Boosting the Impact of Nature-Based Solutions for Resilient and Healthy Cities

Date: 20 October 2021

Time: 09:45-11:45 CET

Conference programme: https://urbanresilienceforum.eu/programme/programme/

Session description: https://urbanresilienceforum.eu/programme/nbs-impact/

How can cities better communicate the benefits of Nature-based Solutions (NBS) to citizens and policy makers, thereby fostering their large-scale adoption and replication? NBS have emerged as a promising and multi-functional type of intervention to tackle societal, economic and environmental challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss. However, clear and sufficient evidence on their impact and outcomes is still needed to better assess NBS performance, devise mechanisms to replicate and upscale innovative solutions and inform policy decisions.

In this knowledge brokerage session, cities from the EU-funded projects Connecting Nature and CLEVER Cities will introduce novel tools and methodologies to deliver impactful NBS and track NBS performance.

The session is designed to give the audience an overview of the different points of view, experiences and challenges faced by cities in various contexts while implementing impactful NBS with measurable co-benefits to citizens and the environment. -benefits to citizens and the environment.

Connecting local perspectives to the EU policy context, the European Environment Agency will discuss the role of NBS in delivering on the EU Adaptation Strategy. It will introduce its flagship products and reflect on the interlinkages between climate, environment and health addressed by the European Climate and Health Observatory, which provides access to a wide range of publications, tools, websites and other resources related to climate change and human health.

Speakers             

  • Gillian Dick                             Spatial Planning Manager – Research & Development, Glasgow City Council (UK)
  • Nicola Murphy-Evans          CLEVER Cities London Coordinator, Greater London Authority
  • Luis Tejero                             Coordinator of Climate Change Programs, Madrid City Council (Spain)
  • Belma Pasic                           Programme Manager, Sarajevo Economic Region Development Agency SERDA
  • Aleksandra Kazmierczak     Expert in climate change and human health, European Environment Agency

 

Facilitated by: Daniela Rizzi, Senior Officer, Green Infrastructure and Biodiversity, ICLEI Europe
The session will take the form of a facilitated podium discussion. Participants will take part in a real-time exchange between European cities and participants of the global capacity-building programme UrbanByNature. During the Q&A in the end of the session, participants may share insights or ask questions by writing comments in the chat box.

Guiding questions:

  1. Defining a monitoring strategy: How to better assess NBS performance and build evidence of NBS impacts to inform policy decisions? How to decide what indicators to monitor and what targets a city can realistically expect to achieve?
  2. Co-monitoring and stakeholder participation: How can the involvement of citizens in NBS impact monitoring enhance environmental stewardship and engage communities in NBS management and maintenance? How to deal with stakeholders’ expectations about the potential impacts of NBS in co-creative approaches?
  3. Communication: How can cities use indicators to better communicate the benefits of NBS to citizens and policy makers?
  4. Replication: How can NBS performance and impact monitoring enable the systemic replication of innovative solutions at the city-level?
  5. EU policy framework: What is the role of NBS in delivering on the EU Adaptation Strategy and how to measure progress?