Resources

Volunteered information on nature-based solutions — Dredging for data on deculvertingArticle

Much has been written about the potential contribution of citizen-science approaches to further urban environmental sustainability, and associated interventions such as nature-based solutions (NBS). Engagements between researchers and stakeholders relying on bottom-up information provision, for instance community mapping, are often purported to play a vital role in developing shared knowledge, achieving greater impact and stimulating innovation. However, relatively few studies within the realm of NBS have reported on experiences in using volunteered information, or their results. This reflects an important gap, not least because of the proliferation of proposals and bids that rely upon or integrate such methods into their approach. We report on experiences with gathering information using a ‘bottom-up’ map-based wiki tool, which effectively sought to crowd-source data, contributed by members of the public and professional stakeholders. As we approach the milestone of ‘10 years on’ from the inception of the website www.daylighting.org.uk, we reflect on our approach, the opportunities presented, constraints encountered, progress made and results delivered. This is contrasted with other resources and data-gathering projects having similar aims for different urban NBS. Findings are presented on the substantive issue of the uptake of deculverting as a particular form of NBS, including land-use contexts, scheme costs and achievement of stated objectives. Reflections are given on potential contributions of such methods in relation to other, more established approaches and new techniques in urban knowledge co-production.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2018.08.019

Actions: Coastal Resilience, Urban Regeneration, Well-being in Urban Areas

Ecosystem Services: Coastal, Ecosystem Services: Grassland, Ecosystem Services: Urban

Goals: Restoring Degraded Ecosystems Using NbS, Risk Management and Resilience, Sustainable Urbanisation in cities

Impacts: Ecosystem services

Regions: International, Mediterranean (EU), Northern temperate (EU), Oceanic Climatic (EU), Temperate Continental (EU)

Submitted on April 19, 2019 - 10:41am

An assessment framework for climate-proof nature-based solutionsArticle

Raising interest in ‘nature-based solutions’ (NBS) has inspired attempts to organise their principles and qualities within comprehensive and internally consistent evaluation frameworks, so as to demonstrate the superior performance of ‘working with nature’. However, the proposed frameworks stop short of taking into account the changing conditions in which NBS are set to operate. Climate change, in particular, can alter ecosystems and their services, and may undermine the performance of green solutions that rely on them. We present here a ‘dynamic’ assessment framework that explicitly accounts for the impact of climate change on the effectiveness of the proposed NBS. The framework is based on an innovative approach that integrates system analysis and backcasting. Although it has not yet been applied to the NBS context, backcasting is well-suited to seize the transformational character of NBS, as it encourages ‘breakthrough’ leaps rather than incremental improvements. Our framework factors in the multifunctional character of NBS and is designed to capture associated direct benefits/costs and co-benefits/costs. It is meant to be applied ex ante to ideally support the choice between innovative NBS and traditional options, in an effort to respond to the societal challenges identified by the EU Research & Innovation agenda on the environment.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.11.341

Actions: Coastal Resilience, Enhancing Ecosystems' Insurance Value, Sustainable use of Matter & Energy, Urban Regeneration, Watershed Management & Ecosystem Restoration, Well-being in Urban Areas

Goals: Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation, Restoring Degraded Ecosystems Using NbS, Risk Management and Resilience, Sustainable Urbanisation in cities

Impacts:

Regions:

Submitted on May 17, 2019 - 10:09am

Combining NBS as an integrated approach to risk management and resiliencePresentation

Presented by Henk Nieboer

File: presentation_thinknature.pdf