How can we prioritise NbS to address specific urban environmental challenges; how to measure the performance of NbS?

In recent years, the rapid transformation of cities has presented numerous challenges across multiple social, ecological and economic dimensions. Core challenges are climate change adaptation, biodiversity loss, habitat fragmentation, inequality, deterioration of human well-being and a myriad of other urban challenges that nature-based solutions (NBS) are uniquely positioned to address. NBS are championed for harnessing nature and its processes and functions, offering a multifaceted approach to mitigate socio-economic and environmental challenges in urban settings. Such strategies, which encompass the integration of green infrastructure, urban forests, and expansive green spaces, have the capacity to generate social, environmental and economic benefits and help build resilience. However, NBS are usually implemented in social-ecological systems deemed to be dynamic, unstable, complex, and of a high degree of uncertainty. Therefore, a deliberative dialogue is needed not only between scientists from different disciplines, but also with different stakeholders, decision makers and citizens to identify the challenges that need to be addressed, guide the choice of appropriate strategies for NBS decision making and monitor and measure the performance of the NBS implemented. 

Common barriers and blockers in properly prioritising NBS to address specific urban environmental challenges and assess their performance are the lack of access of most cities, specially medium-sized cities, to resources, decision-support systems, methodologies, tools, guidelines and standards to successfully plan, co-create, co-implement and co-monitor environmental solutions to their challenges. Moreover, specific tools useful for Latin American cities are frequently lacking. The limited understanding among stakeholders about the social, ecological and economic benefits that NBS provide can hinder the use of NBS in urban planning. 

To minimise these barriers and challenges, INTERLACE has developed several products that could help cities in properly prioritising NBS to address specific urban environmental challenges and assess their performance: a) the Transformative Urban NBS Evaluator, an assessment framework for restorative NBS that guides the co-production of city-tailored, multi-objective, and multi-criteria assessment systems for restorative NBS. It is a decision support tool that has three different entry points depending on the specific needs of the city regarding NBS: i) to spatially prioritize the places to implement NBS based on a vulnerability analysis; ii) to design NBS and iii) to monitor already existing NBS. It further helps to coherently integrate restorative NBS within existing and new strategies and policies and appropriate governance approaches across multiple scales. 

b) A Distance learning course dedicated to urban ecosystem restoration processes, where practical skills and case studies are emphasised. To enhance technical capacity, professionals like urban planners and decision makers at the city level would benefit from specialised training focused on NBS socio-ecological benefits, the identification of urban challenges and prioritisation and monitoring of NBS from a co-created perspective. The relevant modules of this online course are: i) Module 4 - Co-creation as a form of collaborative NbS governance; ii) Module 5 - Spatial planning and prioritising NbS to address urban challenges; and iii) Module 7 - Monitoring and evaluating NbS using a co-creation approach.

c) A Categorised database of good practice tools and factsheets. This database has compiled 130 tools ranging from models, decision-support systems, methodologies, etc. relevant to different stages of ecosystem restoration and rehabilitation through NBS, this is, from the planning, implementation and monitoring phases.

d) A CELAC repository of restorative NBS. To address the lack of specific NBS tools useful for CELAC cities, this repository illustrates case studies of NBS of the CELAC region.