of green-blue values, making it difficult to give these values the weight they deserve.

Growing demand for ecosystem assessment

Nature-based solutions are gaining traction, increasing the need for effective assessment tools.

The power of visual impact

Tools with strong visual outputs (maps, photos and data overlays) have a greater impact on decision makers.

Field-to-Office Continuity

A future tool should allow users to collect photos and notes in the field, preventing valuable insights from being lost.

Accessibility & Knowledge Retention

Many existing tools are local Excel files, leading to knowledge loss when employees leave. Cloud-based, easy-to-use tools can bridge this gap.

Using GIS data

Public GIS layers contain valuable information and integrating these in the tool will speed up the work significantly.

result

Designing for nature

The tools available for recording and mapping ecosystem services today are complex, lack standardisation and store data locally, limiting collaboration and best practice. To solve this, we designed a user-friendly, digital tool with cloud-based storage and valuable new features, making ecosystem service valuation more accessible and impactful.

A mockup of an interface for ecosystem services. Service design, UX, UI, web design, designbyrå malmö

result