Wherever you may find yourself today, if you are in Europe, you are likely suffering one of the summer’s first – but unlikely only – heat waves. Extreme heat has implications for health, food production, and energy costs. The impacts of climate change may often feel abstract, but heat is something you experience directly.
More and more cities are realising that biodiversity and nature-based solutions (NbS) have a role to play in adapting to climate change, and fostering resilience against extreme weather events, like heat waves. What’s more, they are working with local stakeholders to reinvent the urban – and at times rural – landscape to help communities cope as temperatures rise.
In sunny conditions, the European Urban Resilience Forum (EURESFO) 2026 – hosted by European Green Capital 2026 and ICLEI Member Guimaraes, Portugal – provided a platform for three sessions that explored how biodiversity and NbS can be integrated into disaster and resilience planning and policy.
- Navigating (non)-binding policies across governance levels: the nitty gritty for local and regional authorities
- Financing innovation for Nature-based Solutions on private land
- Planning for Resilient Landscapes: Linking Water Management and Soil Health through NbS
These workshops fostered discussions about several wicked problems, exploring:
- How ambitious EU environmental policies can better work for cities on the ground;
- How Nature-based Solutions can move beyond short-term EU project funding and attract more sustainable and long-term investment;
- And how to leverage NbS to reduce flood and drought risks, restore ecosystems, and improve quality of life.
Cities are taking significant action, but this is not always intentionally connected to EU policy, even though it aligns with binding targets, and more informal goals.
"We contribute a lot to the EU Biodiversity Strategy by accident, not on purpose.” Siim Reinla, Viimsi, Estonia
This matters, because as anyone sweating today will tell you, these are not just long term issues, they are immediate.
“Cities without biodiversity lose quality of life and people do not want to live there. We are no longer talking only about an environmental agenda; this is also an economic agenda. It is time for action now.” - Paulo Palha, President of the European Federation of Green Roof and Green Wall Associations (EFB).
So what will it take to mainstream NbS and biodiversity into resilience and climate action planning?
- Breaking down silos between departments, strengthening collaboration across governance levels, and involving citizens directly in shaping greener, more resilient urban spaces.
- Developing long-term financing for NbS that engages a broader stakeholder community, combining bottom-up initiatives with top-down support from public authorities, financial institutions and other key actors.
- Strengthening the case for action by connecting the economic losses associated with floods, droughts, and other climate risks with the long-term value generated by NbS investments
NbS and other biodiversity fostering measures have clear implications not only for the environment, but for human communities – and cities know it. Now is the time to make sure that those governing prioritise NbS and biodiversity, and have the political and financial backing to do so.
"Nature-based Solutions are not only environmental interventions; they are also investments in public health and community well-being." - Carlos Ribeiro, Guimarães, Portugal
For further reading:
Note: these sessions leveraged case studies from the EU Horizon and Mission projects: UNP+, SPADES, Commit2Green, NetworkNature, Land4Climate, and NBRACER.
