Marcus Hedblom
Presentation
I am leading the landscape management group at the department. My background is in urban landscape ecology and nature conservation. In my research and teaching I am interested in how we can plan, design and manage urban green areas so that both humans and other species thrive. I am especially interested in how to conserve biodiversity in urban settings and how biodiversity effects human health. Thus my approach is interdisciplinary and linked to urban ecology and landscape architecture. It includes mapping of species, how humans percieve and physically react to different urban green settings, and their managment regimes. Read more about the landscape management subject area (and me) here.
Research
RUNNING PROJECTS
Health promoting forests - From theory. PI Marcus Hedblom. PhD student Anna Åshage. FORMAS funded 2025-2027.
SMELL- Smell from nature and reduction of human stress in urban environments In this transdisciplinary project we will investigate how smell from nature is percived by humans and their potential as stress reducers. PI- Marcus Hedblom. PhD student. Francesca Taufer. FORMAS funded 2023-2025.
GreenMe. HORIZON EUROPE project 2023-2027. Advancing Greencare in Europe: an integrated multi-scalar approach for the expansion of nature-based therapies to improve Mental health Equity. Swedish chapter coordinator - Marcus Hedblom. Co-reserachers- Anna-Maria Palsdottir, Helena Nordh and PhD student Anna Åshage. In close collaboration with Petra Cau Wetterholm -grundare av Shinrin-Yoku Sweden.
Designed urban plant communities: do they promote pollinating insects? This project aims to provide evidence-based guidance for planning and design of urban green spaces that promote wild pollinators. PI: Associate Professor Erik Öckinger and collaborating researcher Juliana Dániel Ferreira. Read more (in Swedish here).
Sounds like Norway. Sounds like Norway: the aural experiences of outdoor life and biodiversity. The goal of SLN is to chart how important natural soundscapes are for outdoor life and biodiversity and develop indicators useful for national park planning. PI - Rose Kellner. Co-researacher Marcus Hedblom + additional team members. Research council of Norway 2023-2027.
LANDPATHS. This major research programme aims at promoting multifunctional landscapes that are both biodiversity rich and provide multiple benefits for a range of actors. Listen to the Subpoject leaders talking about the program on Youtube here. Marcus Hedblom Sub project leader together with Professor Terry Hartig and post doc Lara Tickle for the Subproject linked to Urban Environments. SEPA funded 2022-2027.
Framtidens miljöövervakning med sensorteknik. Foma SLU Funded. 2022-2024. Marcus Hedblom PI.
NORDARK. "Unconventional methods to inform sustainable design: Mediating the needs of people and nature in Nordic after-dark environments". Marcus Hedblom WP leader of Biodversity ecology mapping of animals in close collaboration with Claudia Lopez-Alfaro. NORDFORSK funded 2021-2025.
Finished projects
Green multi-sensory indoor environments for increased well-being which is a project running during 2020-2024 linked to indoor environments to reduce pain and streess (financed by SLU Future Animals, Nature and Health and MOVIUM) in cooperation with the city of Helsingborg. I am PI but work in close collaboration with Gunnar Cerwén. Gröna multisensoriska inomhusmiljöer för ökat välbefinnande. SVENSKA.
REGREEN project (2019-2024) H2020. The Swedish team work with the Landscape laboratory in Alnarp including co-creation and learning with children. H2020 funded 2019-2024.
2022-2023.
Skogsstyrelsen– förstudie om skogskvaliténs betydelse för rekreativt nyttjande
Systematizing Ecological knowledge to optimize Ecological Compensation – SEEC is a major review project linked to Biodiversity Offsets (2018-2020).
Future labs (2020-2021) is a transdiciplinary project linked to future studies where I collaborate with Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris about future urban green cities.
Natural sounds and stressreduction. PI -Researcher (2016-2020) and Forests as potential stressreducers. PI- Researcher (2018-2020).
Valuation of ecosystem services provided by urban greenery researcher. (2012-2016).
