NATURVATION

Summary

NATure-based URban innoVATION was a 4-year project, funded by the European Commission and involving 14 institutions across Europe in the fields of urban development, geography, innovation studies and economics. The project developed understandings of what nature-based solutions can achieve in cities, examined how innovation can be fostered in this domain, and contributed to realising the potential of nature-based solutions for responding to urban sustainability challenges by working with communities and stakeholders.

Watch this short intro video to find out more.

The NATURVATION project has now ended. This group is now closed to new members, however you can still use the group to access the resources created during the project.

What Are Nature-based Solutions?

Nature-based solutions use the natural properties of ecosystems. They have the potential to limit impacts of climate change, enhance biodiversity, and improve environmental quality while contributing to economic activities and social well-being.

Examples are green roofs and city parks that limit heat stress, city lagoons that store water and permeable surfaces, vegetation and rain gardens to intercept storm water. Yet despite their significant potential, the use of nature-based solutions remains marginal, fragmented, and highly uneven within and between cities.

Project Objectives

To unlock the potential of NBS for sustainable urban development, NATURVATION took a transdisciplinary, internationally comparative approach to:

Advance assessment approaches
Capture the multiple impacts & values of NBS to deliver a robust evidence base for decision-making; enable innovation
Identify the most promising governance, business/finance and participation models and how to overcome the systemic conditions that currently limit their use to support systemic integration; and generate momentum to realise the potential of NBS through co-design, co-development & co-implementation of new partnerships, knowledge, recommendations, processes and tools required to build capacity, enable replication and foster cultural change.

Methods

To achieve the project goals, NATURVATION explored maps, built capacity, generated change, and took action.

Areas of Focus

NATURVATION focuses on the following areas through the lens of nature-based solutions.

Funding

This project has been funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 730243.