Action Area 2 – Closing the NbS research-implementation gap

Identifying and supporting the enabling framework conditions or environments for stakeholder leadership and empowerment on NbS at an organisational level, linked to supportive policies and regulatory frameworks, adequate financing mechanisms and building users ownership, and as such closely linked to promoting transdisciplinary dialogues and awareness raising highlighted in subsequent pillars. Expert inputs also highlight needs for further R&I efforts in enabling business leadership on NbS, and in supporting the development of corporate social responsibility strategies concerning the design and implementation of NbS in business decision-making and operations at local, national, and transnational scales. Such efforts need to be further targeted to specific business sectors and decision-making contexts.

References

European Commission. Directorate General for Research and Innovation. The vital role of nature-based solutions in a nature positive economy. (Publications Office of the European Union, 2022).

European Commission Directorate-General for Research and Innovation et al. Nature-based solutions: state of the art in EU funded projects. (Publications Office of the European Union, 2020).

De Vreese, R. Reviewing the knowledge on the importance of UF-NbS for resilient cities  (CLEARINGHOUSE Deliverable 1.2). (2021).

Nelson, D. R., Bledsoe, B. P., Ferreira, S. & Nibbelink, N. P. Challenges to realising the potential of nature-based solutions. Curr. Opin. Environ. Sustain. 45, 49–55 (2020).

Raymond, C. M. et al. An impact evaluation framework to support planning and evaluation of nature-based solutions projects: prepared by the EKLIPSE Expert Working Group on nature-based solutions to promote climate resilience in urban areas. (Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Wallingford, 2017).

Developing innovative approaches to integrating research and demonstration is called for in expert feedback. This can entail more coordinated/systematic approaches to demonstration activities, e.g., what would an ideal sampling pattern look like for demonstration projects, building toward a more strategic approach to the location and involvement of non-academic partners involved, or addressing issues in persistence of project outcomes over time, and exploring complementary approaches to the support and implementation of demonstration projects.

Significantly improve the connection of the development of NbS evidence with business concerns (e.g. incoming requirements of businesses to disclose risks and dependencies on nature (TFND)), applications and also skills and expertise, e.g., by understanding the value of nature as both an input and output in economic processes, characterising business impacts and dependencies on nature, articulating business questions and actors in R&I early on, as well as ensuring feedback on needs toward R&I and mobilising knowledge and expertise from businesses to help operationalise NbS in these contexts. 

References

European Commission. Directorate General for Research and Innovation. The vital role of nature-based solutions in a nature positive economy. (Publications Office of

Accompany and support the development of standard methods and guidance on NbS actions for their operationalisation in business, which is widely recognised as an important lever for R&I to promote the uptake of NbS. This relates generally to developing the practical design and implementation of NbS at an operational level, e.g., on the need for adaptive management and governance, to refer more clearly to ecosystem complexity, temporal scales, effectiveness, and uncertainty. This also includes developing further research on NbS business cases, including economic viability and long-term costs as well as value chains in different sectors, and is tied to the development of elements around the valuation of NbS8 and of standard and practical methods for NbS integration in business models, such as natural capital accounting methods to enable the mainstreaming of NbS private financing. 

References

Cohen-Shacham, E. et al. Core principles for successfully implementing and upscaling Nature-based Solutions. Environ. Sci. Policy 98, 20–29 (2019).

European Commission. Directorate General for Research and Innovation. The vital role of nature-based solutions in a nature positive economy. (Publications Office of the European Union, 2022).

European Commission Directorate-General for Research and Innovation et al. Nature-based solutions: state of the art in EU funded projects. (Publications Office of the European Union, 2020).

Grace, M. et al. Priority knowledge needs for implementing nature-based solutions in the Mediterranean islands. Environ. Sci. Policy 116, 56–68 (2021).

Hamel, P. & Tan, L. Blue–Green Infrastructure for Flood and Water Quality Management in Southeast Asia: Evidence and Knowledge Gaps. Environ. Manage. (2021) doi:10.1007/s00267-021-01467-w.

Build the capacity of the private sector to deliver NbS for the nature positive economy. As demand increases for NbS, publications have identified potential bottlenecks in their supply, exacerbated by shortages of skilled and experienced NbS suppliers in the private sector. Research has clearly identified the potential of nature-positive economy to support the delivery of NbS, simultaneously delivering multiple economic benefits in terms of innovations, skills, jobs and enterprises. While the potential of NBE to contribute to a just transition toward a more equitable nature positive society has been recognised in the EU and internationally, this area of research remains emergent.  Further theoretical and empirical studies are needed to better understand differentiating characteristics with other organisation types and between different sectors, geographical regions, and scales, including internal and external determinants of success and failure and limitations/potential of the concept in these contexts. Specifically, there are significant research needs on the fit between current innovation ecosystems, including early-stage financing and scaling mechanisms, with the needs of nature-based enterprises.

References

European Commission. Directorate General for Research and Innovation. The vital role of nature-based solutions in a nature positive economy. (Publications Office of the European Union, 2022).

European Commission Directorate-General for Research and Innovation et al. Nature-based solutions: state of the art in EU funded projects. (Publications Office of the European Union, 2020).

