Fulfilling the Transformative Potential of Nature-Based Solutions: From Fragmentation to Integration

Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are being hailed as solutions that contribute to solving many of today´s most pressing social-environmental challenges in urban areas, in ways that are environmentally sound, economically viable and socially just.

But implementation of NbS is slow and outcomes vary, hampered by inflexible and siloed forms of governance, conflicts over land use and costs, and social exclusion.

To address these challenges, this project proposes an integrative approach to the development and implementation of NbS that accounts for 1) multiple and interlinked social-environmental challenges, 2) multiple kinds of governing entities and societal stakeholders, and 3) multiple social dimensions of change.

The core of the project is the development of an “integrative lab” methodology that will be developed and implemented through a set of cases in Norway, Poland, Spain and Sweden, in collaboration with local authority and civil society partners.

Through the development of the methodology as well as a facilitation module to “train the trainers” and a set of measurable indicators for “successful” NbS development and implementation, the project will contribute to the ability of all urban and rural spaces to become spaces of ecological and human thriving, marked by resource efficiency and livability.