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A framework for integrated sustainability assessment of nature-based solutions for water management

Abstract

ABSTRACT Nature-based solutions (NBS) can play a key role in progressing toward achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. With NBS, the same solution can, in principle, be used to fulfil multiple management objectives. Their use and sustainability must, therefore, be evaluated in a holistic manner. Results are presented from the Water JPI-funded project EviBAN, where a toolbox for adaptive water management has been developed to assess NBS and compared with traditional solutions for water management, and the Norwegian Research Council-funded project DRENSTEIN, where the stakeholder group contributed with input and data to the development and testing. The toolbox contains tools for NBS and traditional solutions for water management, to model performance, to optimise selection of solutions, and to provide a wider assessment of benefits and co-benefits using a social-ecological system perspective. The overarching tool and the final step of an assessment is a framework for integrated sustainability assessment (ISA) of both NBS and traditional solutions for water management. In this article, the ISA is presented, with a focus on how this can be applied to assess the sustainability of different NBS for managing stormwater or storing runoff to increase water resources.

Category

Academic article

Language

English

Affiliation

  • SINTEF Community / Infrastructure

Year

2025

Published in

Blue-Green Systems

Volume

7

Issue

2

Page(s)

322 - 322

View this publication at Norwegian Research Information Repository