Summary
NATure-based URban innoVATION is 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 our understanding 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.
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Objectives
Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) have the potential to respond to climate change, enhance biodiversity and improve environmental quality while contributing to economic regeneration and social well-being. Yet there is a substantial gap between the promise of NBS and their uptake. To unlock the potential of NBS for sustainable urban development, NATURVATION will take 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, we explored maps, built capacity, generated change, and took action.
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Results
As COVID-19 hit our societies in full force, we began to look at the city we live in from behind closed doors or through the spectrum of brief walks around the nearest park. Air pollution dramatically decreased across Europe. Nature caught its breath for a while.
The loss of biodiversity is one such challenge, along with others such as climate change, water quality and healthcare. Nature-based solutions (NBSs) are one way to face it, but in truth, their potential has been largely overlooked so far.
Whilst there is little doubt that a greener, biodiversity-friendly urban environment could benefit us all, there is surprisingly little evidence of NBSs’ effectiveness. The question of who should pay the bill has proven to be quite complex. The NATURVATION project, coordinated by Bulkeley, has been working on a solution to support decision-making and optimise its benefits.
To tackle investment-related issues, the project has also been developing new business models and financing mechanisms through which NBSs can be supported.
Biodiversity should be more than a side effect
One of the project’s most important findings with regards to biodiversity lies in its lack of consideration in existing projects. Although the project has successfully identified best practices that can inspire future decision-making, one of the main lessons learned from its research relates to the number of such missed opportunities.
NATURVATION provided new pathways to successful NBS implementation as well as unique assessment tools. The project team worked with CitiesWithNature – an initiative created by ICLEI – to develop a platform where cities can report their action towards global goals for biodiversity. They also collaborated with organisations at national and international level to develop the policy and financial conditions within which NBSs can flourish. NATURVATION proved to be a comforting perspective for citizens wary of the sustainable future of their city.
Funding
This project has been funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 730243.