Nature-Based Solutions最新文献

As urbanization intensifies worldwide, the need for sustainable urban development becomes increasingly critical. This study introduces a novel approach, the Intelligent Nature-based Solutions (INbS), which encompasses the integration of nature-based approaches with intelligent systems. Drawing upon empirical context within the framework of the 1st Smart Sustainable Brazilian City, we engage in a perspective on the insights gained and lessons learned, offering strategic recommendations for guiding future INbS initiatives. It underscores the paramount significance of interdisciplinary collaboration, stakeholder engagement, and adaptive management strategies for the seamless amalgamation of these two domains, the technology and ecology. The study also probes into emerging challenges like the need for scalable, replicable models, ethical issues in data-driven decision-making, and the long-term effectiveness of INbS. By delving into these intricacies, this research seeks to contribute to a more profound comprehension of the potential and limitations inherent in the INbS within urban settings, particularly in emerging economies like Brazil.

Urban areas are currently experiencing a number of adverse effects associated with both climate induced change and the nature of development processes. This has led to, not only a reduction in the provision and performance of environmental attributes but has also generated threats to the well-being of urban inhabitants. In response, the concept of Nature- based Solutions (NBS) has emerged as a means of reconfiguring spatial interactions to maximize adaptation and resilience. Despite this however, the process of transition for NBS has frequently encountered several governance related challenges. This paper examines the extent to which the Green Cities Framework (GCF) can overcome these limitations and aid NBS mainstreaming. Through policy-based experimentation in six European Cities we assess the ability of the GCF to deliver improved NBS capacity and innovation. The research revealed positive strategic planning improvements in all cities studied. Particular areas of strength included improvements to NBS visioning, working group collaboration, climate impact and vulnerability assessment, integration with existing planning instruments and processes, business model development and post-decision evaluation. Several areas of potential improvement were also revealed. These were primarily associated with difficulties in communicating with all relevant actors, concerns with undertaking financial assessments and defining NBS standards for procurement.

In Costa Rica, water supply networks provide water to over 94% of the country's population. However, only an estimated 14% of wastewater receives proper treatment. The lack of centralized sanitation infrastructure has resulted in the use of septic tanks and the discharge of untreated greywater into rivers, causing environmental degradation of surface waters. Retrofitting conventional centralized sewer networks and treatment plants into the existing urbanization presents extensive social, economic, and technical challenges. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for greywater treatment can reduce pollutant loads and improve the environmental status of water resources and represent an opportunity for technical leapfrogging towards sustainable, decentralized on-site treatment and reuse. However, the implementation of NbS in urban areas poses significant challenges due to the complex interplay of social, regulatory, and economic factors. Specifically, for on-site greywater treatment systems, meeting several criteria, including efficient pollutant removal, affordability, and public acceptance is essential for successful implementation and operation. This study assesses the technical, socio-economic, and political-regulatory dimensions relevant to implementing NbS for decentralized greywater treatment. To conduct this research, a Real-World Lab was established in the Great Metropolitan Area of Costa Rica, employing a transdisciplinary approach. This approach provided a physical space and societal context to integrate site-specific aspects and understand the various factors that influence the implementation and upscaling of NbS. As part of our methodology, we analyzed the water quality parameters and treatment performance of a NbS prototype for decentralized greywater treatment. Within the Real-World Lab framework, we conducted interviews, surveys, and field observations to investigate socio-economic and political-regulatory aspects. Our results highlight the technical potential of the NbS prototype. However, the limitation lies in the governance scheme and financing mechanisms required for upscaling the NbS as a decentralized on-site technology across the country. Our multidimensional assessment provides insights into the requirements for widespread implementation of NbS, applicable to other regions facing similar retrofitting sanitation challenges.

This paper will assess the feasibility and implementation of an engineered wetland to fight climate change driven grape stock waterlogging and subsequent disease in the Rahovec wine region of the Republic of Kosovo. We will utilize a vineyard in Rahovec which has known disease and waterlogging challenges to determine the extent and examine the geomorphic conditions that caused nearby grape farmers to lose nearly all produce due to infection spread. The hypothesis is that climate change-driven anomalous rain patterns combined with insufficient drainage caused field waterlogging, in these stagnant areas, inferior stock selection led to rapid spread of disease. Within the framework of climate change, adding drainage is a less viable option as compared to an engineered wetland that can emanate healthy microfauna into adjacent and downhill vineyards. To understand the geomorphology, we will conduct drainage basin assessment which will provide watershed information on the location and soils analysis. Field surveys of the damage to vineyard's stocks will be conducted to understand the extent and severity of the disease spread, which will be geographically analyzed to understand risk hotspots. Finally, a proposed construction project will be designed and estimated to provide an understanding of the farmers capabilities to fund the design. An understanding will be developed for the disease impacts occurring with the theoretical engineered wetlands function of replacing the waterlogged disease breading grounds with positive functioning ecosystem building climate change resilience for vineyards.

Examining how city-level governments respond to the coupled climate and biodiversity crises can build an understanding of how to enable urban sustainability transitions. In this paper, we refer specifically to mainstreaming, as an approach for embedding novel sustainability solutions into governance and practice. The focus is to better understand the governance of nature-based solutions in cities, from the perspective of the processes of mainstreaming. Therefore, we define a novel and comprehensive mainstreaming framework that is built from three previous frameworks that describe social-institutional elements of mainstreaming: actors’ roles, institutional spaces, and governance mechanisms. These three elements provide the foundations for conceptually deepening the understanding of mainstreaming processes through an organising framework that distils the principles of mainstreaming and the key considerations for designing mainstreaming. The new framework presented in this paper is useful for understanding the interdependencies of different social-institutional dimensions and dynamics of mainstreaming by defining overarching principles that can be considered as key factors for enabling and accelerating mainstreaming. This is further conceptualised in relation to how mainstreaming pathways can be designed, in other words, how mainstreaming can be mobilised in practice. The conceptual work of this paper is illustrated with examples of how mainstreaming can manifest from a case study of urban forestry governance across metropolitan Melbourne, Australia.

Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are powerful tools whereby, using nature as the template, societal challenges can be addressed, while simultaneously achieving co-benefits for the environment. NbS have been successfully demonstrated in different ecosystems around the globe, but for savanna ecosystems - the planet's largest terrestrial biome - there is a lingering lack of clarity of what constitutes an NbS. We undertook a systematic review of literature in the savanna belt of Africa - stretching from Senegal to Tanzania. This review examined 3,714 journal articles from 2018 to 2022, out of which 271 papers met the inclusion criteria. Results show that there are a wide variety of nature-based techniques and strategies being used in the savanna-belt. Yet upon greater scrutiny, few qualified as NbS according to the IUCN criteria. Less than 2 % of papers met all the criteria, falling short in the areas of biodiversity gains, economic viability, governance processes, trade-offs, and adaptive management. The geographical and sectoral scopes of these solutions were also limited: 72 % of papers were from just 5 countries, and 80 % were from the agriculture/livestock sectors. Notably, 5 % involved creation of new ecosystems. Author collaborations between countries of the global south with savanna ecosystems were few. Our findings suggest research silos in NbS discourses: the peer-reviewed literature revolves around smallholder farming in just a few countries, where the research is generally driven by the global north. These factors prevent NbS from becoming truly transformational in addressing societal challenges in the savanna belt of Africa.

Urban forests are considered a nature-based solution for climate change by cities and countries worldwide. However, the effectiveness of large-scale urban forest projects as a natural climate solution has been rarely assessed. In this study, we utilized a unique opportunity from Beijing's actions to implement a large urban forest project since 2012 to examine the effectiveness of the proposed solution. We collected vegetation structure data in two extensive field surveys to track the growth of the newly formed urban forest. Using field data and allometric equations, we estimated carbon sequestrated by the urban forest. We found that between 2013 and 2020, the urban forest grew rapidly, with the average increase of DBH and height reaching 0.95 cm and 0.47 m annually, respectively. The 16,667 ha of trees and shrubs sequestrated 423,074 tons of carbon in ten years, or 42,307 tons annually. The result showed that large-scale urban forest projects have the potential to be used as a natural climate solution (NCS). Nevertheless, planning and developing specific management techniques are needed to fully realize this potential.

Nature-based solutions (NbS) are recognized as one of the approaches that can address a range of environmental issues, often with conservation and natural resource management missions. However, the promotion of NbS often lacks a robust understanding of their actual impacts and effectiveness. To support the evaluation and implementation of NbS, there is a need for a comprehensive quantitative assessment framework. The main objectives of the study are to (1) develop an assessment framework that can be used to quantify the performance of NbS interventions and to (2) provide a step-by-step guideline for evaluating NbS. The assessment framework proposed in this study was built upon existing frameworks used in previous studies, designed to address specific gaps. Several aspects and tools were integrated in response to the NbS standard criteria provided by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), as a result, this quantitative assessment framework can provide a comprehensive evidence based on environmental, social, and economic aspects. The study introduced one approach, viz., the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting - Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EA), and three main assessment tools (i.e., Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA), and Cost-Benefit Assessment (CBA)) aimed at facilitating a comprehensive evaluation of NbS. The results provide a conceptual framework that offers a systematic approach for evaluating the performance of NbS, along with methods to address conflicting results among aspects and/or indicators. Ideas and approaches for assessing ecosystem services provided by NbS and primary concerns when conducting NbS assessments are also highlighted. In summary, the conceptual framework proposed in this study can be used to assess NbS performance and determine whether NbS interventions align with the NbS standard criteria provided by IUCN, utilizing the introduced assessment tools.

Climate change is increasing the vulnerability of communities to drought, with rural communities in developing countries being affected the most. The study assessed drought vulnerability in south western Zimbabwe based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) supported by Geographic Information System (GIS) and remote sensing techniques. An empirical research design based on verifiable evidence of drought vulnerability was adopted. GIS and remote sensing data were used to execute the multi-criteria AHP for the determination of drought vulnerability. ArcMap 10.8 software was used for the analysis of drought influencing factors and carrying out the weighted overlay. Results indicate that almost the whole of south western Zimbabwe is prone to droughts with only 0.6 % of the area being comparatively better. It was also noted that the majority of the population are exposed to high and extreme risk of droughts as they are settled in extreme and high drought risk zones. The study recommends implementation of resilience building interventions from an informed dimension where specific resilience building initiatives are implemented in appropriate environments for high returns. This can sustain the communities in the face of increasing drought risk due to climate change in line with the aspirations of the universal sustainable development goals and the country's vision of attaining an upper middle-income society by 2030. A framework for creating drought resilience was developed to ensure that development stakeholders cooperate to build drought resilient communities in tropical regions with drought challenges like Zimbabwe and the rest of Southern Africa.

This article explores the broad area of rangatahi Māori climate activism. As a research team made up of academics, rangatahi and rangatahi Māori activists, this perspective piece discusses the importance of whakapapa, belonging and connections to the environment as a foreground to climate activism. While we highlight the lack of academic research focussed on rangatahi Māori climate activism, we show that there is a plethora of activity happening through digital and social media which provides a rich space for sharing innovative ideas for a just future in which nature is centered. We suggest that there are many commonalities between the current articulations of Nature-Based Solutions and rangatahi Māori activism and that greater dialogue between these spaces is vital for any solutions being offered for an environmentally just future for Aotearoa.