The NetworkNature Annual Event will provide an opportunity to learn more about the state-of-the-art developments in NBS practice & policy.
About the event:
Nature-based solutions (NBS), if designed and implemented well, can produce a multitude of benefits simultaneously, including for health and wellbeing, agriculture, water, food and energy production, climate change, economic development, and more. Mainstreaming these solutions through agreed (quality) standards and best practices can help maximise the impact and uptake of nature-based solutions.
The event will focus on the Network Nature semester theme “Nature-based solutions and Standards”, to ensure the quality, effectiveness and scale of implementation that helps deliver the European Green Deal and the challenges related to biodiversity, climate change and socio-economic development.
Exchange of knowledge, capacity building and dialogue across stakeholders and sectors is key to developing joint action for upscaling NBS. NetworkNature hosts an annual event to take stock of achievements across EU-funded projects (mainly H2020, Horizon Europe) and provide the opportunity to learn more about the state-of-the-art developments in NBS evidence, practice and policy.
NetworkNature invites the nature-based solutions community and other interested stakeholders from all target groups, including policymakers, scientific experts, civil society as well as investors and financing institutions, infrastructure planners and builders, landowners and natural resource managers to share and learn about the ways through which nature-based solutions can be upscaled, through policy and practice, how different sectors can contribute, and the role of standards.
The parallel sessions in the afternoon will provide space for an interactive exchange on developing standard(s) around NBS, quality criteria and best practices for integrating NBS more effectively in policy and practice. The sessions will feature presentations, capacity building and idea-sharing by the NBS community of practice, and will build on the results of Horizon 2020 NBS projects and involve the NetworkNature Stakeholder Advisory Board. The aim of these sessions is to learn about the latest developments and success stories in upscaling NBS in policy and practice and to identify opportunities for strengthened engagements and partnerships for NBS.
The event will be held in-person, at the Museum of Natural Sciences of Brussels, Belgium, and will be moderated by David Maddox, The Nature of Cities.
The NetworkNature Annual Event will be held back-to-back the NBS Hubs Meeting (26th September) and the NetworkNature Taskforces Cluster Meeting (28th September), in Brussels. Participation to these events is open for selected groups.
Agenda for the Annual Event
9.30 – 9.40 Welcome & introduction - Moderator - Room: Grand Auditorium
9.40 – 10.00 NetworkNature: achievements and plans for the future - Bettina Wilk (ICLEI), Susanna Gionfra (IUCN), Anna Bruen (ICLEI), Dorsa Sheikholeslami (IUCN), Mariem EL Harrak (Biodiversa+), Jonathan Porter (Oppla)
10.00 – 10.10 Interactive session - Moderator
10.10 – 10.30 Driving NBS standards and quality - Efrén Feliu & Dora Almassy (NetworkNature Semester Theme’s experts)
10.30 – 10.40 Q&A
10.40 – 11.00 Towards the next EU roadmap for R&I on NBS: overview of the landscape and knowledge gaps - Gilles Doignon (DG Research & Innovation) & Frédéric Lemaitre (Biodiversa+)
11.00 – 11.15 Q&A
11.15 – 11.35 Coffee break - Room: VIP Room
11.35 – 12.45 Panel: Joining forces towards a successful implementation of the Nature Restoration Law - Martin Grisel (EUKN), Holger Robrecht (ICLEI), Luisa Samarelli (European Commission, DG Environment), Yann Verstraeten (Business @Biodiversity Platform), Laura Wendling (VTT & UNaLaB)
12.45 – 13.10 Panel: European NBS Hubs - Mónika Németh (Hungary Hub), Leonard Sandin (Nordic Region Hub), Américo Mateus (Portugal Hub)
13.10 – 13.20 Closing of morning session - Moderator
13.20 – 14.20 Lunch Break - Room: VIP Room
14.20 – 14.30 Introduction to parallel sessions - Room: Grand Auditorium
14.30 – 16.00 Parallel sessions:
• Nature based solutions: Exploring the role of Landscape Architecture in policy and practice (led by IFLA Europe - Daniela Micanovic, Katarina Gkoltsiou, Didier Vancutsem) - Room: Small Auditorium
• Informing and supporting policy whilst ensuring the lasting legacy of NBS projects (leb by UNaLab- Laura Wendling (UNaLaB), Michelle Oddy (GrowGreen), Raúl Sánchez (Urban GreenUP), Marcus Collier & Siobhan McQuaid (Connecting Nature)) - Room: VIP Room
• The involvement of SMEs in developing and supplying impactful nature-based solutions (led by Steinbeis s2i- Victoria Blessing) - Room: Lebon & Dohnt
• Towards a European R&I Roadmap for NBS (led by Biodiversa+ - Frédéric Lemaitre & Mariem EL Harrak) - Room: Grand Auditorium
16.00 – 16.30 Coffee break - Room: VIP Room
16.30 – 17.05 Reporting back from the parallel sessions - Room: Grand Auditorium
17.05 – 17.15 Closing remarks by the European Commission - Benjamin Caspar, DG Environment
17.15 – 17.30 Closing remarks - Susanna Gionfra, IUCN & Bettina Wilk, ICLEI
18.00 – 20.00 Drinks reception - Room: BiodiverCITY Lobby
