Nature-based solutions (NBS) harness natural processes to address climate-related risks and evolving environmental challenges, providing sustainable and cost-effective alternatives to conventional grey infrastructure. Traditional stone weirs represent multifunctional and environmentally friendly structures that contribute to ecosystem sustainability while enhancing protection against water-related hazards. This type of NBS has demonstrated significant potential in regulating surface runoff by controlling water flow and retaining sediments, thereby reducing flow velocity and erosion during high-discharge events. Through these mechanisms, stone weirs support the enhancement of community resilience under changing climatic conditions. Within the framework of the CARDIMED project, a network of 120 traditional stone weirs was being developed and implemented on Sifnos Island (Greece). These structures are strategically distributed along two main stream networks with the objectives of improving water regulation, supporting aquifer recharge, enhancing biodiversity, and facilitating small-scale agricultural water use. The design and deployment of the weirs are tailored to the specific hydrological and ecological characteristics of the arid island environments of the eastern Mediterranean.
This study presents an integrated assessment of the effectiveness of stone weir nature-based solutions (NBS) in quantifying climate adaptation benefits, with a particular focus on stormwater regulation, using Sifnos Island (Aegean Sea, Greece) as a case study. The analysis adopts a multi-source monitoring framework that combines Earth observation data with in situ measurements collected through fixed monitoring stations, low-cost sensor deployments, and participatory crowdsourcing campaigns. Remote sensing techniques based on Sentinel-2 imagery are employed to derive key vegetation and water-related indices, including the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), allowing the evaluation of vegetation condition, soil moisture availability, and land surface dynamics. To enhance spatial and temporal detail, PlanetScope imagery is integrated through the Copernicus Contributing Missions (CCM) programme, providing observations at 3 m spatial resolution. The near-daily revisit frequency of PlanetScope enables the monitoring of short-term dynamics and the computation of indices during hydrologically critical periods. Earth observation products are validated using in situ data acquired from monitoring systems installed at strategically selected locations, delivering high-resolution measurements of hydrological, meteorological, and ecological variables under varying climatic conditions. Overall, the proposed methodology offers a robust framework for quantifying the impacts of stone weir implementation and supports the evaluation of their scalability as effective, sustainable solutions for enhancing climate resilience on the regional scale.
Aknowledgments:
PlanetScope © Planet (2025) provided under Copernicus by European Union and European Space Agency.
This research has been funded by European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under CARDIMED project (Grant Agreement No. 101112731) (Climate Adaptation and Resilience Demonstrated in the MEDiterranean region).
How to cite: Kossieris, S., Michalis, P., Petrakos, K., Tsimiklis, G., and Amditis, A.: Assessing Nature-Based Solutions for Water Resilience Using Sentinel-2 and PlanetScope Imagery: Traditional Stone Weirs in Sifnos Island (Greece), EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-9282, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-9282, 2026.
Groundwater contamination by nitrates, together with high salinity, hardness and sulfates, increasingly constrains safe irrigation reuse in Mediterranean hotspots. Microalgae-based Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) can couple nutrient removal with biomass co-production; however, implementation in real groundwater matrices requires strategies that sustain phototrophic function under high Ca2+/Mg2+ and micronutrient limitation. Here we evaluate a naturally resilient Chlorella sp. strain characterized by an extensive extracellular matrix as an NbS-based treatment process for hard groundwater from Nicosia (Cyprus), targeting nitrate decontamination with resource recovery.
The groundwater exhibited a challenging ionic profile (45.2 mg·L-1 NO3-N; 1700 mg·L-1 SO₄²⁻; 361 mg·L-1 Na⁺; 148 mg·L-1 Mg²⁺; 660 mg·L-1 Ca²⁺; EC ~4.6 mS·cm-1), together with low bioavailable phosphorus and trace metals. In 7-day batch tests, nitrate removal was consistently high (>98%), while biomass formation remained substantial despite the unfavorable substrate (VSS increased from 160±5 mg·L-1 up to 1250 mg·L-1 depending on supplementation). Trace-mineral supplementation supported the “trace-metals-as-enabler” principle, as cultures in untreated groundwater exhibited strong stress, whereas Hutner’s trace-metals amendment restored photophysiology and pigment recovery, demonstrating that Fe/Mn/Cu limitation—not nitrate supply—governs culture robustness.
Phosphorus management emerged as the main scale-up constraint in this hard groundwater. A phosphate-buffer addition (6.66 mM K2HPO4 + 3.34 mM KH2PO4) promoted rapid Ca–phosphate mineral formation, driving acidification and removing phosphate beyond what could be explained by biomass assimilation; consequently, changes in Ca/Mg could not be interpreted as biological uptake. Consistent with this, dissolved Ca2+ decreased by ≥61% immediately and reached approximately 73% by day 7, indicating predominantly abiotic removal during medium preparation and cultivation. Dissolved Mg2+ also decreased by ≥15% at day 0, consistent with co-precipitation or sorption onto the newly formed mineral phases, while subsequent Mg decreases likely reflect a combination of continued chemical association and biosorption to algal surfaces.
To translate the approach toward field feasibility, we implemented a lab-scale photobioreactor (800 mL) using a bioenergetic cultivation strategy: low, demand-matched P dosing (5 mg·L-1 PO4–P as KH₂PO₄) with Hutner’s trace metals, daily pH control at 7.2 (acid/base adjustment), and semi-continuous operation (10% daily exchange). Under these conditions, no precipitation occurred, PO4–P remained near-depleted, and nitrate was fully removed by day 14 (>99.9%), alongside moderate co-reductions of Ca²⁺ (27%) and Mg²⁺ (21%). In the absence of phosphate-driven scaling, these co-removals are consistent with biosorption to the EPS-rich extracellular matrix and cell surfaces and removal with harvested biomass.
The validated combination of resilient strain selection, trace-mineral support, and low-dose P delivery with pH control provides a transferable design rule for cultivating microalgae in hard, nitrate-impacted groundwaters while achieving reliable decontamination and biomass co-production. This operating strategy is being validated for large-scale implementation in Nicosia within the CARDIMED demonstrator, including transfer to an outdoor tubular photobioreactor (1200 L) under real climatic conditions.
Acknowledgements: This research has been funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe Innovation Programme under the CARDIMED project, Grant Agreement No. 101112731.
How to cite: Nazos, T., Chatzimpalis, I., Vaidanis, E., Tsatsou, A., Missa, V., Mamais, D., Noutsopoulos, C., and Malamis, S.: Microalgae as a Nature-Based Solution for Nitrate-Impacted Hard Groundwater Reuse in Cyprus: Performance, Constraints, and Scale-Up Pathways, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-9597, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-9597, 2026.
The increasing impacts of climate change require urgent, systemic and innovative responses to address growing risks to human and natural systems. In this scenario of complexity and uncertainty, the challenge is no longer merely to generate new data, but to transform existing knowledge into collective capacities to imagine, design and implement adaptation processes.
The central question guiding our research is: how can we co-create future adaptation pathways in a world where uncertainty has become the new normal?