ILO-UNEP-IUCN. Decent Work in Nature-based Solutions 2022. http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/employment-intensive-investment/public… (2022).

Kooijman, E. D., McQuaid, S., Rhodes, M.-L., Collier, M. J. & Pilla, F. Innovating with Nature: From Nature-Based Solutions to Nature-Based Enterprises. Sustainability 13, 1263 (2021).

McQuaid, S. et al. From Nature-based Solutions to the Nature-based Economy - Delivering the Green Deal for Europe. Draft White Paper for consultation. Nature-based Economy Working Group of EC Task Force III on Nature-based Solutions. (2021) doi:10.5281/ZENODO.5055605.

Accelerating uptake of NbS in business. The World Economic Forum estimates that more than half of the world’s GDP – $44 trillion – is at risk of disruption due to nature loss. Despite such high evidence of dependency, recent benchmarking studies of global leading businesses show that while 50% have set targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, only 5% have carried out a science-based assessment looking at how their operations and business model impact and depend on nature and biodiversity (this is expected to change due to Target 15 of the GBF, which requires all large and transnational companies and financial institutions to assess and disclose their risks, impacts and dependencies on nature).  Expert opinions collected in the development of this roadmap point to a key and underexplored role of research to understand the internal organisational and external environmental factors inhibiting business responsiveness to NbS and to support the piloting of new approaches to advance the uptake of the concept in business contexts. 

References

Faivre, N., Fritz, M., Freitas, T., Boissezon, B. & Vandewoestijne, S. Nature-Based Solutions in the EU: Innovating with nature to address social, economic and environmental challenges. Environ. Res. 159, 509–518 (2017).

World Economic Forum & PwC China. White Paper : The Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and What it Means for Business. (2022).

Further developing guidance for NbS design and implementation, and tools to facilitate the inclusion of NbS in planning and policy frameworks, for example using web-based decision support approaches, combining real-time monitoring and control systems, scenarios with NbS and grey infrastructure or different levels of implementation to help understand investment needs, or at the metropolitan level with, e.g., user-friendly valuation tools for the evaluation of risk reduction and guidance on measures to spur demand for NbS. Such tools should reflect on the working realities of planners and decision-makers. Another focus should also be on expanding existing planning and design tools, which are already accepted and applied by, e.g., adding a component or module of NbS.

References

De Vreese, R. Reviewing the knowledge on the importance of UF-NbS for resilient cities  (CLEARINGHOUSE Deliverable 1.2). (2021).

European Commission. Directorate General for Research and Innovation. The vital role of nature-based solutions in a nature positive economy. (Publications Office of the European Union, 2022).

European Commission Directorate-General for Research and Innovation et al. Nature-based solutions: state of the art in EU funded projects. (Publications Office of the European Union, 2020).

Hamel, P. & Tan, L. Blue–Green Infrastructure for Flood and Water Quality Management in Southeast Asia: Evidence and Knowledge Gaps. Environ. Manage. (2021) doi:10.1007/s00267-021-01467-w.

Ruangpan, L. et al. Nature-based solutions for hydro-meteorological risk reduction: a state-of-the-art review of the research area. Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. 20, 243–270 (2020).

Identifying and promoting standards, including technical references, design standards and guidelines, is called for in various contexts beyond business operationalisation highlighted previously, including for flood risk reduction and climate change adaptation.  References to standards not only relate to technical aspects, but also to developing indicators for cross-site comparisons, as well as participatory approaches to translating and sharing lessons learned in principles and standards specifically. Consultations in the development of this roadmap tend to support that standardisation of language and methods employed in NbS actions support the translation of research into practice. This specifically relates to the establishment of both a common language and technical methods among experts and practitioners from multiple disciplines and sectors, including NbS terminology, technical references, and design guidelines. Needs for technical guidance were particularly called for to enable the scaling up of NbS and the development of integrated systems of NbS at landscape or even larger scales. 

References

Eggermont, H. et al. Strategic Research & Innnovation Agenda : Horizon Europe Partnership on Biodiversity. (2021).

European Commission Directorate-General for Research and Innovation et al. Nature-based solutions: state of the art in EU funded projects. (Publications Office of the European Union, 2020).

European Environment Agency. Nature-based solutions in Europe policy, knowledge and practice for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. (Publications Office of the European Union, 2021).

Promotion and further development of dynamic resource platforms and knowledge sharing opportunities on best practices, with a clear need for better accessibility of NbS resources and outcomes over time, but also better communication of existing evidence into policy and practice and help to assess knowledge and better share information on NbS and related initiatives.

While these appear to be important avenues to help closing the research-implementation gap, it should be noted that stakeholder consultations also highlighted the difficulty in handling the multiple standards and best practices already available, suggesting there is a challenge in tying these efforts with the need for systemic analyses mentioned previously. In addition, this aspect is also directly related to subsequent levers of the roadmap on developing capacities, so that guidance and best practices should capture the inherent variability in which NbS works best in each context in a way that is accessible and manageable for end-users.

References 

De Vreese, R. Reviewing the knowledge on the importance of UF-NbS for resilient cities  (CLEARINGHOUSE Deliverable 1.2). (2021).

UNEP-IEMP. Research on Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA): A reference guide. (2019).