An economics for green infrastructures: concepts and tools

We propose a unified approach to recognising the economic value of green infrastructures (GIs) in urban and peri-urban areas of the Alpine region. This goal is addressed by combining three main activities: assessing the viability of markets for ecosystem benefits from regional GIs based on theoretical and practical tools; stimulating the identification of the role of regional GIs and their ecosystem benefits in the process of economic value creation, regional communities and ecological processes; and enhancing the visibility of the economic benefits from regional GIs for entrepreneurs by developing a tool (the GI Business Model Canvas) and some business model archetypes supporting the creation of new business based on the sustainable use of GIs, their services and benefits. The results of regional applications are also presented.