To address this challenge, RHEA-DAPT has been developed, a Decision Support System (DSS) based on a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) architecture, conceived as a shared cognitive infrastructure for co-creating a knowledge base for transformative adaptation planning. Developed within the INTERREG AcquaGuard project, it supports climate change adaptation and resilience in flood-prone regions, including Karlovac County (Croatia) and the Veneto Region (Italy), case study regions in the project.
Methodological consistency is ensured through its alignment with the Regional Resilience Journey (RRJ) and the Regional Adaptation Support Tool (RAST), in line with the EU Mission on Adaptation. Grounded in these frameworks, RHEA-DAPT is built on principles of knowledge democratization, collective intelligence, and eXplainable AI (XAI) to enable transparent, interpretable, and collaborative decision-making.
Its multi-level architecture integrates diverse sources such as climate glossaries, regulatory frameworks, policies, territorial plans, project reports, and Nature-based Solutions (NbS) portfolios. The RAG approach reduces the need for dedicated LLM training, lowering computational costs and environmental footprints. By combining retrieval with generative models, it mitigates hallucinations and improves contextual relevance across regions.
Applied to AcquaGuard case studies and co-designed with their local actors, RHEA-DAPT demonstrates how the integration of scientific knowledge, policy and territorial expertise can generate inclusive and transformative adaptation pathways.
RHEA-DAPT embodies a new decision-making paradigm: not a prescriptive model, but a knowledge navigator that helps local actors navigate uncertainty, scenarios and possible alternatives. In this perspective, AI is not an autonomous decision-maker but a cognitive and relational facilitator, capable of supporting collective learning processes. The key question becomes not whether AI is intelligent, but how we can use it intelligently to foster new connections, stimulate critical thinking and strengthen communities capacity for co-creation.
In this uncertain future, even the idea of the future itself changes in nature: no longer a horizon of prediction, but a space of strategic foresight where envisioning what may come through scenario planning and analysis becomes the act that may transform our current choices.
In this perspective, RHEA-DAPT moves to an infinity loop, a dynamic reactivation of the adaptive cycle in climate change adaptation. Through iterative phases of reorganization, exploration, and transformation, adaptation becomes a continuous process of learning and renewal, enabling territories to achieve their climate resilience while boosting innovative and transformative actions over time.
How to cite: Favilli, F., Dal Barco, M. K., Biancardi Aleu, R., Poddar, D., Chiarello, F., and Furlan, E.: RHEA-DAPT: A transformative AI DSS for supporting adaptation pathways co-development, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-13272, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-13272, 2026.
Despite strong policy support and growing evidence of their benefits, Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) often struggle to transition from experimental pilots to mainstream practice. Based on the LAND4CLIMATE project, this presentation brings together real-world implementation experiences from six European frontrunner regions. The HORIZON project LAND4CLIMATE advances the implementation of NbS for climate adaptation and mitigation by addressing one of the most persistent barriers in Europe: enabling NbS on privately owned land through governance, financial and capacity-building innovations. This study synthesizes achievements and lessons learned from real-world implementation activities across the project’s six frontrunner regions: County of Euskirchen in Germany, the Lafnitz river catchment in Hungary, the city of Krasna Lipa and the nature reserve of Bohemian Switzerland in Chez Republic, the region of East Emilia in Italy, the upper Timiş river in Romania, and the Rovana river basin in Slovakia. These regions face several climate risks, such as flooding, heatwaves and coastal erosion, and represent diverse European socio-economic and institutional contexts.
Across the case studies, LAND4CLIMATE has operationalized NbS in flood-prone river basins, agricultural landscapes, peri-urban zones, and mixed-ownership settings. The implementation activities combined hydrological and climate risk modelling, stakeholder co-design, landowner engagement, and tailored governance and financing arrangements. Key achievements include the co-creation of locally adapted NbS portfolios, the testing of novel incentive mechanisms for private landowners, and the integration of NbS into regional planning and risk management frameworks. Across the frontrunner regions, the implemented and operationalized measures are expected to deliver multiple co-benefits, including reductions in flood peaks, enhanced water retention capacity, improved soil functions, and strengthened local capacities for climate adaptation.
This presentation highlights cross-cutting lessons relevant for scaling NbS across Europe. First, successful implementation depends less on technical design and more on trust-building, long-term engagement and institutional alignment across sectors and governance levels. Second, flexible, place-based financing and compensation mechanisms are essential to mobilize private land for public climate benefits. Third, iterative learning between modelling, monitoring and stakeholder feedback is expected to significantly improve both the effectiveness and social acceptance of NbS interventions. Finally, frontrunner regions play a critical role as learning laboratories, providing transferable insights for follower regions while acknowledging that NbS pathways must remain context specific. By grounding its analysis in concrete implementation experiences, this presentation offers evidence-based insights into how NbS can move from policy ambition to practice, supporting climate-resilient landscapes and communities across Europe.
How to cite: Halbac-Cotoară-Zamfir, R., Santos Ferreira, C. S., Kalantari, Z., and Rezvani, A.: From pilots to practice: real-world implementation of Nature-Based Solutions in six European frontrunner regions, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-19028, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-19028, 2026.
Mainstreaming Nature-based Solutions (NbS) is vital to translating the EU Water Resilience Strategy (2025) into meaningful action. Yet, bridging the gap between policy design and practical implementation requires not only technical and financial alignment, but also broad social acceptance and participatory governance.
The NbS Fresco©, supported by the Horizon Europe project NBRACER (n°101112836), emerges as an innovative tool designed to foster this social dimension by raising awareness and engagement around NbS. Inspired by the successful Climate Fresk, the NbS Fresco© builds on proven approaches that use visual storytelling and collaborative learning to make complex scientific knowledge accessible and emotionally resonant. Research shows that traditional environmental communication often fails to engage the public effectively because scientific concepts are presented as isolated facts with limited context. Storytelling helps connect logic with emotion, enhances trust, improves information retention, and motivates action.
The NbS Fresco©’s scope currently focuses on three landscapes (urban, rural, and coastal/marine) and the set of 22 NbS covered in the first version of this serious game addresses a variety of water resilience-related solutions. Through a visual, interactive, and collective narrative experience, the Fresco transforms the complex, interdisciplinary science of NbS into an engaging format that empowers participants to understand the systems behind them, recognize their benefits, and build hope and connection to nature. While not a practical training on NbS implementation, the Fresco’s strength lies in fostering social acceptance and stakeholder buy-in, both critical factors for mainstreaming NbS in integrated water management.
Citizen engagement approaches exemplified by the Fresco contribute to integrated governance by democratizing knowledge, encouraging shared learning, and supporting adaptive management through increased awareness. This participatory dimension is essential to aligning societal values with the EU’s water resilience goals and advancing NbS as viable, complementary alternatives to grey infrastructure.
This presentation will introduce and discuss the NbS Fresco©’s potential as a scalable, agile tool to close the implementation gap by building collective intelligence and fostering inclusive dialogue. It underscores the importance of innovative engagement methods in complementing scientific evidence and policy frameworks to accelerate NbS adoption, thereby enhancing water resilience and socio-ecological sustainability across Europe.
