{"id":39687,"date":"2026-11-05T17:28:47","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T16:28:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/?p=39687"},"modified":"2026-11-05T17:37:17","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T16:37:17","slug":"how-to-transform-european-cities-into-resilient-ecosystems-through-nature-based-solutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/2026\/11\/05\/how-to-transform-european-cities-into-resilient-ecosystems-through-nature-based-solutions\/","title":{"rendered":"How to transform European cities into resilient ecosystems through nature-based solutions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Climate change is putting increasing pressure on urban infrastructure across Europe in the form of frequent floods, heat waves and extreme weather events. Traditional \u201egrey\u201c civil engineering structures tend to be financially expensive and often only solve part of the problem.<\/p>\n

Cities on the front lines of the climate crisis<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Project<\/span><\/a> NBSINFRA<\/strong> (Horizon Europe, 2023\u20132026), coordinated by the Portuguese Universidade do Minho, brings an alternative in the form of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS)<\/strong>. These offer a more sustainable, cost-effective and multifunctional approach to protecting critical urban infrastructure.<\/p>\n

However, many green initiatives have so far encountered a fundamental obstacle: they have remained isolated pilot projects without wider application. Replication Roadmap<\/strong> brings together three years of practical evidence from five European urban labs and turns it into a flexible guide for other municipalities and urban planners.<\/p>\n

\n
Experiences from five European urban labs<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The basis of the entire model is practical testing in diverse conditions of European cities:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Fingal (Ireland):<\/strong> In Swords, rapid urbanisation has slowed the natural drainage capacity of the landscape. A community-supported sustainable development plan has been developed by combining flood risk modelling, critical infrastructure dependencies and citizen engagement.<\/li>\n
  • Aveiro (Portugal):<\/strong> The coastal lagoon city faces ocean storms and high tides. The construction of retention ponds has improved flood recovery capacity by 27 %, and river restoration has increased vegetation cover by up to 382 %.<\/li>\n
  • Prague (Czech Republic):<\/strong> Long-term monitoring of the hydrological and thermal properties of vegetated roofs and green infrastructure is underway in a developing urban district for 25,000 residents.<\/li>\n
  • Cologne (Germany):<\/strong> The city of 1.1 million residents used multi-criteria analysis to pinpoint locations where the risk of flash floods and heat waves overlaps with vulnerable population groups.<\/li>\n
  • Ruse (Bulgaria):<\/strong> On the banks of the Danube, integrated landslide and flood monitoring focused on protecting critical networks as well as the precious cultural heritage in the Rusenski Lom area.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    \n
    A five-phase path to successful implementation<\/strong><\/h5>\n

    The replication plan guides cities through five sequential, yet flexible phases:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Assessment:<\/strong> Comprehensive analysis of the territory, identification of environmental, social and economic challenges and setting clear governance.<\/li>\n
    2. Participatory Planning & Design:<\/strong> Involving citizens and stakeholders in co-creating solutions, building long-term trust and local ownership of the project.<\/li>\n
    3. Technical Design & Implementation:<\/strong> Reformulation of priorities into specific engineering proposals, feasibility assessment and implementation directly in the field.<\/li>\n
    4. Operations & Maintenance:<\/strong> Ensuring long-term functionality through adaptive management and planning of operating budgets.<\/li>\n
    5. Monitoring & Evaluation:<\/strong> Systematic monitoring of environmental, social and economic indicators for feedback and further improvement.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
      Comprehensive ecosystem of tools (Replication Toolbox)<\/strong><\/h5>\n

      For each phase of the processes, the project provides developed and validated tools divided into three categories:<\/p>\n

        \n
      • Participatory tools and management:<\/strong> Methodology Co-creation Framework<\/em> (connecting geodesign and civic assemblies), Educational Toolkit<\/em> (games and stories) and interactive play COMPASS<\/em>.<\/li>\n
      • Technical and analytical tools:<\/strong> Digital Twin Framework (Digital Twin Framework<\/em>), RSQF<\/em> for resistance quantification, open interface NBSAPI<\/em> for data exchange between systems, intelligent decision-making system IDSS<\/em>, as well as advanced systems Web & Text Mining<\/em> a Video Neuroanalytics<\/em> to monitor the public's moods and physical reactions.<\/li>\n
      • Knowledge transfer tools:<\/strong> Manuals City Labs Handbooks<\/em> a Best Practices Manual<\/em> for sharing best practices.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
        \n
        Adaptation instead of blind copying<\/strong><\/h5>\n

        No two cities face exactly the same conditions. Replication therefore does not mean an exact copy of a single model, but creative adaptation of proven methodologies<\/strong> local risks, legislation and community needs. Ensuring the long-term availability of these tools is also supported by the sustainability strategy (Sustainability Canvas<\/em>), which guarantees the stewardship and development of the entire ecosystem even after the project ends. JRi&CO2AI\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Climate change is putting increasing pressure on urban infrastructure across Europe in the form of frequent floods, heat waves and extreme weather events. Traditional \u201egrey\u201c civil engineering structures tend to be financially<\/p>","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":39692,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adaptacia-na-zmenu-klimy","category-klimaticka-zmena"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39687"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39687\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39691,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39687\/revisions\/39691"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}