Strategies for mainstreaming nature-based solutions in urban governance capacities in ten European cities

This paper explores the institutional mainstreaming of nature-based solutions (NBS) to advance a process-based understanding about how to strategically develop the governance capacities needed for systemic, localised and inclusive NBS. To this end, it reports how policy officers in ten European citi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	npj Urban Sustainability Vol. 3; no. 1; pp. 54 - 11
Main Authors:	Hölscher, Katharina, Frantzeskaki, Niki, Collier, Marcus John, Connop, Stuart, Kooijman, Esmee D., Lodder, Marleen, McQuaid, Siobhan, Vandergert, Paula, Xidous, Dimitra, Bešlagić, Lejla, Dick, Gillian, Dumitru, Adina, Dziubała, Agnieszka, Fletcher, Isobel, Adank, Cristian Garcia-Espina, Vázquez, María González, Madajczyk, Natalia, Malekkidou, Eleni, Mavroudi, Maria, Loizou, Eleftherios, Osipiuk, Agnieszka, Pasic, Belma, González, Antonio Prieto, Quartier, Mien, Schepers, Selina, Suljević, Nermina, Trendafilov, Ivaylo, Van De Sijpe, Katrien, Velikova, Velichka, Vos, Peter
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	London Nature Publishing Group UK 08-11-2023 Springer Nature B.V Nature Portfolio
Subjects:	4014/2808 4014/4005 Cities Collaboration Earth and Environmental Science Environment Innovations Sustainable Development towns Urban Ecology Urban Geography Urban planning Urbanism Urbanism (inc. megacities Greece Spain
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Summary:	This paper explores the institutional mainstreaming of nature-based solutions (NBS) to advance a process-based understanding about how to strategically develop the governance capacities needed for systemic, localised and inclusive NBS. To this end, it reports how policy officers in ten European cities have started to mainstream NBS by interacting with and changing incumbent governance arrangements when experimenting with novel governance processes and mechanisms to plan, deliver and steward NBS. Based on these activities of the policy officers, the analysis identifies three strategies, associated stepping stones and changes in governance conditions, to mainstream NBS in governance capacities: institutionalising (a) a systems’ approach to link NBS to policies, regulations, and departments across goals and sectors, (b) inclusive collaborations for localised and inclusive interventions, and (c) reflexivity and learning about how NBS interact with the (institutional, ecological, social, etc.) contexts and create impacts. The strategies illustrate institutional entrepreneurship in interacting with incumbent governance contexts, and how starting from NBS as a type of systemic innovation can promote broader shifts in urban governance arrangements.
ISSN:	2661-8001 2661-8001
DOI:	10.1038/s42949-023-00134-9