This report summarises much of the work done by the German
Federal Agency of Nature Conservation (BfN) in cooperation with the Helmholtz Centre for
Environmental Research-UFZ and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research
(iDiv) in the frame of a research and development project on nature-based solutions (NbS) to
climate change in urban areas. This report further includes work done by and for the Climate
Change Group of the European Network of Heads of Nature Conservation Agencies (ENCA)
in 2015 and 2016. The ENCA Climate Change Group is made up of experts in climate
change and ecology from government nature conservation agencies across Europe. Current
members of the group include representatives from nature conservation agencies in England, Germany, Switzerland, Wales, Scotland, Czech Republic, Finland, Spain, Netherlands,
Norway and the Dutch province of Gelderland. The group is chaired by Natural England.
Through this, we hope to further promote the integration of research findings and implementation experiences of nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation and mitigation to help implementation into practice, to help city practitioners learn from the experiences of colleagues in other parts of Europe dealing with similar conditions, issues, threats and opportunities but also barriers to action.
