Ursula-Crisy Cardenas-Mamani’s doctoral thesis develops an integrated framework for assessing urban metabolism, ecosystem services and nature-based solutions. It addresses the difficulty of representing ecological contributions within accounts dominated by material and energy throughput.

The research extends economy-wide material-flow accounting with indicators of ecosystem-service supply and demand and applies the framework in Lima, London and Brussels. Dynamic modelling explores how urban growth, climate change and policy choices could transform the relationship between resource demand and ecological capacity up to 2050.

Defended in February 2025 and funded by F.R.S.-FNRS, the thesis establishes a methodological platform for the Lab’s subsequent nature-based-solutions research. It links biophysical assessment with questions of spatial distribution, wellbeing and decision support.