Knock on wood: Business models for urban wood could overcome financing and governance challenges faced by nature-based solutions

Abstract

The paper contributes to the literature on urban forestry and urban sustainability by filling gaps in the knowledge on viable business, financing, and governance models for nature-based solutions. Through two case studies, we provide empirical illustrations for business models based on nature-based solutions that are both viable and scalable. We confront the financial and governance challenges identified in the literature with empirical evidence that is grounded in a specific urban territory (the cities of Montreal and Brussels) and a well-identified type of nature-based solutions (the sourcing of sustainable materials from natural local ecosystems). Given the relative novelty and absence of comprehensive scientific accounts about the emergence, current state and future potential of the local wood movement, another important contribution of this paper is to characterize local wood businesses.