Between 2016 and 2019 ISOCARP was part of the EU funded project ThinkNature, whose goal was the development of a multi-stakeholder dialogue platform and think tank to promote innovation with Nature-based Solutions (NBS). ISOCARP joined a consortium of sixteen partners, led by the Technical University of Crete, and was responsible for the communication and dissemination of project outcomes and activities. ThinkNature was a project coherent with ISOCARP’s mission and vision of promoting sustainable urbanisation and sustainable communities, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. The project highlighted ISOCARP’s effort in favour of innovative sustainable solutions in the field of urban planning, exploring new knowledge in the relation between cities and nature, sharing and promoting new outcomes and best practices among urban planners.
Although the project is officially concluded, both the website and the Platform will remain open, as well as all the social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Youtube). Therefore, the legacy of ThinkNature will remain a precious reference for further projects. ISOCARP will continue its engagement in the field of Nature-based Solutions, and from September 2020 ISOCARP Institute will be working on the new project VARCITIES.
Project overview and key information
Nature-based solutions aim to help societies to address a variety of environmental, social and economic challenges in sustainable ways. They are actions which are inspired by, supported by or copied from nature. Some involve using and enhancing existing natural solutions to challenges, while others are exploring more novel solutions, for example, mimicking how non-human organisms and communities cope with environmental extremes. NBS are energy and resource-efficient, and resilient to change, but to be successful they must be adapted to local conditions. The main objective of ThinkNature was the development of a multi-stakeholder communication platform that supports the understanding and the promotion of Nature-based Solutions in local, regional, EU and International level. Through dialogue uptake facilitation and steering mechanisms as well as knowledge capacity building, the ThinkNature Platform aimed at bringing together multi-disciplinary scientific expertise, policy, business and society, as well as citizens. This platform was meant to be efficient, fluent to use and attractive to a wide variety of actors and stakeholders, merging all aspects of NBS in a clear, pyramidal methodological approach. Moreover, the project was meant to create a wide interactive society that builds new knowledge with a wide geographical scope. The expected result was to provide a series of policy and regulatory tools to solve significant societal challenges such as human well-being, tackling energy poverty, impacts of climate change, etc. through continuous dialogue and interaction.
Start date 1 December 2016
End date 30 November 2019
Funded by EU – H2020 – SC5-10-2016; Grant Agreement ID: 730338
Project Lead Technical University of Crete (TUC), Greece
Website www.thinknature-eu; platform.think-nature.eu; CORDIS EU
Project outcomes
The core of ThinkNature project was the Platform, where all the activities and outcomes have been published in a comprehensive and exhaustive way. In addition, the platform includes a repertoire of case studies from all over the world and a section called ‘resources’, where papers, videos and other dissemination materials cover various aspects of NBS. Here the most relevant initiatives and results of the project are reported and shortly presented.
Forums on Nature-based Solutions
During the three years of the project, a series of forums were organized by the consortium in different regions of Europe.
- A Coruna (May 2018): Transforming cities, enhancing well-being: innovating with nature-based solutions.
- Paris (April 2019): Addressing major societal challenges: Climate change adaptation-mitigation, risk management and resilience.
- Bucharest (October 2019): Rethinking the nature of the cities
ThinkNature Handbook
The Nature-based Solutions Handbook is one of the most important outcomes of ThinkNature. Its main objective is to gather and promote state-of-the-art knowledge regarding NBS, comprising a comprehensive guide to all relevant actors. Each aspect of NBS is investigated, from project development to financing and policymaking, and is presented in a concise and effective way.
ThinkNature webinars
ThinkNature organised a series of four webinars between January and June 2019, introducing and covering several aspects of NBS to a wide audience. The objectives were to raise awareness and understanding of the concept of NBS and to support and promote knowledge on multiple aspects of NBS design and implementation. The expected target audience was researchers, policy-makers, practitioners and businesses that are active or interested in NBS. Each webinar focused on a different aspect of NBS design and implementation.
ThinkNature Summer School
ThinkNature organised a week-long summer school focused on Nature-Based Solutions. The training program consisted of a mix of inspirational talks and discussions covering various topics related to NBS, followed by a hands-on, co-design workshop in two case studies in Chania (Greece).
ThinkNature Interviews with experts
ThinkNature organised a series of video-recorded interviews with conference participants during the H2020 Clustering Action “Transforming Cities, Enhancing Well-being: innovating with nature-based solutions” which took place at the University of A Coruña in 2018. The interviewees are NBS experts of different background and expertise (policymakers, market actors, scientists, end-users/authorities), providing a range of perspectives and different insights into the present and the future of NBS.
Other activities and initiatives
ThinkNature was also involved in several other activities, some of them in partnership with other EU funded projects on NBS. The consortium conducted surveys and research about the barriers and implementation of Nature-based solutions, as well as initiatives to foster the dialogue among stakeholders. Furthermore, the NBS scenario game Greencity was created to demonstrate the impact of choices and the advantages of using Nature-based solutions. Last but not least, the projects partners participated in various international events and submitted articles and publications. An interesting initiative was also the signature of a Cooperation Manifesto on NBS, which took place during the World Forum on Urban Forest in Mantua (2018).
For any questions or further information, please contact Federico Aili (aili@isocarp-institute.org)