How to cite: Bussoletti, G. and Brack, N.: The NbS Fresco©: A collaborative learning tool to raise awareness and engage stakeholders in mainstreaming NbS for water resilience, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-19273, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-19273, 2026.
In the NBRACER Horizon Europe project, 14 nature-based solutions (NbS) are demonstrated for climate adaptation in rural lanscpaes in the Atlantic region. These solutions are spread over four demo regions Western-Denmark, West-Flanders (Belgium), Nouvelle Aquitaine (France) and Cantabria (Spain). These demonstrators address a range of climate challenges, such as flooding, drought, water quality degradation, and soil erosion, while targeting improvements in Key Community Systems (KCSs) like Water Management, Ecosystems, and Land use & Food Systems. Each of the demonstrators includes a co-design process and monitoring of demo impacts. The methodology combines participatory stakeholder engagement with technical assessments, including ecosystem service mapping and readiness level evaluations. Innovation in the demonstrators focusses on different aspects, depending on the local barriers and enablers, such as technological readiness but also co-design and social acceptance, governance aspects and innovation in funding.
In this presentation we provide an overview of the demonstrators and their co-design processes. The co-design process is guided by five iterative steps: issue framing, knowledge gathering, co-design of options, stakeholder validation, and decision-making. We present a comparative analysis of the demonstrators, highlighting the diversity of approaches, stakeholder constellations, and maturity levels. We also identify enabling conditions and barriers to implementation, such as governance structures, data availability, and social acceptance.
Key findings show that while most demonstrators are still in early co-design stages, there is strong alignment between local needs, stakeholder engagement, and the potential of NbS to deliver climate resilience. The insights from this deliverable will inform the development of regional NbS portfolios and adaptation pathways for the rural landscapes in NBRACER.
How to cite: Notebaert, B., Baptista, C., and Vogelij, R.: Co-design of Transformative Systemic Rural climate adaptation Solutions in rural lansscapes in the Atlantic region, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-20723, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-20723, 2026.
Climate change is exacerbating droughts, floods, and water quality degradation across Europe, with particularly strong impacts in Mediterranean regions. While Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) are central to the EU Water Resilience Strategy, their implementation is often constrained by mono-hazard approaches, sectoral thinking, and fragmented governance and funding structures. These same structural barriers extend beyond water management, affecting flood risk management, landscape-scale adaptation and broader resilience planning, where institutional fragmentation and limited policy acceptance continue to hinder the deployment of NbS as integrated, system-wide resilience measures.
This contribution proposes a system-wide landscape planning approach grounded in a Complex Adaptive System of Systems (CASoS) perspective, which conceptualises landscapes as interdependent biophysical, socio-economic and governance systems. Resilience to climate change and extreme events is understood as the capacity to maintain key system functions (e.g., water regulation and supply, energy provision, mobility and ecosystem regulation), safeguard populations and critical services (e.g., healthcare delivery, emergency response, education and social care), adapt to evolving drivers, and transform adaptation pathways beyond critical tipping points rather than returning to pre-event states.
The approach is demonstrated through a Mediterranean case study using landscape characterisation and cross-domain typologies to classify landscape archetypes by integrating biophysical, socio-economic and governance factors with spatial multi-hazard analysis. Potential impacts on Key Community Systems (KCS), including water, health, ecosystems, mobility, energy and economic activities, are assessed to identify NbS such as floodplain and wetland restoration, natural water retention measures and green–blue infrastructure as risk reduction and resilience-building opportunities. NbS contributions to adaptation are evaluated using the Landscape Resilience Curve, which supports the definition of adaptation pathways and the sequencing of NbS portfolios by analysing how interventions modify exposure, sensitivity and recovery capacity under increasing hazard intensity.
Key barriers to NbS mainstreaming, including institutional silos, limited data integration and weak cross-sector coordination, are analysed alongside the governance and investment co-benefits of NbS, highlighting pathways for their scalable and system-wide implementation in support of climate-resilient water management and landscape-scale adaptation.
How to cite: Tzavella, K., Tai, Y., Bucx, T., Blind, M., Vuong PHAM, H., Bianconi, A., Petalas, S., Tsakmakis, I., Kokkos, N., Ouzounis, C., and Sylaios, G.: Mainstreaming Nature-Based Solutions for Water Resilience through System-Wide Landscape Planning, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-21155, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-21155, 2026.
Sardinia has an integrated water reserve system comprising more than 30 dams on rivers. Built in the last century, these dams have become part of the modern landscape, while also continuing to affect sediment transport. The trapping of sediment has hindered its natural movement towards the coastal system ever since, thereby reducing the supply of sediment to sandy beaches and increasing their vulnerability to coastal erosion. On the other hand, the reservoirs' capacity to store water is also impacted. These two issues are of particular concern in the context of climate change.
For this reason, the present study addresses both issues by proposing a methodology to assess the feasibility of using reservoir sediment as a source of material for beach replenishment. The Autonomous Region of Sardinia and its regional partners are currently developing this methodology as part of the DesirMED project, which is funded through the HORIZON-MISS-2022-CLIMA-01 call, which addresses climate change adaptation through a nature-based approach.
The methodology was designed and structured in the following steps: the development of a database of sediment characteristics and reservoir locations; the application of multi-criteria analysis using a defined set of indicators; the selection of case studies where to conduct technical visits involving measurements and sampling; a technical feasibility study on sediment-sand compatibility; and the assessment of the results from the perspective of potential sediment reuse for beach replenishment.
This study is part of the ongoing process of implementing adaptation measures. The Autonomous Region of Sardinia incorporates this process into its Regional Adaptation to Climate Change Strategy, which was adopted in 2019 and recently revised. Although the methodology is still in its early stages, it will contribute to improving the resilience of coastal communities and the implementation of adaptation measures at a local level.
How to cite: Vascellari, M., Asquer, C., Deriu, M., Satta, G., Serra, S., Arras, F., Careddu, M. B., Congiu, D., Marino, S., Motroni, A., Piredda, G. P., Poddie, L., Santona, L., Utzeri, D., Meloni, R., Marras, G., De Falco, G., Conforti, A., Kalb, C., and Simeone, S.: A methodology for the nature-based management of the reservoir sediment: Supporting decision-making to enhance the resilience of local communities, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-21431, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-21431, 2026.
Urban sprawl poses a persistent challenge for stormwater management, as low-density development patterns increase impervious surfaces while limiting the effectiveness and affordability of conventional, centralised drainage infrastructure. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for urban areas, such as rain gardens, bioswales, and bioretention areas, have demonstrated strong potential to address stormwater quantity and quality challenges while delivering co-benefits such as urban cooling, biodiversity enhancement, and recreational value. However, despite extensive piloting, NbS for stormwater services are insufficiently mainstreamed in many urban regions and grey infrastructure often remain the default. A key barrier lies in the difficulty of developing scalable business models and governance arrangements that enable their long-term provision as part of regular stormwater services, particularly in dispersed urban environments.
