In this webinar concepts for a tool that quantify the demand and potential for NbS to enhance ecosystem service (ES) provision and linking ESs to readily quantifiable and legislatively relevant environmental quality indicators, will be presented alongside with practical NbS experiences from some selected European cities and innovation projects. The objective of tool application is to identify optimal NbS placement across a diverse set of socio-environmental indicators, whilst also incorporating issues of relative location of areas of implementation and benefit accrual.
A brief overview of relevant NbS topics in the 2022 Work programme of Horizon Europe will be presented before the webinar is concluded with a discussion.
Context: Nature-based solutions to societal challenges can be defined as living solutions that are inspired and supported by nature, which are cost-effective, simultaneously provide environmental, social and economic benefits, benefit biodiversity, support the delivery of a range of ecosystem services, and help build resilience and adapt to climate change. Their deployment in European cities develop quickly despite lack of a full understanding of all the pros and cons of these solutions, in contrast to the grey, engineering based ones. Supported by both city and EU funds, many innovation projects are being carried out to test out different NbS concepts, often driven by climate adaption, but with strong expectations upon multi-functionality. A need for multi-functional assessment tools evaluating trade-offs and co-benefits for various types of Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) has been increasingly identified in recent years.
Speakers
- Michael Hutchins, UK Center for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH)
- Daniela Rizzi, ICLEI Europe
- Christina Pantazi, DG Research, Technology and Development (RTD)
Target audience
Experts, scientists, innovators and practitioners in the PEER – ICLEI – EURAQUA networks and collaborators.