Nature-based solutions for climate resilient, nature positive and socially just communities in diverse landscapes

Funded through the EU’s Horizon program and building – among others - on the earlier NATURVATION project, NATURESCAPES will study the synergies and tradeoffs associated with clusters of nature-based solutions (NBS) in urban landscapes, who benefits and under which conditions. The project will map and analyze NBS and naturescapes – defined as the assemblage of NBS within a landscape whose character is the result of the action and interaction of natural and societal factors – in 12 in-depth case study and 18 control cities across Europe, the US, Latin America, Asia and Africa.

Its objectives include the following:

Objective 1: Advance the knowledge frontier through novel assessment approaches capable of evaluating landscape scale synergies and trade-offs of NBS assemblages for climate, biodiversity and communities.

Objective 2: Evaluate the socio-political conditions and dynamics of NBS implementation to identify the values, visions, governance, finance and engagement needed to support effective and just naturescapes.

Objective 3: Enable the transformative potential of NBS by examining, developing and trialling diverse theories of change, interventions and training designed to address systemic, structural and capacity constraints.

CEU will co-lead work Package 1 with The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and contribute by developing a new database of NBS and naturescapes, compatible with our earlier Urban Nature Atlas (UNA); conceptualizing an NBS scorecard; and conducting case study research in Iasi, Romania, one of 12 in-depth case study cities in the project.