This paper examines how co-creation processes can inform the development of business models for mainstreaming decentralised NbS for stormwater management in urban sprawl. Empirical insights are drawn from structured co-creation processes conducted in the metropolitan cities of Lyon (France) and Milan (Italy), involving the metropolitan authorities responsible for stormwater management, water utilities, planners, and researchers. The co-creation activities aimed to identify priority planning units or contexts, relevant stakeholder groups, and feasible implementation arrangements for NbS by aligning technical performance requirements with regional policies and governance structures, financing mechanisms, and stakeholder roles.
Across both case studies, three distinct urban environments emerged as particularly relevant for NbS-based stormwater service delivery in urban sprawl: (i) single household units, (ii) parking lots, and (iii) public parks. These environments differ substantially in terms of land ownership, regulatory context, investment logic, and operation and maintenance responsibilities, resulting in divergent requirements for viable business models. Rather than proposing a one-size-fits-all solution, the paper demonstrates how each urban environment is associated with a specific set of business model logics and governance pathways.
For single household units, mainstreaming NbS depends on incentive-based and technical assistance models that minimise transaction costs for private property owners and enable aggregation at neighbourhood scale. Parking lots, typically characterised by mixed ownership, offer opportunities for public–private partnership models that integrate NbS into asset management and redevelopment cycles. Public parks provide a setting for utility- or municipality-led models in which NbS are embedded into existing public service provision and justified through multi-functional value creation.
The findings highlight the importance of distinguishing between urban environments as planning and business model units when seeking to mainstream NbS in urban contexts. Co-creation proved instrumental in revealing institutional opportunities and constraints, aligning actor expectations, and identifying realistic pathways from pilot projects to standard practice. The paper concludes that successful mainstreaming of NbS for decentralised stormwater management requires environment-specific business models supported by coherent governance arrangements. Consistently, focusing on specific urban environments significantly reduces the complexity of navigating urban governance systems and can accelerate the development of scalable business models for NbS.
How to cite: Wirth, M., Canga, E., Gilani, S., Machí-Castañer, L., and Hartl, M.: Mainstreaming Nature-Based Solutions for Stormwater Management: Business Models for Urban Sprawl, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-22078, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-22078, 2026.
Growing concerns with water resilience have contributed to a renewed interest in implementing nature-based solutions (NbS) such as rain gardens, constructed wetlands and riparian corridors. Offering strategies to fulfill both urban resilience and biodiversity restoration goals , NbS are being used to combat environmental degradation, reduce the risk of droughts and improve water quality in the Mediterranean region. However, emerging initiatives currently advancing the implementation of NbS in Mediterranean cities often focus on technical aspects and rarely provide pathways to mainstream these solutions within local institutional, social and economic contexts. For this reason, many gaps remain in our understanding of how NbS can be effectively integrated in existing practices and policy frameworks. Recognising the reliance on pilot projects that has characterised current research on NbS in the region, we examine various case studies to reveal how NbS can gain scale through "mainstreaming pathways". Exploring the experiences from nine different demonstration sites through the Climate Adaptation and Resilience Demonstrated in the Mediterranean project (CARDIMED), we discuss emerging strategies to support the development of NbS for water resilience through practice and policy innovations. Examining “mainstreaming” as an “ongoing, incremental process of creating and re-forming the institutional order of existing governance arrangements that determine how planning takes place”, we conducted 32 interviews with different stakeholders in CARDIMED to identify how industry, government, civil society and academic institutions are learning by implementing NbS. The experiences indicate that the implementation of NbS depends on innovative urban planning practices that are premised on integrating policies, supporting collaborative management and building networks to foster co-stewardship. Examples from different contexts, ranging from Portugal, Greece, Cyprus and France offer insights into how implementers of NbS can gradually change existing procedures, circumvent restrictions and build momentum for water resilience innovations through pilot projects. Different case studies in CARDIMED serve as examples of how the disruption of existing practices can create opportunities for experimentation with new technologies and how the mainstreaming of NbS can also benefit from more inclusive and participatory decision-making processes. The interviews show that the CARDIMED experiences offer insights into how cities in similar social, political and bioclimatic conditions in the Mediterranean region can achieve water resilience goals through policy and technical innovations. Aligned with a growing body of literature on urban policy and NbS design, our experiences show that mainstreaming NbS depends on finding ways for existing institutions to support greening practices and on transforming these institutions to support innovative practices for water resilience.
How to cite: Wolff, E. and Frantzeskaki, N.: Scaling Water Resilience in the Mediterranean: Lessons on Mainstreaming NbS from the Climate Adaptation and Resilience Demonstrated in the Mediterranean (CARDIMED) Case Studies, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-5710, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-5710, 2026.
Water scarcity and the increasing demand for sustainable wastewater management have intensified interest in decentralized treatment systems that enable safe water reuse, energy recovery, and environmental protection. In Mediterranean and semi-arid regions, reclaimed wastewater is increasingly used for agricultural irrigation, raising concerns related to treatment robustness under variable climatic conditions, the fate of conventional and emerging contaminants, and potential impacts on soil health, crop productivity, microbial communities, and human health. These challenges are addressed in the present study by evaluating a full-scale integration of anaerobic systems and nature-based solutions to promote water reuse for agriculture within a circular water management framework in Lesvos Island, Greece.
The methodology combined long-term process monitoring, advanced chemical analysis, ecotoxicological risk assessment, monitoring antibiotic-resistant bacteria/genes and disinfection and controlled agronomic experiments. Domestic wastewater was treated for over 1000 days using an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor operated under ambient conditions, followed by a two-stage vertical subsurface flow constructed wetland designed to enhance solids removal, organic matter degradation, and nitrification. The quality of the reclaimed effluent was assessed for conventional pollutants and a broad spectrum of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs). Subsequently, reclaimed water was applied in real-scale and pilot irrigation trials, where soils, crops, and associated microbial communities were systematically monitored using physicochemical analyses, high-throughput DNA sequencing, and crop growth assessments. Human health risks were evaluated through exposure-based risk characterization using measured concentrations in reclaimed water and agricultural matrices.
The integrated system demonstrated high operational robustness despite pronounced seasonal fluctuations in temperature and hydraulic loading. The UASB reactor achieved substantial removal of suspended solids and COD while producing biogas, with methane yields strongly influenced by temperature. The constructed wetlands provided effective polishing, resulting in overall removals exceeding 90% for organic matter and solids and near-complete ammonium oxidation, producing effluents compliant with EU Class A water reuse standards. Nutrients were partially retained, supporting the fertigation needs. Chemical screening revealed that most CECs were significantly reduced during treatment, although some persistent compounds remained detectable at low concentrations. Nature-based treatment achieved higher ARB removal than conventional systems, while ARGs persisted despite UV and chlorination. Irrigation with reclaimed water enhanced crop biomass and soil moisture without compromising soil physicochemical properties. Microbial analyses showed moderate but structured shifts in bacterial and fungal communities, indicating functional adaptation rather than ecological disruption. Human health risk assessment indicated negligible risk under current reuse practices.
