Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation


This domain will initiate and sustain dialogue among the various stakeholders (private and public sector, architects, practitioners, policy maker), on nature-based solutions in the context of climate change adaptation and mitigation. The dialogue will address integrated and holistic solutions that meet both adaptation and mitigation objectives and are applicable across different sectors such as integrating materials, green and blue infrastructure, and enhancing ecosystems. Natural resources management and cost-effectiveness enhancement of NBS in order to address societal and environmental challenges such as developing low cost, low maintenance and low carbon emissions solutions to climate change challenges. Integration of new and innovative approaches and Methods for robust monitoring of the performance and assessment of the impact of deployed NBS will be examined.

Global recognition that ecosystems are key to human resilience in a warming world

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Submitted by David Parastatidis on November 19, 2018 - 6:03pm

Ecosystems are not merely vulnerable to climate change but, if sustainably restored and protected, are a major source of human resilience. Not only is the science evidence-base for this perspective growing rapidly, but ecosystems are featuring with increasing prominence in global climate change policy.

Evidence Brief—How effective are Nature-based Solutions to climate change adaptation?

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Submitted by David Parastatidis on November 19, 2018 - 6:02pm

There is growing recognition that naturebased (or ‘green’) solutions - i.e. the restoration or rehabilitation and protection of natural habitats - when applied strategically and equitably can not only safeguard biodiversity and ecosystem services but also help people adapt to climate change [1,2]. The type of NbS targeted at helping people adapt to the impacts and hazards of climate change is widely referred to as “Ecosystem-based Adaptation” (EbA).

Ecosystem Based Adaptation: Knowledge Gaps in Making an Economic Case for Investing in Nature Based Solutions for Climate Change

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Submitted by David Parastatidis on November 19, 2018 - 6:00pm

Changes in global climate are increasingly having adverse impacts on human populations and natural systems. This has resulted in increased efforts to come up with options that can mitigate the impacts, as well as help to adapt to already occurring changes.

Ecosystem-based adaptation: Question-based guidance for assessing effectiveness

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Submitted by David Parastatidis on November 19, 2018 - 5:59pm

This booklet sets out guidance for assessing the effectiveness of an ecosystem-based approach to climate change adaptation. It describes a process, based around asking a detailed set of questions, that can be used by project managers and researchers to shape project design, assess the progress of an ongoing project or draw conclusions about the effectiveness of a project that has ended.

Nature-Based Solutions

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Submitted by David Parastatidis on November 19, 2018 - 5:56pm

The idea of ‘nature-based solutions’ (NBS) is now being used to reframe policy debates on biodiversity conservation, climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, and the sustainable use of natural resources, among other issues. While interesting and potentially useful for those debates, it is a concept that still needs to be clearly defined; its use is not confined to discussions about ecosystem services and natural capital.

An economic valuation of the recreational benefits associated with nature-based forest management practices

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Submitted by David Parastatidis on November 19, 2018 - 5:51pm

The presented study aimed at identifying and assessing public preferences for variations in tree species composition, tree height structure, and presence of dead trees left for natural decay—forest characteristics which are likely to be affected when subjecting stands to nature-based forest management in the temperate, nemoral deciduous zone. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire and by applying choice experiments to elicit people's willingness to pay (WTP).

The science, policy and practice of nature-based solutions: An interdisciplinary perspective

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Submitted by David Parastatidis on November 19, 2018 - 5:50pm

In this paper, we reflect on the implications for science, policy and practice of the recently introduced concept of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS), with a focus on the European context. First, we analyse NBS in relation to similar concepts, and reflect on its relationship to sustainability as an overarching framework. From this, we derive a set of questions to be addressed and propose a general framework for how these might be addressed in NBS projects by funders, researchers, policy-makers and practitioners. We conclude that:

The Effectiveness, Costs and Coastal Protection Benefits of Natural and NatureBased Defences

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Submitted by David Parastatidis on November 19, 2018 - 5:46pm

"There is great interest in the restoration and conservation of coastal habitats for protection from flooding and erosion. This is evidenced by the growing number of analyses and reviews of the effectiveness of habitats as natural defences and increasing funding worldwide for nature-based defences–i.e. restoration projects aimed at coastal protection; yet, there is no synthetic information on what kinds of projects are effective and cost effective for this purpose.

Nature-based forest management—Where are we going?: Elaborating forest development types in and with practice

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Submitted by David Parastatidis on November 19, 2018 - 5:43pm

The decision to transform “classical” age-class forests (plantation forestry) into more nature-based forest stand structures implied a paradigmatic shift in the Danish state owned forests and their management. In order to facilitate this process of change, scientists were employed by the Danish Forest and Nature Agency which enabled interactions with the professionals in the forest over a nearly 2-year period.

Ecosystem-based adaptation: a win–win formula for sustainability in a warming world?

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Submitted by David Parastatidis on November 19, 2018 - 5:35pm

Many national and international environmental agreements acknowledge that the impoverishment of ecosystems is limiting the world’s capacity to adapt to climate change and that ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) approaches should be harnessed as a priority. EbA has the potential to increase adaptive capacity and social and ecological resilience to climate change in both developed and developing countries.