The Role of Nature-Based Solutions for Improving Environmental Quality, Health and Well-Being

Abstract

Nature-based solutions (NbS) have been positioned and implemented in urban areas as solutions for enhancing urban resilience in the face of a wide range of urban challenges. However, there is a lack of recommendations of optimal NbS and appropriate typologies fitting to different contexts and urban design. The analytical frameworks for NbS implementation and impact evaluation, that integrate NbS into local policy frameworks, socio-economic transition pathways, and spatial planning, remain fragmented. In this article, the NbS concept and its related terminologies are first discussed. Second, the types of NbS implemented in Europe are reviewed and their benefits over time are explored, prior to categorizing them and highlighting the key methods, criteria, and indicators to identify and assess the NbS’s impacts, co-benefits, and trade-offs. The latter involved a review of the websites of 52 projects and some relevant publications funded by EU Research and Innovation programs and other relevant publications. The results show that there is a shared understanding that the NbS concept encompasses benefits of restoration and rehabilitation of ecosystems, carbon neutrality, improved environmental quality, health and well-being, and evidence for such benefits. This study also shows that most NbS-related projects and activities in Europe use hybrid approaches, with NbS typically developed, tested, or implemented to target specific types of environmental–social–economic challenges. The results of this study indicate that NbS as a holistic concept would be beneficial in the context of climate action and sustainable solutions to enhance ecosystem resilience and adaptive capacity within cities. As such, this article provides a snapshot of the role of NbS in urban sustainability development, a guide to the state-of-the-art, and key messages and recommendations of this rapidly emerging and evolving field.

Are nature-based solutions a missing link in air quality management in South African cities?

“…If weighed properly, the co-benefits and trade-offs of NBS could solve a wide range of environmental, social and economic challenges (Liu et al, 2021). If the scale of the intervention, the context and conditions of the site and the target air pollutant type are understood, the selection of plants that exhibit certain biophysical traits can enhance air pollution mitigation (Barwise and Kumar 2020).…”

“…Solutions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural or modified ecosystems, which effectively and adaptively address societal challenges and simultaneously provide human wellbeing and biodiversity benefits are known as "nature-based solutions" (Cohan-Shacham et al, 2016). They include urban forests, green roofs/ walls, green spaces and parks, stormwater and detention ponds, rain gardens and bioswales, and even restored ecosystems (Liu et al, 2021;World Bank, 2021).…”

“…Nature-based solutions can be used to enhance urban resilience in the face of a wide range of urban challenges (Liu et al, 2021). When used as "green infrastructure" to complement traditional built infrastructure in urban areas, NBS have been found to contribute to improved air quality, reduced ambient air temperatures, reduced flooding, and enhanced carbon sequestration (Anderson and Gough, 2020).…”

“…With projections that 80% of the South African population will reside in urban areas by 2050 (Mlambo, 2018), and with ambient temperatures set to rise over the coming decades due to global climate change, it is critical that a combination of cost-effective and sustainable interventions are identified and implemented in South African cities to protect human health and biodiversity, and enhance the resilience of urban ecosystems (Liu et al, 2021).…”

Preserving World Cultural Heritage: Social Justice and Sustainability Competencies via Socially-Oriented Interdisciplinary Education

“…Second, the inclusion of transversal priorities in the syllabus of the Higher Education curriculum subjects (sustainability, pre-Hispanic histories, and cultures, cultural heritage of the countryís indigenous peoples) provide compelling contexts for students to understand the worldviews of other culturally different people and develop civic awareness of the impact of their planetary footprint (Taylor, 2018). Third, the management of cultural heritage resources in urban contexts must become the nexus of interdisciplinary research on biodiversity, ecosystem services, and human well-being challenges in the changing social, economic, and environmental conditions of the 21 st century (Liu et al, 2021).…”