Implementing Nature-based Solutions and Green Infrastructure for Cities, Citizens and Rivers - The SEE-URBAN-WATER Project

Abstract

Cities and their rivers are undergoing significant transformations owing to the impact of multiples challenges at a time such as rapid population growth, infrastructure development, and climate change. The consequences are evident in increased flood risks, groundwater pollution, accelerated soil erosion, drinking water scarcity, green space depletion, and biodiversity loss. In light of this, interest in novel concepts such as Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) is growing, extending beyond academia to influence micro-, meso-, and macro-urban scales.

Motivated by the potential of NbS to deliver social, ecological, and societal benefits, the SEE-URBAN-WATER (SUW) research group aimed to provide a robust knowledge and methodological basis for achieving socio-ecological transformation through the inter- and transdisciplinary planning, design, and implementation of NbS and Green Infrastructures in highly urbanized areas susceptible to environmental and climate risks.

From 2018 to 2023, SUW, funded within the framework of the Research for Sustainability program (known by its German acronym FONA) by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (abbreviated to BMBF in German), produced numerous master’s and doctoral theses, methodological frameworks, scientific publications, and technical guidelines. Nevertheless, this book goes beyond being a mere compendium of these outcomes; it clearly illustrates the systematic inter- and transdisciplinary evolution and interconnection of ideas for building more socially and environmentally resilient cities.