Planning nature-based solutions: Principles, steps, and insights

This paper aims to provide suggestions of how planning NbS can be conceptualized and applied in practice. We develop a framework for planning NbS by merging insights from literature and a case study in the Lahn river landscape, Germany. Our framework relates to three key criteria that define NbS, and consists of six steps of planning: Co-define setting, Understand challenges, Create visions and scenarios, Assess potential impacts, Develop solution strategies, and Realize and monitor. Its implementation is guided by five principles, namely Place-specificity, Evidence base, Integration, Equity, and Transdisciplinarity. Drawing on the empirical insights from the case study, we suggest suitable methods and a checklist of supportive procedures for applying the framework in practice. Taken together, this framework can facilitate planning NbS and provides further steps towards mainstreaming.