Author(s): Marcel Cardinali, Adina Dumitru, Sofie Vandewoestijne, Laura Wendling
Published in: 2021, ISBN 978-92-76-40745-4
Publisher: European Commission
DOI: 10.2777/521937

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ABSTRACT: This publication provides a high-level summary of the detailed information available in Evaluating the Impact of Nature-Based Solutions: A Handbook for Practitioners. The handbook aims to provide practitioners with a comprehensive impact assessment framework for nature-based solutions and a robust set of indi-cators to assess the impacts of nature-based solutions across 12 societal challenge areas: Climate Resilience; Water Management; Natural and Climate Hazards; Green Space Management; Biodiversity; Air Quality; Place Regeneration; Knowledge and Social Capacity Building for Sustainable Urban Transformation; Par-ticipatory Planning and Governance; Social Justice and Social Cohesion; Health and Well-being; and, New Economic Opportunities and Green Jobs. The accompanying volume, Evaluating the Impact of Nature-Based Solutions: Appendix of Methods, provides a brief description of each cited indicator of nature-based solution impact and recommends appropriate methods to measure specific impacts, along with guidance for end-users about the appropriateness, advantages and drawbacks of each method in different local contexts.

Author(s): Adina Dumitru and Laura Wendling, Eds.
Published in: 2021, ISBN 978-92-76-22821-9
Publisher: European Commission
DOI: 10.2777/244577

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ABSTRACT: The Handbook aims to provide decision-makers with a comprehensive NBS impact assessment framework, and a robust set of indicators and methodologies to assess impacts of nature-based solutions across 12 societal challenge areas: Climate Resilience; Water Management; Natural and Climate Hazards; Green Space Management; Biodiversity; Air Quality; Place Regeneration; Knowledge and Social Capacity Building for Sustainable Urban Transformation; Participatory Planning and Governance; Social Justice and Social Cohesion; Health and Well-being; New Economic Opportunities and Green Jobs. Indicators have been developed collaboratively by representatives of 17 individual EU-funded NBS projects and collaborating institutions such as the EEA and JRC, as part of the European Taskforce for NBS Impact Assessment, with the four-fold objective of: serving as a reference for relevant EU policies and activities; orient urban practitioners in developing robust impact evaluation frameworks for nature-based solutions at different scales; expand upon the pioneering work of the EKLIPSE framework by providing a comprehensive set of indicators and methodologies; and build the European evidence base regarding NBS impacts. They reflect the state of the art in current scientific research on impacts of nature-based solutions and valid and standardized methods of assessment, as well as the state of play in urban implementation of evaluation frameworks.