Searching for sustainable lawns in Sweden researcher (2012-2016).
NILS -ESS National monitoring for assessing and valuating ecosystem services in alpine and boreal landscapes researcher (2013-2016).
WISE - project. Pedagogical project Teacher/Researcher (2015-2017).
Use of NILS data for indicators to support the Swedish environmental objectives analyst. (2011- 2020).
PUBLISHED PAPERS SINCE 2020
2025. Dincel, Lopez-Alfaro, Hedblom, Zielenska-Dabkowska, Besenecker. Inconsistent light measurement protocols in animal studies hinder wildlife-adapted LED illumination applications for natural habitats. 2025. Front. Sust. Cities.
2025. Taufer F, Pálsdóttir AM, Hedblom M. 2025. Psychological and physiological responses to smells from nature- potential health benefits for urban dwellers. Npj Urban Sustainability
2025. Tsiakiris G, Rahm J, Hedblom M, Johansson M. 2025. The perception of walking on an urban forest path in daylight and under electric lighting. Trees Forests and People.
2025. Kjellberg Jensen J, Hedblom M, Persson AS. Evidence-based urban greening: a missing piece in biodiversity conservation. Trends in Ecology & Evolution.
2025. Brien L, Dolling A, Hedblom M, Palsdottir AM. 2025. A Nature-Based Vocational Training Programme for Migrants and Swedes: Impacts on the Five Ways to Wellbeing. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 22, 1252.
2025. Pringle...+ 80 authors including Hedblom. Opportunities and challenges for monitoring terrestrial biodiversity in the robotics age. Nature Ecology & Evolution.
2025. González-García, Rega-Brodsky, García-Arroyo, Bolaños Sittler, Escobar-Ibáñez, García-Chávez, Hedblom M, Heleno, Iankov, Malmiga, artínez Fernández, McIntyre, Pavón-Jordán, Ruvalcaba-Ortega, MacGregor-Fors. Chirping across continents: Variation in House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) vocalizations across North America and Europe. Biological Invasions.
2025. Mårtensson F, Wiström B, Hedblom M, Litsmark M, Gabriel A, Herngren L, Ågren J, Ode-Sang Å. Creating nature‑based play settings for children through looking, listening, learning and modifying in a Swedish landscape laboratory. Socio-Ecological Practice Research
2025. Uppala E, Deak Sjöman J, Emilsson T, Hedblom M. Reviewing designed plant communities potential for optimizing the performance of urban nature-based solutions. Nature-based Solutions
2024. Lehto C, Sirén A, Hedblom M, Fredman P. A conceptual framework of indicators for the suitability of forests for outdoor recreation. AMBIO
2024. Hedblom M, Mårtensson F, Ode-Sang Å, Wiström B, Litsmark A. Play biotopes put into practice Creating synergies between children and nature. People AND Nature
2024. Lehto C, Hedblom M, Filyushkina A, Ranius T. Seeing through their eyes: Revealing recreationists’ landscape preferences through viewshed analysis and machine learning. 248. Landscape and Urban Planning.
2024. Wiström B, Mårtensson F, Ode Sang Å, Litsmark A, Hedblom M. Creative management - a framework for designing multifunctional play biotopes- lessons from a Scandinavian landscape laboratory. Urban Ecosystems
2024. Korpilo, Nyberg, Vierikko, Ojala, Kaseva, Lehtimäki, Kopperoinen, Cerwen, Hedblom, Castellazzi, Raymond. Landscape and soundscape quality promote stress recovery in nearby urban nature-A multisensory field experiment. UFUG
2024. Fang X, Qi Y, Hedblom M, Gao T, Qiu L. Do soundscape perceptions vary over length of stay within urban parks? Vol. 45. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism
2023. Stoltz J, Lehto C, Hedblom M. Favourite places for outdoor recreation: Weak correlations between perceived qualities and structural landscape characteristics in Swedish PPGIS study. People and Nature.
