Nature-based solutions as climate change adaptation measures: lessons and best-practices from European cities

Climate change is the greatest challenge facing our planet. Heavy overbuilding and the associated sealing of soils in recent decades have lim ited the availability of green spaces in cities, the fundamental importance of which is now recognised. The urgent need to create more green spaces and areas in the built environment draws attention to nature-based solutions configured as preferred adaptation solutions that enable the built environ ment to cope with the effects of climate change. The focus of this study is on the impact of climate change on urban are as, which are recognised as a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and a significant proportion of energy consumption. After analysing the concept of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) with particular reference to green and blue strategies, this study proposes an investigation of the application of NbS in different European cities in order to define a framework that out lines the phases for the implementation of NbS in urban areas and promotes climate adaptation. This framework consists of five phases, ranging from the definition of the challenge to the monitoring of the proposed solutions, to the phases in which the application circuits, the scale of application and the associated measures to be implemented are defined. Although cities are defined as complex systems responsible for high en ergy consumption, this study highlights the key role of nature-based solu tions from an environmental, social, and economic perspective, configured as best practices and preferred solutions to test and outline city-level adap tation strategies whose replicability is essential for orienting urban envi ronments towards a sustainable ecological transition. The inclusion of NbS in planning enables the creation of sustainable cities and communities in line with current European policies to achieve climate neutrality and sus tainable development goals.