Overall, this investigation demonstrates that the integration of anaerobic treatment with constructed wetlands provides a reliable, energy-positive solution for decentralized wastewater treatment and agricultural reuse. The findings confirm that reclaimed water can be safely reused with minimal environmental and health risks when supported by appropriate treatment and monitoring. This work supports the implementation of circular water reuse strategies and provides a scientifically robust basis for scaling up nature-based solutions in water-stressed regions.
Acknowledgement
This work was supported by CARDIMED project (https://www.cardimed-project.eu/), which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Programme under Grant Agreement ID: 101112731
How to cite: Seintos, T., Statiris, E., Koukoura, A., Barka, E., Giannakaras, S., Koumaki, E., Kalli, M., Noutsopoulos, C., Mamais, D., Stasinakis, A. S., Stepisnik Perdih, T., Tsatsou, A., and Malamis, S.: Promoting sustainable domestic wastewater management through Nature-based Solutions in a water-scarce Greek Island, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-4733, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-4733, 2026.
The escalating climate change impacts and increasingly frequent extreme events pose severe threats to coastal ecosystems. As emphasized by the IPCC, these threats demand a strategic transition from incremental to transformative adaptation. Nature-Based Solutions (NBSs) are increasingly embedded in policies for climate adaptation, due to their capacity to mitigate risks and buffer against shocks. However, empirical evidence regarding NBS performance under the long-term influence of climate change and large-scale interventions is limited. Consequently, transformative risk modelling approaches that integrate response and adaptation measures provide a structured pipeline for evaluating both the risks posed by accelerating climate change and the effectiveness of transformative pathways at the landscape scale.
The Horizon 2020 REST-COAST project was designed to demonstrate how upscaled coastal restoration can identify climate adaptation pathways. This study utilizes a Bayesian Decision Network (BDN) capable of simulating NBSs and supporting decision-making to evaluate the performance of large-scale restoration in the Venice Lagoon (Italy). Specifically, it examines wetlands’ ability to enhance ecosystem services and reduce risks under current and future climate conditions. The model consists of nodes representing key variables - including total water level, significant wave height, suspended sediment concentration, saltmarsh vegetation, and elevation - and arcs allowing for the explicit modelling of how climate conditions and restoration could affect ecosystem services, i.e., wave attenuation, sedimentation, carbon accumulation and nutrient uptake.
The developed BDN incorporates historical observations, earth observations and modelling data from 2020 to 2024 to establish the initial conditions of the network. The pilot site in-situ monitoring data, not used for the initialization of the BDN, provides a calibration and validation dataset to evaluate the model predictions and confidence in the model’s ability to support risk-informed adaptation decisions. By comparing the model's predictions with the observed data, the probabilities associated with different states and transitions can be adjusted to better reflect reality. Once validated, the model serves as a tool to evaluate restoration upscaling - the replication of small-scale restoration interventions to the increased lagoon-scale to achieve increased adaptation benefits. These restoration scenarios, co-designed with local stakeholders to reflect their local knowledge, values, and vision for the future of the Venice lagoon, are simulated alongside climate conditions for the current, mid- and long-term RCP4.5 and 8.5 projections.
By modelling the impact of these what-if adaptation strategies, the BDN simulates the effectiveness of upscaled restoration in providing regulating ecosystem services under shifting climate conditions. By moving from localized restoration effects to lagoon-scale system responses, the framework supports the evaluation of transformative adaptation pathways rather than incremental interventions. This risk assessment framework brings together the local stakeholders and decision-makers to better understand, estimate and evaluate the effect of NBS interventions. Further developments will expand upon the REST-COAST findings by investigating the land-sea interface through the EU-funded COAST-SCAPES project, that will assess cross-sectoral interactions, synergies-tradeoffs, up- and outscaling of climate-resilient adaptation through an integrated, landscape-scale approach.
How to cite: Horneman, F., Gatti, I., Furlan, E., Furlanetto, J., Critto, A., and Torresan, S.: Coastal risk assessment: Nature-based solutions’ ecosystem services to drive transformative adaptation, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-14909, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-14909, 2026.
Torrential landscapes, characterized by steep slopes, confined channels, and rapid runoff, are increasingly susceptible to climate-driven hazards triggered by heavy precipitation. The resulting fluvial and pluvial floods, debris flows, and associated erosional processes pose a risk to infrastructure and communities in surrounding and in downstream areas. While historical evidence supports the use of nature-based solutions (NbS) in these environments, they support alternative and/or complementary investments to grey infrastructure. However, there is a significant lack of robust, long-term data regarding their effectiveness in the complex alpine terrain. Within the scope of the NATURE-DEMO project, this gap is addressed by investigating the potential of NbS to mitigate climate risks through real-world demonstration sites in Austria and Slovenia.
The project establishes two distinct demonstration sites within torrential landscapes located in Austria and Slovenia, addressing conflicting socio-economic, ecological and technical contexts. In Slovenia, the Gradaščica River site demonstrates NbS implementation in semi-urban and urban contexts within Ljubljana. This site focuses on large-scale river restoration, including channel widening and the creation of buffer zones, to protect over 17,000 inhabitants from recurrent flooding. In contrast, in Austria at the Brunntal Valley the focus is on facilitating sedimentation within the valley floor and mitigate erosional processes to safeguard aquifers that serve as a strategic drinking water supply for the city of Vienna. Given that stringent environmental regulations in this water protection zone largely prohibit conventional grey infrastructure and the application of NbS is preferable.
To gather empirical evidence on NbS functionality, the project employs advanced monitoring strategies. These include UAV-LiDAR and UAV-Photogrammetry to track geomorphological changes and sediment dynamics, alongside traditional hydrological gauging. Preliminary results from the planning and establishment phase highlight the challenges of technical approval and the necessity of stakeholder engagement in mainstreaming green solutions and shifting the paradigm from purely technical engineering to resilient, hybrid landscape management. This results in a multitude of ecological and socio-economic co-benefits that support climate resilience of water infrastructures. Thus, this contribution presents the establishment of torrential landscape demonstration sites and the monitoring strategies used to gather evidence on NbS functioning, along with preliminary results obtained during the planning and establishment phase.
Acknowledgements: The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support provided by the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme, within the scope of the project “NATURE-DEMO: Nature-Based Solutions for Climate-Resilient Infrastructure” (Grant agreement No. 101157448). The study was also partially financed by the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (ARIS) within the research program P2–0180. The research is also supported by the UNESCO Chair on Water-related Disaster Risk Reduction and the Slovenian national committee of the IHP UNESCO research programme.
How to cite: Poutamo, H., Kuzmanić, T., Kuschel, E., Lebar, K., Humar, N., Obriejetan, M., Alivio, M. B., Grabrovec, V., Kozmus Trajkovski, K., Hübl, J., Mikoš, M., and Stangl, R.: Mainstreaming Nature-Based Solutions in Torrential Landscapes: Establishing Demonstration Sites in Austria and Slovenia, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-17605, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-17605, 2026.
