As part of the NetworkNature project, the European Commission has promoted the development of national hubs dedicated to Nature-based Solutions (NbS). The National Research Council (CNR), alongside Universities and local administrations that have actively contributed to the development and dissemination of the NbS concept, has created the NbS Italy Hub. The Kick-off Meeting of the project will take place on the 26th of May at the CNR headquarters in Rome
The National Hubs, created within the NetworkNature project and funded by the European Commission, will have the purpose to collect and bring together researchers, administrations, business and public actors in order to promote new initiatives and gather information related to Nature-based Solutions (NbS). These realities shall represent a crucial resource for the whole NbS community. The Institute of Research on Terrestrial Ecosystems of the National Research Council (CNR-IRET) will manage the coordination of the Italian Hub. On the 26th of this May, the CNR headquarters in Rome is going to host the first NbS Italy Hub Kick-off Meeting.
NbS represent an important opportunity to promote local, regional and international cooperation. The main purpose of the National hubs is to support the collaboration among stakeholders, enhancing new skills development and productive know-how circulation. Furthermore, National hubs shall simplify the creation of Green and Blue infrastructures, optimizing resources related to environmental sustainability. Supported by various partners, the CNR will coordinate several initiatives aimed at spreading the concept of NbS, addressing and optimizing local, regional and national peculiarities.
Among the founding partners of the Hub, there are research institutions and universities, municipalities, metropolitan cities and public entities. Looking ahead, however, the project will also open up to small and medium-sized enterprises and non-governmental organizations, which will cooperate in the perspective of the "quadruple helix", the founding basis of circular economy and innovative research new guidelines.
The main function of the NbS Italy Hub will be to collect and disseminate key information related to NbS initiatives and opportunities. On the one hand, in fact, the Italian Hub will disseminate guidelines, metrics, regulations, frameworks and national policies to local realities. At the same time, the Hub will collect and spread key information regarding local initiatives, connecting the national network of stakeholders involved in these issues.
May 26th event will be an important opportunity to discuss about the NbS Italy Hub characteristics, objectives, tools and possibilities. The Kick-off Meeting will gather partners close to the project, institutional personalities and researchers engaged in research and innovation initiatives linked to the creation of NbS. The event will be open by greetings and contributions from Maria Chiara Carrozza, President of CNR, Aldo Covello, representing the DG for internationalization and communication of the Ministry of University and Research (MUR), Carlo Calfapietra, Director of the CNR-IRET and Coordinator of the NbS Italy Hub, and Paola Lepori, representing the DG Research and Innovation of the European. Afterwards, keynote speakers and national expert will contribute to a fruitful dialogue, followed by a round table focused on the introduction of NbS into the local and national policy agenda.
“The Nbs Italy Hub is certainly an ambitious project - Chiara Baldacchini, associate professor at the University of Tuscia and part of the project coordination team explains - and it would require the establishment of specific funds, which we hope to gain in the foreseeable future. Currently, the project is on a voluntary basis, but the enthusiastic response received from the community points out the importance of similar initiatives. Indeed, despite the high participation of both research institutions and large cities in European Commission funded projects, Italy is still behind in the inclusion of the NbS concept within national policies. Moreover, Italy has unique bioclimatic peculiarities and biodiversity hotspots. These features require the development of a specific knowledge, to allow the identification of innovative methodologies and dedicated metrics for the evaluation of the NbS related benefits, to learn how to develop the most effective solutions, especially in the perspective of mitigation and resilience towards climate change, to which our territory is particularly exposed”.
Contatti: Coordinamento NbS Italy Hub
Carlo Calfapietra, CNR-IRET
Chiara Baldacchini, Università della Tuscia
Email: nbs.italy@iret.cnr.it