Nature-based solutions (NBS) aim to help societies to address a variety of environmental, social and economic challenges in sustainable ways. They are actions which are inspired by and supported by nature. Some involve using and enhancing existing natural solutions to challenges, while others are exploring more novel solutions, for example, based on how non-human organisms and communities cope with environmental extremes. NBS are energy and resource-efficient, and resilient to change, but to be successful they must be adapted to local conditions.

This Report provides a description of the procedure and the outcomes of the work performed within the domain of NBS Impact Evaluation Framework.

This Report provides a description of the procedure and the outcomes of the work performed within the domain of NBS Impact Evaluation Framework.

Workshop with Horizon 2020 SC5 programme committee representatives and Member States and Associated Countries (MS/AC) experts
NATURE BASED SOLUTIONS
2 June 2017 9:00-16:00
(CDMA building, SDR1-2, Rue du Champ de Mars, 21, Brussels)

By the latter part of the twenty-first century, the globe and all societies present will be faced with compelling environmental and climatic circumstances requiring hard choices and tradeoffs to maintain standards of living and viable environmental conditions. One opportunity to shift this reality is through greater understanding of the services and benefits provided by ecosystems as a cost effective means of regulating the impacts of natural disasters and climatic change.

The world is urbanising. Since 2005 more than half of the world population lives in cities, and by 2050 this figure is projected to be two-thirds of all people. Seventy-five per cent of Europeans already live in urban areas. City landscapes generally experience higher temperatures than the less built up areas around them, due to the absorption and retention of heat by roads and buildings and the disruption of airflow by structures, with differences of temperatures ranging from 4°C up to 10°C.

This article describes methods and concepts for emulating and including nature's role in engineering activities, with the expectation that they will contribute to sustainable engineering. Existing nature-inspired methods function at different levels ranging from individual products to large integrated networks.

Urban green space provides multiple benefits to city dwellers- both human and non-human. These 'nature-based solutions' include mitigating urban heat and stormwater runoff, providing biodiversity habitat and contributing to human health and wellbeing, and social and cultural processes, which are key elements in creating ecological cities. In the transition to eco-cities, public policies for urban green space provision can make substantial contributions.

This reference book is made up of currently 26 individual Synthesis Papers (SPs) generated by the OpenNESS members. The individual SPs have been formally consulted within the entire OpenNESS consortium and hence represent an agreed document for OpenNESS defining and elaborating on essential ideas linked to the ecosystem service concept. All SPs have been gone through an editorial process including approved revisions. The consultation was handled for the consortium in a transparent way, e.g., the consortium could see how authors responded to the comments/criticism on the original drafts.

Natural Solutions, in the context of this Guide, refer to those urban interventions from a broad perspective, use nature - and its processes - to mitigate the impacts arising from climate change and foster the adaptation of the municipality and the general public to the changes. These Natural Solutions include both micro-scale interventions in buildings, such as green roofs and facades, and also other natural elements, blue and green infrastructures in the public spaces, connected to the parks and natural areas of the municipalities.