NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS FOR WATER MANAGEMENT IN THE PERIURBAN: LINKING ECOLOGICAL, SOCIAL, AND ECONOMIC DIMENSIONS

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are defined as innovative actions that draw inspiration from, receive support from, or replicate natural processes. These approaches encompass green infrastructure, blue infrastructure, and biomimicry, serving as valuable tools for promoting ecologically sensitive urban development. The project "Nature-based Solutions for Water Management in the Periurban: Linking Ecological, Social, and Economic Dimensions" (NATWIP) has played a pivotal role in addressing water management challenges within peri-urban regions. Often neglected due to their transitional location between urban and rural areas, peri-urban zones present unique water management issues. By employing an interdisciplinary approach, the NATWIP project has successfully bridged ecological, social, and economic aspects to tackle water management challenges in these landscapes. Notably, it has contributed significantly to closing the water cycle gap in peri-urban areas, where water management issues have historically been overlooked. A comprehensive methodological framework was developed, incorporating context, process, and results indicators, to analyze the social, economic, and ecological sustainability dimensions NBS. This framework was successfully applied to examine various case studies across different countries, including Norway, Sweden, Spain, Brazil, India, and South Africa. These selected case study sites tackle a diverse array of water management challenges, encompassing issues such as drought, flooding, pollution, and invasive species. Moreover, the case studies represent various stages of NBS implementation, ranging from initial planning and design to full-scale implementation, and include long-term monitoring measures. NBS have shown their adaptability in addressing diverse water-related problems in different countries. While NBS offer promising solutions, common challenges arise, such as securing adequate financing, engaging all stakeholders effectively and in a timely manner, and assigning clear responsibilities for the NBS initiatives. Lessons learned underscore the paramount importance of considering the specific context of each case study throughout the entire NBS project lifecycle. A well-planned, designed, and implemented NBS intervention should be tailored to meet the distinct needs of the local setting. Furthermore, adopting a holistic approach to NBS planning and execution can unlock additional co-benefits beyond the primary water-related objectives, enhancing the overall sustainability of the project. To ensure the success of NBS initiatives, continuous monitoring and evaluation are indispensable. These processes not only track progress but also enable adaptive management, allowing for adjustments and improvements as needed. The NATWIP project engaged a dynamic international and interdisciplinary team of researchers from Sweden, Norway, South Africa, Brazil, Spain, and India. This collaborative partnership facilitated the exchange of invaluable learning experiences, harnessing the diverse expertise of each team member. Central to this partnership was the promotion of constructive debates between the scientific community and society at large. This interaction fostered a deeper understanding and appreciation of the potential of NBS in addressing complex hydrological challenges in peri-urban areas. With a collective focus on managing issues such as water scarcity, pollution, and the risks posed by extreme events like floods and droughts, the NATWIP project sought to increase awareness and knowledge among practitioners and users about the effective application of NBS strategies. By bridging the gap between research and practical implementation, the partnership aimed to drive positive change and sustainable water management solutions in peri-urban regions.

NATWIP aimed to contribute to closing the water cycle gap in peri-urban areas by tackling two themes of the Water Works 2018 Joint Call: "Strengthening socio-economic approaches to water management" and "Supporting tools for sustainable integrative management of water resources." Project outputs that specifically contribute to impact in these areas include the "NATWIP assessment framework" as a management tool and the "Handbook for Practitioners" as best practices guides for sustainable integrative management of water resources in peri-urban areas, as well as other contexts. Furthermore, the project has helped create local knowledge-based networks around NBS for water and facilitated knowledge sharing around these issues among partner institutions and their local networks. The nine case studies in the partner countries have helped create context-specific knowledge that could be possibly adapted to regions beyond the study areas. A number of short-term impacts are foreseen. First, shared learning on issues of mutual concern related to NBS for closing the water cycle gaps, involving the partnership and other actors/stakeholders. The co-creation of the innovative interdisciplinary NATWIP assessment framework contributes to enhancing transdisciplinary understanding of the subject for the partners, while also providing a new tool to promote sustainable water management in peri-urban areas, as well as other contexts, for a wider group of stakeholders. Among the long-term benefits, a clearer understanding and the aforementioned robust tools for incorporating sustainable water management in peri-urban areas through the integration of NBS are included. This, in turn, implies capacity building of the partners and other actors, increased resilience to climate and other drivers impacting the water cycle, and the application of case-based knowledge to solve problems. Finally, the project offers timely input towards a number of SDGs connected to water, thereby contributing to sustainable development in the long term.

Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) are defined as “actions which are inspired by, supported by or copied from nature” and considerable attention is currently focused on promoting and applying NBS in the urban context. However, peri-urban areas that are transition spaces often affected by expansion processes of the city, remain under-explored. Therefore, NATWIP will contribute to closing the water cycle gap by exploring the potential that NBS offer to address water management challenges in peri-urban landscape areas. The overall purpose is to exchange learning experiences among the partnership and promote the debate between science and society in order to increase awareness among practitioners and users on the application of NBS to manage different hydrological challenges such as water scarcity, pollution, and risks related to extreme events like flood and drought. NATWIP will review existing international literature on NBS for water management with a view to identify factors affecting their implementation and effectiveness. Subsequently, NATWIP will build upon these findings to develop a descriptive multidimensional assessment framework tool including specific assessment criteria. These criteria will help assess the feasibility and value of NBS for water management. The assessment framework tool with then be applied to understand and assess existing NBS versus conventional engineering solutions for addressing water cycle gaps in eight different case study sites spread across the participating countries (Norway, Sweden, Spain, Poland, South Africa, India and Brazil). The Norwegian site is located in Skien municipality and represents a periurban area close to Oslo where a large-scale transformation project is planned - opening a buried river using blue-green infrastructure as a catalyst for city development, to mitigate potential flooding as a result of climate change and to improve water quality.