Accelerating and mainstreaming transformative NATure-bAsed solutions to enhance resiLIEence to climate change for diverse bio-geographical European regions

Project Information

NATALIE

Grant agreement ID: 101112859

DOI

10.3030/101112859

EC signature date 22 May 2023

Start date 1 September 2023

End date 31 August 2028

Funded under

• Climate, Energy and Mobility

Total cost

€ 16 442 039,62

EU contribution

€ 15 033 486,25

Coordinated by

OFFICE INTERNATIONAL DE L'EAU
France

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - NATALIE (Accelerating and mainstreaming transformative NATure-bAsed solutions to enhance resiLIEence to climate change for diverse bio-geographical European regions)

Reporting period: 2023-09-01 to 2024-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

NATALIE, funded by Horizon Europe under the Adaptation to Climate Change Mission, plays a vital role in supporting European regions build resilience against climate risks. Through technological, financial and societal innovations, NATALIE implements 18 Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) across 6 bio-geographical regions, addressing climate risks like floods, droughts, and sea level rise.

The NATALIE project aims to accomplish 4 main objectives:

1) Implement NBS in Europe in consuitation with local actors to enhance resilience to climate change and benefit ecosysteme;
2) Carry out replication studies following the tests conducted on the observation sites;
3) Develop tools to assess the impact of these solutions (including on a socio-economic level);
4) Drive various tests to build suitable financing tools.

NATALIE will deliver innovative and practical innovations in co-creation of solutions and stakeholder engagement, modelling, testing, monitoring and validation mechanisms that will support regions and municipalities to plan and develop adaptation actions bringing along valuable knowledge and experience as actionable knowledge for adaptation and impact-driven NBS.

The main goal is to accelerate and foster the mainstreaming of NBS, by forming an ecosystem-based adaptation for regional resilience.

To achieve this goal, NATALIE will develop a transformative NBS booster pack of 25 solutions that address the following key six levers for transformative change:

1) Socially acceptable, smart and financial innovative solutions;
2) Societal, stakeholder and citizen engagement;
3) Larger systemic solutions at regional level;
4) Monitoring, evaluation and cost-benefit analysis of solutions;
5) Pre-feasibility study;
6) Evidence-based outcomes and recommendations.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The project is structured in 7 WPs: WP1 refers to Project Management, WP2 includes all the co-creation activities with local stakeholders, WP3 includes all the modelling and resilience assessment tools (off-line tools), WP4 includes the on-line tools (mainly the NBS knowledge booster), WP5 comprises all the activities to be implemented at the case studies (CSs), WP6 refers to the investment and financial mechanisms and tools, while WP7 includes all the dissemination/communication, capacity building, networking and clustering activities.


WP2 Main achievements during RP1:
• A stakeholder mapping methodology was developed by UTH and WE&B, consisting of four key steps and issued as guidelines to all Case Studies (CSs). The CSs compiled Stakeholder Long Lists and conducted Power/Interest- Assessment and Institutional Mapping. Additionally, the CSs, with support from WP2, mapped stakeholder connections using the Social Network Analysis (SNA) methodology.
• UTH and ICA developed a methodology to map Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and policy gaps to integrate NBS into frameworks. CSs reviewed NDCs and regional documents, compiling information into spreadsheets for further thematic analysis to identify policy gaps .
• EWE created a questionnaire to assess DS NBS solutions for citizen science. Bilateral meetings identified three sites, with a fourth to follow.
• A questionnaire was developed by EWE to assess the suitability of Demonstration Site (DS) NBS solutions for citizen science activities. Bilateral meetings with DS partners were held to identify and confirm three sites, while the fourth site will be identified in the upcoming period for participation in other task.
• UTH, EWE and WE&B are developing the Competency Groups and TL twinning methodology.

WP3 Main achievements during RP1:
• Developing climate and socio-economic scenarios framework
• Developing the conceptual framework of risk assessment and the role of the NBS.
• Design and analysis of hazard and modelling questionnaire for WP5 and CS
• Design and analysis of monitoring questionnaire for WP5 and CS
• Support and guidance for case studies on modelling topics.


WP4 Main achievements during RP1:
• Questionnaire to assess the view and needs of the partners and potential users and uses of the NBS Knowledge Booster designed circulated and analyzed.
• First conceptual draft of the Open Data Space designed and presented
• Procedure to track data established in alignment with WP1 data management plan.

WP5 Main achievements during RP1:
• Roadmap and monitoring plan for the implementation of NBS in the CS and associated WP5 activities developed
• All CS started and on-track with the preparations for NBS implementation

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

NATALIE will leverage state-of-the-art modeling approaches to assess the mitigation potential of NBS across various case studies, by providing tools for cost-effective planning and multi-benefit evaluation at various scales.

The NBS Knowledge Booster, as a web-platform, will empower the use of small data to support quintuple stakeholders to elaborate circular economy and climate friendly pathways considering NBS.

The application of small data AI will increase data understanding to create detailed insights about climatic events that help policy-makers understand regional climatic extreme events and subsequently elaborate adaptartion pathways.

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