2023. Sallnäs Pysander EL, Mårtensson F, Waern A, Litsmark A, Hedblom M, Raustorp A, Ghilagaber G, Zhu H. 2023. Nature and digitalisation challenging the traditional playground. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening.
2023. Gunnarsson B, Hedblom M. 2023. Biophilia revisited-nature versus nurture. 3177. TREE
2023. Elbakidze M, Dawson L, van Ermel LE, Mikusinski G, Hedblom M, Krohoda N, Kruhlov I, Smaliychuk A, Kurdadze T, Ugrekhelidze K, Onegena A, Sayadyan H, Galstyan M, Grodzinska O. 2023. Understanding people’s interactions with urban greenspace: case studies in Eastern Europe. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening.
2022. Sidemo-Holm W, Ekroos J, Reina García S, Söderström B, Hedblom M. 2022. Urbanization causes biotic homogenization of woodland bird communities at multiple spatial scales. Global Change Biology.
2022. Lehto C, Hedblom M, Öckinger E, Ranius T. 2022. Landscape usage by recreationists is shaped by availability: Insights from a national PPGIS survey in Sweden. Landscape and Urban Planning.
2022. Hedblom M, Prévot A-C, Grégorie A. 2022. Science fiction blockbuster movies – A problem or a path to urban greenery? Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. 74. 127661.
2022. Elbakidze M, Dawson L, Milberg P, Mikusinski G, Hedblom M, Kruhlov I, Yamelynets T, Schaffer C, Johansson K-E, Grodzynskyi M. 2022. Multiple factors shape the interaction of people with urban greenspace:
Sweden as a case study. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. 74, 127672.
2022. Xiang Y, Hedblom M, Wang S, Qiu L, Gao T. 2022. Indicator selection combining audio and visual perception of urban green spaces. Ecological Indicators 137 (2022) 108772
2022. Blicharska G, Hedblom M, Josefsson J, Widenfalk O, Ranius T, Öckinger E, Widenfalk L. 2022. Operationalisation of ecological compensation – Obstacles and ways forward. Journal of Environmental management. Vol 304.
2021. Shaw T, Hedes R, Sandstrom A, Ruete A, Hiron M, Hedblom M, Eggers S, Mikusinski G. 2021. Hybrid bioacoustic and ecoacoustic analyses provide new links between bird assemblages and habitat quality in a winter boreal forest. Environmental and sustainability indicators.
2021. Josefsson J, Ahlbäck Widenfalk L, Blicharska M, Hedblom M, Pärt T, Ranius T, Öckinger E. 2021. Compensating for lost nature values through biodiversity offsetting – where is the evidence? Biological Conservation.
2021. Fang X, Gao T, Hedblom M, Xu N, Xiang Y, Hu M, Chen Y, Qiu. L 2021. Are users’ perceptions of and preference for soundscape the same in urban recreational forest parks? Forests.
2021. Goddard, M...+70 Hedblom M...Dallimer M. 2021. A global horizon scan of the future impacts of robotics and autonomous systems on urban ecosystems. Nature Ecology & Evolution.
2020. Xiang Y, Liang H, Fang X, Chen Q, Mu S, Hedblom M, Qiu L, Gao T. 2020. The comparisons of on-site and off-site applications in surveys on perception of and preference for urban green spaces: Which approach is more reliable? Urban Forestry & Urban Greening.
2020. Ignatieva M, Eriksson F, Eriksson T, Kätterer T, Tidåker P, Wissman J, Bengtsson J, Ahrné, Hedblom M. 2020. Pros and cons of transdisciplinary research: A case study of Swedish lawns and their sustainable alternatives. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. 56, 126799.
2020. Ode Sang Å, Sang N, Hedblom M, Sevelin G, Knez I, B. Gunnarsson. 2020. Are path choices of people moving through urban green spaces explained by gender and age? Implications for planning and management. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening