Collaborate with research institutions and other knowledge-producing actors
Promoting engagement and collaboration with local research institutes and other knowledge-producing actors such as NGOs can lead to better understanding of NBS impacts and wider outreach.
Specific Advice
Engagement and collaboration with local research institutes and other knowledge-producing actors can provide municipalities and regions with access to valuable information, processes, and tools that can help design NBS to better suit the local challenges. Interdisciplinary competence and collaboration are the precursors for more impactful NBS.
Such collaboration can be established by participating in joint projects, acquiring funding or public tendering. Benefits of such collaboration can be a better understanding of how NBS function and how they should be adapted to the local context, development and testing of new innovative NBS, contribution to the development of policy instruments fostering NBS, access to the latest scientific knowledge in the field of NBS.
Good to Know
Research institutions cannot always lead the local development actions, therefore strong leadership from the municipalities is key for advancing the NBS development and climate resilience agenda.
Collaboration with knowledge-producing actors can help municipalities to gain access and knowledge about tools and processes that facilitate NBS implementation.
Both larger and smaller research projects can help “kick start” local work on NBS and help municipalities to get more experience with NBS in a setting that allows for trial and error.
Engaging with knowledge-producing actors and initiatives in an already planned NBS initiative may be one way of securing long-term monitoring and evaluation.
Context
Collaboration with knowledge-producing actors such as research institutes, NGOs and non-profit organisations can address the lack of knowledge on NBS and awareness for NBS. In some cases it can also contribute to acquire funding for the construction of innovative NBS projects. Several informants in the A-DVICE project highlighted the benefits of working in joint projects with research institutions and organisations. This was seen as positive for interdisciplinary insights and competence. They also mentioned that after having established contact, the bar for reaching out without “a formal reason” was very low, which shows the value and potential for future exchange and collaboration.
Knowledge-producing actors can help municipalities and regions gain access to the latest knowledge in the field, best practices and tools and new stakeholder networks, as well as existing solutions, that can be replicated or modified to suit the local conditions. These actors might have greater available knowledge of additional funding sources that can help advance the local NBS agenda. This collaboration may also strengthen the credibility of the developed solutions, making it easier to secure funding for future interventions. The main barriers to wider NBS implementation are often linked to the lack of awareness and education, which co-producing knowledge can directly address.
Examples and Cases
Nordic examples of collaborations with research institutions:
#FINLAND and #NORWAY – Collaboration with academia and research institutes within H2020 UNaLab project in Tampere (Finland) and Stavanger (Norway)
Both front-runner city Tampere (Finland) and follower city Stavanger (Norway) were involved in H2020 project UNaLab (2017-2022) with varying degree of NBS implementation and NBS roadmapping and planning work. The collaborative work focused on different aspects of NBS development:
- City of Tampere co-created their NBS and co-defined the monitoring plan with representatives of academia and research institutes as well as other stakeholders involved in knowledge co-production. Project partners from research institutes, academia and other non-profit organisations among other activities tailored tools for co-creation, contributed to selection of key performance indicators, created the tools for collecting and analysing the monitoring data.
- City of Stavanger developed the city vision and mapped the status quo to match the city’s ambitions that led to identifying potential NBS sites and to a development of roadmap for NBS integration in urban areas. This was achieved in cooperation with research institutes and other stakeholders who contributed to planning and evaluation stages as well as to designing the tools for replicating approaches from UNaLab front-runner cities.
More information about the collaboration with academia and research institutes in Tampere and Stavanger can be found here:
UNaLab project: www.unalab.eu, https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/730052
Tampere profile on UNaLab website: https://unalab.eu/en/our-cities/city-tampere
Stavanger profile on UNaLab website: https://unalab.eu/en/our-cities/city-stavanger
#NORWAY – A living lab in Sogn allotment garden, Oslo (Sogn Hagelab)
Sogn Hagelab in Oslo is a living lab and collaboration on urban stormwater management between Sogn Allotment Garden, Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA), and the City of Oslo. It features rain gardens, green roofs and other structures designed to capture and retain stormwater, while enhancing the common spaces within the garden.
More information about the living lab can be found here:
The official website: https://www.sognhagelab.no/ (in Norwegian)
The Fédération Internationale des Jardins Familiaux, which is an international union of national allotment and leisure garden federations, published an article in English about Sogn Hagelab in their journal, Hyphen (76/2022): http://www.jardins-familiaux.org/pdf/Archiv_hyphen/Bindestrich_76_en.pdf#page=5
Learn more
The Municipality of Krakow collaborates with NGOs
within the Interreg project TASK4ISI, through various initiatives including local entrepreneurial activities and socio-economic innovation cluster that aim at driving social innovation, community development and economic growth. https://www.interreg-central.eu/news/how-municipality-of-krakow-and-ngos-collaborate/Guidelines for co-creation and co-governance of nature-based solutions. Insights form EU-funded projects.
This report by the European Commission analyses co-creation and co-governance approaches for NBS with experiences from different EU projects. In includes best practices for co-creation of NBS and guidelines for researchers, practitioners and other experts to enable inclusive approaches. https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2777/157060EU’s Nature-based solutions research policy.
This website includes info on EU research and innovation policy related to NBS with links to news and events. https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/research-area/environment/nature-based-solutions/research-policy_en#eventsNetwork Nature and Network Nature Nordic Hub.
These platforms for NBS practitioners have members from the research community and provide opportunities for contact and cooperation. https://networknature.eu/International Obligations
SDG 11
“Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.”Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, target 14
“Ensure the full integration of biodiversity and its multiple values into policies, regulations, planning and development processes, poverty eradication strategies, strategic environmental assessments, environmental impact assessments and, as appropriate, national accounting, within and across all levels of government and across all sectors, in particular those with significant impacts on biodiversity, progressively aligning all relevant public and private activities, fiscal and financial flows with the goals and targets of this framework.”EU Adaptation Strategy
“More systemic adaptation: Supporting policy development at all levels and all relevant policy fields; including three cross-cutting priorities to integrate adaptation into: macro-fiscal policy; nature-based solutions; and local adaptation actions.”