Environmental challenges such as floods, heatwaves, and droughts and ongoing biodiversity loss are intensifying under climate change, thereby increasing the interest in Nature-based Solutions (NbS) as measures for mitigation and adaptation. Advancing NbS beyond pilot sites requires their systematic integration into policies, planning, and development practices, a process commonly referred to as mainstreaming. NbS mainstreaming is constrained by institutional, organisational, and cultural barriers, as well as development pathways historically dominated by technological and grey infrastructure solutions. While existing research has documented where and why mainstreaming occurs, less attention has been paid to how it unfolds as a dynamic process of change. Conceptualising mainstreaming as a process of innovation adoption and social learning, encompassing integration, institutionalisation, policy uptake, and governance transformation, is therefore critical to enable the systemic changes needed to embed NbS as standard practice in water and climate resilience planning.
The study employed a mixed qualitative approach to develop and refine a framework for mainstreaming NbS. Existing literature and prior project outputs on mainstreaming were systematically reviewed and compiled into a structured database to capture types of mainstreaming activities and associated capacities. A selected analytical framework was used to guide the design of interview protocols and data collection across regions. Empirical evidence was gathered through structured surveys, semi-structured interviews, and cross-regional knowledge exchange activities, including webinars, to identify best practices and facilitate peer learning. Case study insights were iteratively analysed to refine and expand the framework, in alignment with NBRACER’s work on transformational governance. Mainstreaming practices were documented by mapping regional experiences against established typologies, with additional elements incorporated where empirical evidence revealed gaps. This iterative process resulted in a living, practice-oriented framework that evolves as new forms of mainstreaming emerge.
The methodology is illustrated through a set of water-related NbS case studies representing diverse governance and biophysical contexts. These include the SIGMA Plan in Flanders, exemplifying a shift from engineered flood control to floodplain restoration; the Klimatorium initiative in Denmark, which facilitates cross-sectoral collaboration for climate-resilient water solutions; the Water-and-Soil Guiding Principles in Friesland (Netherlands), embedding NbS within regulatory planning frameworks; rainwater harvesting and constructed wetland systems in East and West Flanders; wetland restoration initiatives in Nouvelle-Aquitaine (France); and the interceptor channel in Cávado, Portugal, integrating flood protection, ecosystem restoration, and recreational functions.
Cross-case analysis identifies key enabling conditions for NbS mainstreaming, including the role of extreme events as catalysts for change, the importance of regulatory alignment and long-term policy commitment, and the influence of knowledge brokers and institutional champions. Social learning plays a central role. Co-design processes, trust-building, and iterative feedback loops enabled stakeholders to shift from scepticism to ownership. The findings further highlight the value of incremental implementation pathways, robust monitoring and evaluation frameworks, and comparative assessment methods that account for NbS co-benefits relative to conventional grey infrastructure.
These results underscore the importance of integrated social, institutional, and technical strategies for scaling and embedding NbS in governance and planning systems.
How to cite: Jovanovic, O., Johannessen, A., Nauta, S., and Blind, M.: Mainstreaming NbS for Water Resilience: A Process-Oriented Framework and Evidence from European Regions (EU HORIZON Project NBRACER), EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-17881, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-17881, 2026.
Climate and environmental changes are impacting the hydrological water cycle, affecting water availability and having negative consequences for water security. There are numerous practices in place to address this challenge, one of which is utilizing nature in the form of Nature-based Solutions (NbS). NbS include various interventions, such as green roofs, urban wetlands, permeable pavements, and restored riparian corridors, all inspired by, supported by, or mimicking nature. NbS are emerging as a transformative approach that leverages ecological processes to address societal challenges while delivering multiple co-benefits. However, the application of NbS at a large scale, e.g., Catchment scale, is a challenging task due to constraints in the practicality of these solutions. One major challenge is identifying potential solutions and modeling the impact of these solutions, which seems a straightforward task but presents practical difficulties.
This study focuses on identifying and quantifying the impact of solutions on water availability utilizing the DREAM hydrological model. The case study is conducted in the German catchment, the Bode River Basin. Water management in the Bode is a crucial issue for authorities, as it faces extreme events such as droughts and has experienced significant deforestation in recent years. This approach first identified the potential NbS for the catchment using the catchment-scale framework (Sarwar et al., 2025). Then, those selected solutions were modeled, such as the construction of an infiltration basin, using the site's ecological features. Then, to evaluate the effect of these interventions on the water budget, baseline (without solutions) scenarios were compared to scenarios with solutions. Results showed that the total discharge of the basin is significantly affected, with a 5-10 percent decrease in flows. However, in the locations where infiltration basins were constructed, there has been a higher reduction in runoff volume and an increase in groundwater recharge.
How to cite: Sarwar, A. N., Pacia, F. D., Perrini, P., Avino, A., Pugliese, F., Jomaa, S., and Manfreda, S.: Assessing the Impact of Nature-Based Solutions on Water Resources: A Catchment Scale Modeling Approach, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-20292, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-20292, 2026.
This study presents a comprehensive risk assessment methodology tailored to the Cávado region, Portugal, an area vulnerable to flood hazards. The approach integrates the four core IPCC risk components (hazard, exposure, vulnerability, and response), leveraging open-source datasets to ensure transparency, replicability, and transferability. An index-based modelling framework is applied at 100m spatial resolution, combining flood simulations for multiple return periods (RP10, RP50, RP100, and RP500) to capture the spatial variability of flood risk.
A key novelty of this work lies in the integrated assessment of multiple response indicators aimed at risk mitigation, with particular attention to the spatial distribution and accessibility of critical infrastructure, including healthcare and educational facilities. A network-based analysis is implemented to evaluate access to essential services under different flood scenarios, assessing both walking and driving modes. Travel distances and times from road nodes to health-related points of interest are quantified to support emergency response planning.
The methodological framework was developed through continuous stakeholder engagement with regional authorities, involving an iterative dialogue to support data acquisition, define the baseline risk situation, jointly identify relevant Nature-based Solutions (NBS) to be modelled, and validate the modelling outcomes.
Results include spatially explicit flood risk maps across different return periods, as well as an evaluation of how different response measures, including NBS, influence overall risk patterns. The proposed approach provides a robust, scalable, and policy-relevant tool to support data-informed decision-making in disaster risk reduction, emergency planning, health infrastructure investment, and climate adaptation strategies.
How to cite: Simeoni, C., Favilli, F., Pham, V., Tzavella, K., Bucx, T., and Blind, M.: Integrating Critical Infrastructures and Nature-based Solutions as responses in an index-based flood risk mapping for the Cávado Region (Portugal), EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-21156, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-21156, 2026.
