Evaluating the Impact of Nature-based Solutions: A Handbook for Practitioners

A new handbook aims to provide practitioners with a comprehensive Nature-based Solutions (NBS) impact assessment framework, and a robust set of indicators and methodologies to assess impacts of NBS across 12 societal challenges: Climate Resilience; Water Management; Natural and Climate Hazards; Green Space Management; Biodiversity; Air Quality; Place Regeneration; Knowledge and Social Capacity Building for Sustainable Urban Transformation; Participatory Planning and Governance; Social Justice and Social Cohesion; Health and Well-being; New Economic Opportunities and Green Jobs. The accompanying Appendix of Methods provides a brief description of each indicator and recommends appropriate methods to measure specific impacts, along with guidance for end-users about the appropriateness, advantages and drawbacks of each method in different local contexts. The handbook has the objectives of: Serving as a reference for relevant EU policies and activities; Orienting urban practitioners in developing robust impact evaluation frameworks for NBS at different scales; Providing a comprehensive set of indicators and methodologies and build the European evidence base regarding NBS impacts. The handbook is the result of a unique collaborative effort of 17 EU-funded Horizon 2020 NBS projects and collaborating institutions such as the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the Joint Research Centre (JRC), as part of the European Taskforce for NBS Impact Assessment.