In the topographic catchment of the River Jadro, areas designated for construction—including terrain modifications causing impermeability—account for 38% of the land. This figure highlights intense urbanization pressure on the catchment's natural environment. Currently, stormwater drainage infrastructure remains largely undeveloped. Future climate change scenarios predict more frequent heavy rainfall events, which will inevitably increase surface runoff and the risk of flash floods. Furthermore, stormwater flowing through urbanized zones will worsen existing pollution, contaminating the River Jadro, its estuary, and the coastal waters of Kaštela Bay. Under the Interreg project "Change We Care," a GIS analysis assessed current imperviousness within the catchment's built environment to support the "Climate Change Adaptation Plan for the River Jadro." Imperviousness data for urban surfaces were derived from the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service using the Imperviousness Density Status Layer and categorized by planned land use. Results indicate that within Solin’s administrative boundaries, built-up mixed-use areas possess 50% impervious surfaces. Conversely, in the Municipality of Klis, only 13% of the built-up area is impervious. However, urban regulations allow building plots to reach 80% imperviousness. Consequently, a rise in impervious surfaces to this maximum is probable, a trend already visible in commercial zones. Historically, artificial concrete banks were constructed along the Jadro’s middle and lower courses, disrupting the river's natural characteristics. Given the negative impacts of these anthropogenic changes, restoring river ecosystems is essential. Renaturalizing the main watercourse and its tributaries would significantly enhance regional sustainability. Because the natural and built environments are functionally intertwined, problem-solving requires an integrated approach that combines water management for the Jadro system with Solin’s urban water infrastructure. Therefore, the "Climate Change Adaptation Plan for the River Jadro" recommends mitigating urbanization impacts by strengthening natural components within urban spaces. Key measures include revising allowable impervious surface limits and differentiating permeability parameters by construction zone based on geological and topographic features. The plan also suggests introducing financial incentives for sustainable, ecological solutions. Physical interventions should include renaturalizing parts of the Jadro and its tributaries, protecting against coastal flooding by securing retention areas, and creating a "green-blue heart" in Solin and Klis by upgrading projects with Nature-based Solutions. Today, the DesirMED project is expanding these measures into an integrated management approach for the entire Kaštela Bay area in light of climate change. By collaborating with local stakeholders, a shared vision has been defined. Development is currently underway for adaptation pathways that feature a portfolio of innovative solutions, with a distinct priority placed on Nature-based Solutions to ensure long-term resilience. This evolution from specific river management to a broader bay-wide strategy represents a critical step forward. It acknowledges that effective climate adaptation requires looking beyond immediate municipal borders to encompass the wider hydrological and ecological context of the entire basin. Through these combined efforts, the region aims to balance necessary urban development with the urgent need for environmental preservation and climate resilience.
How to cite: Gilić, F., Baučić, M., Bačić, S., and Grgić, A.: Urban Challenges Under Climate Change – Managing Sealed Surfaces, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-21658, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-21658, 2026.
There is growing awareness among urban communities that nature-based solutions (NbS) can actively mitigate climate change impacts, while securing ecosystem services. However, assessing the full potential of NbS to provide these multifaceted benefits remains a challenge, as NbS function at the intersection of physical and social processes that occur at different spatial and temporal scales (what we call herein as the Water-Energy-Ecosystem, WEE, nexus).
This coupling of physical and social dynamics is naturally represented as a network of relationships, making causal probabilistic networks (CPNs) suitable for encoding causal structures and propagating uncertainty. In practice, however, nexus approaches often face scarce and heterogeneous data, necessitating expert knowledge to parameterise the conditional probabilities of CPNs, a process that is time-intensive and difficult to scale.
Large language models (LLMs) have been recently shown to complement expert elicitation of conditional probabilities, alleviating the resources required for the parameterisation of CPNs. Nonetheless, open questions remain as to whether (a) LLMs can support expert elicitation in complex, interdisciplinary domains in a transparent and reproducible manner, and (b) retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) improves elicitation quality by grounding probability judgments in problem-specific evidence.
To answer those questions, this work proposes a structured validation framework for LLM-assisted elicitation. Validation targeted model utility for impact assessment using: (i) probabilistic coherence (bounds, monotonicity expectations, leak dominance, and required interactions), (ii) scenario-based stress-testing to verify expected risk ordering, and (iii) repeatability analysis across repeated LLM elicitations to quantify stability of CPN parameterisations. Three elicitation modes were considered: (i) human experts, (ii) LLM-only (proprietary and open-source LLMs were used), and (iii) RAG-LLM using pre-trained, open-source LLMs and a curated evidence pack retrieved and cited during elicitation.
The framework was tested using a dynamic CPN, which delineates the effects of urban blue–green interventions that integrate stormwater source control and greening strategies on mitigating runoff, enhancing infiltration, and regulating the microclimate. To reduce dimensionality while retaining mechanistic detail, variables were discretized into binary states and parameterized via Noisy-OR gates, eliciting only single-cause activation probabilities and leak terms using a standardized questionnaire that also captures uncertainty intervals and confidence ratings.
The evaluation of LLM-only and RAG- enhanced elicitation suggests that LLMs can offer a viable initial parameterisation for CPNs, particularly in contexts where data are scarce. LLM‑generated parameter sets satisfied coherence criteria and exhibited low variance across repeated elicitation runs, while stress‑testing confirmed that the resulting networks produce plausible risk orderings. RAG‑enhanced open‑source models achieved comparable performance to proprietary counterparts while offering greater traceability. Nevertheless, disagreements with the expert-derived elicitation persist at the parameter level. Miscalculated parameters propagated downstream effects during part of the stress-testing with climatic and asset-degradation scenarios, underscoring the need for expert supervision.
Equally importantly, however, this work provides a validation framework that functions as a structured practical benchmark for integrating LLM-assisted probabilistic elicitation into complex nexus models for the assessment of NbS when observational data are limited or unavailable.
How to cite: Kandris, K., Joshi, A., Nika, E., and Katsou, E.: Evaluating LLM-assisted elicitation of conditional probabilities in causal networks for the assessment of nature-based solutions across the water-energy-ecosystem nexus, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-22135, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-22135, 2026.
Posters virtual: Mon, 4 May, 14:00–18:00 | vPoster spot A
EGU26-19141 | ECS | Posters virtual | VPS31
Towards a citizen-based green transition: Nature-Based Solutions in mediterranean areas: CARDIMED projectMon, 04 May, 15:06–15:09 (CEST) vPoster spot A
Mediterranean territories are increasingly exposed to growing environmental fragility, risks linked to climate change and associated environmental disasters, as well as persistent socioeconomic challenges exacerbated by long-established patterns of urbanization. In this context, nature-based solutions (NBS) have been promoted by European policy frameworks as key tools for addressing these challenges. However, despite their growing political relevance, NBS often encounter barriers to implementation related to low public acceptance, limited social legitimacy, concerns about environmental and social justice, and insufficient integration of local knowledge and everyday practices.
This study addresses this gap by examining how local communities perceive, interpret, and interact with NBS in Mediterranean contexts through public participation processes in urban environments. The analysis focuses on several case studies located in Italy (Catania and Ferla, Demo 4), France (Saint-Jérôme and Saint-Charles, Marseille, Demo 5), Spain (Zaragoza, Demo 6), and Cyprus (Nicosia, Demo 9), within the CARDIMED project. These cases include various implementations of NBS, such as rain gardens, vertical green walls, green facades with vertical gardening and hydroponic systems, photobioreactor systems, biological drainage channels, and other nature-based interventions.
The study is theoretically grounded in socio-ecological governance and sustainability transition theories, conceptualizing NBS not only as technical measures but as relational and well-being-oriented solutions capable of reshaping human-environment relationships and strengthening social cohesion The participatory methodology draws on behavioral economics principles to analyze the underlying human behaviors, attitudes, and perceptions that condition NBS acceptance. To explore these dynamics, structured focus groups were conducted with key community representatives (5 - 14 participants per group) to investigate shared perceptions, experiences, and concerns towards NBS, as well as their role in shaping narratives on water conservation, climate resilience, and sustainable land-use practices. The qualitative data were then analyzed using content analysis and ATLAS.ti software.
The results indicate that participatory processes play a decisive role in improving the awareness, legitimacy, and long-term governance of NBS, while revealing the structural and institutional constraints that risk undermining their transformative potential. These findings provide critical insights and pave the way for further investigation into justice-based and socially rooted NBS implementation pathways, supporting greater societal acceptance and strengthening collective ownership.
How to cite: Giuffrida, E. R., Sciuto, L., Cirelli, G. L., Quina Gomez, A., Muñoz Gonzalez, D. B., Fernandez, B. G., Zamudio Correa, A. F., and Licciardello, F.: Towards a citizen-based green transition: Nature-Based Solutions in mediterranean areas: CARDIMED project, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-19141, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-19141, 2026.
Posters virtual: Wed, 6 May, 14:00–18:00 | vPoster spot 4
EGU26-3848 | Posters virtual | VPS32
From Co-Design to Mainstreaming: Using Augmented Reality to Communicate Nature-Based Solutions for Water ResilienceWed, 06 May, 14:51–14:54 (CEST) vPoster spot 4
Strengthening water resilience in Europe requires the widespread adoption of Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) that are easily understood, trusted and supported by citizens and local stakeholders. This study focuses on the development of an Augmented Reality (AR) engagement system designed to communicate how different NbSs function in real-world scenarios and address water-related challenges. The AR experiences were co-created with local communities through dedicated focus groups, co-design workshops and structured discussions with key stakeholders, ensuring that the content reflects local priorities and practical needs at each pilot location.
The AR system brings together a set of NbS demonstrations into a unified series of interactive experiences. These include: (i) soil restoration and small-scale water retention measures in dry island landscapes that can reduce runoff, prevent erosion and enhance soil water storage for agricultural resilience; (ii) green walls that can treat greywater within a public building, enabling its safe reuse for non-potable applications such as toilet flushing; (iii) urban NbSs (including pocket forests, bioswales, permeable surfaces and soil improvement) that can mitigate flooding, reduce urban heat stress, and enhance environmental quality; and (iv) hydroponic wall systems that support urban gardening by combining seasonal planting, traditional knowledge and water-efficient practices.
The AR campaigns integrate maps, 3D models, photographs and explanatory narratives to guide users through each process step-by-step (e.g. users can follow the flow of greywater through a treatment system or observe the gradual transformation of degraded land as NbS are applied). By making otherwise invisible processes tangible and spatially explicit, the AR mobile application enhances understanding of how NbS improve water availability, reduce flood risks, support local food production and contribute to healthier and more resilient living environments.
The next phase of the work focuses on real-world validation across various pilot areas, involving diverse user groups (including residents, farmers, students, local authorities, and planners) to interact with the AR experiences on site and obtain their feedback to refine content clarity, usability and relevance for local planning processes and everyday decision-making.
The use of the AR mobile application demonstrates how visual storytelling combined with participatory design and field-based feedback can enhance awareness, build trust and support the mainstreaming of NbSs, contributing to strengthened water resilience across Mediterranean and broader European contexts.
Acknowledgement:
This research has been funded by European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under CARDIMED project (Grant Agreement No. 101112731) (Climate Adaptation and Resilience Demonstrated in the MEDiterranean region).
How to cite: Katika, T., Koukoudis, K., Touramanis, A., Michalis, P., and Amditis, A.: From Co-Design to Mainstreaming: Using Augmented Reality to Communicate Nature-Based Solutions for Water Resilience, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-3848, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-3848, 2026.
EGU26-19386 | Posters virtual | VPS32
Climate Resiliency through Restoration using New Water Paradigm MethodsWed, 06 May, 14:54–14:57 (CEST) vPoster spot 4
The Challenge:
Establishing a viable and systematic approach to measure the volume of stormwater runoff that can be captured to replenish aquifers and enhance climate resilience. Droughts, floods, erosion, heat domes, and crop failures are interconnected issues related to water, food, climate, and economics. Scaling up science-based methods across large areas presents challenges.
Overview:
Water is a common thread in climate change manifestation. Anthropological land use changes have transformed hydrology in various regions. Opportunities exist to integrate stormwater capture into water and climate management. It is important to consider rainwater as a valuable resource rather than something that is discarded. Conventional infrastructure drains rainwater excessively from agricultural, forested, and urban lands, wasting resources and threatening ecosystem stability and biodiversity.
Solutions:
Solution explores stakeholder-supported volumetric stormwater capture projects to deliver net positive water resource benefits, enhance climate resilience, and provide multiple co-benefits. This integration leads to financial returns and improved community satisfaction. A new water paradigm can help restore water resources on land.
Case Study: In Slovakia, a new water paradigm approach has emerged over the last three decades, focusing on critical rainwater management. The authors discuss their experience in implementing past projects and their positive impact on the community, detailing the new Košice Region restoration plan in Slovakia. The new water paradigm approach attracted the attention of the UN Foresight Brief and UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and within the EU Climate-ADAPT framework.
How to cite: Kravčík, M. and Mulkerin, Z.: Climate Resiliency through Restoration using New Water Paradigm Methods, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-19386, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-19386, 2026.
EGU26-22058 | Posters virtual | VPS32
A framework to facilitate inclusion of NbS ecosystem service benefits in cost-benefit analysisWed, 06 May, 14:57–15:00 (CEST) vPoster spot 4
Uncertainty and perceived lack of quantifiability in the evaluation of nature-based solution (NbS) benefits relating to non-market ecosystem services remains a barrier to the ready adoption of NbS as water resilience projects. We aim to bridge this gap for coastal and riverine NbS by creating a framework to improve inclusion of the entire range of ecosystem services provided by NbS in cost-benefit analysis of water resilience project alternatives. We have conducted a literature review of NbS and natural and nature-based feature (NNBF) literature and case studies to determine which ecosystem services are associated with wetlands, dunes and beaches, seagrass meadows, barrier islands, and forested ecosystems. Through the review, we have identified ecological and environmental, carbon capture, coastal land loss reduction, hazard risk reduction, socio-economic and cultural, and economic and financial services of each NbS type, along with the range of metrics currently used to evaluate project output of these benefits. We created a fully cited framework detailing the benefits and metrics for each NbS type, and implemented it in both a knowledge graph and interactive radial graph formats. The interactive radial graph provides support for human user exploration of the framework and cited literature and case studies. The knowledge graph will serve to support retrieval-augmented generative agent tools in the future. In future work, we will improve on the framework with inclusion of cost and limitation information, as well as a basic method for estimating market values of non-market benefits based on those of market benefits.
How to cite: Noggle, R., Akter, D., Rahim, M. A., and Mostafiz, R. B.: A framework to facilitate inclusion of NbS ecosystem service benefits in cost-benefit analysis, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-22058, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-22058, 2026.
