Look for NBS opportunities when planning infrastructure projects
To overcome challenges with lack of funding and space to apply NBS, public authorities can capitalise on large infrastructure projects by making funding or integration of NBS mandatory.
Specific Advice
Two important challenges, namely lack of space and funding, can be addressed strategically by capitalising on large infrastructure projects. By making funding or integration of NBS mandatory in such projects, public authorities can ensure more space for nature and NBS in cities and rural areas.
Public authorities can adopt strategies to encourage or mandate large projects to implement or support NBS. For example, cities like Seattle and Santa Monica (US) always incorporate green infrastructures into all capital/infrastructure projects (Hall, 2008).
In Norway, planning authorities can adopt provisions for development phasing (‘rekkefølgekrav’) in the municipal masterplan or zoning plans that require large development projects to also implement NBS, such as reopening a nearby stream, in order to get a building permit. Another option is to require infrastructure projects to consider NBS and avoid encroachment on nature, following the mitigation hierarchy.
Good to Know
To make NBS or their financing mandatory, they must be incorporated into either the sector’s policies or government regulations. Municipalities and regional authorities can integrate this in land-use planning , while each sector could integrate it in their strategies, plans and handbooks.
While creating new NBS can have many benefits, existing nature often have a far higher value for biodiversity and climate resilience, and protection should always be prioritised before restoration and compensation, following the mitigation hierarchy.
If the goal is to leverage excavation work during infrastructure upgrades to expand NBS in the city, a well-functioning system for coordination is needed. City planners would need to know where and when this will happen in due time to be able to plan accordingly.
Context
For NBS to deliver the range of co-benefits, they need to be designed at sufficient scale. A prominent barrier to NBS implementation in an urban context is space availability, especially in already developed areas. The budgets of public authorities must support a range of services for the inhabitants, and lack of funding to support environment and climate actions remains an issue. Considering the potential of NBS for multi-functionality and addressing several societal challenges, authorities can make use of synergies between sectors and projects while securing enough space for NBS.
National, regional and local authorities spend substantial amounts of money on infrastructure like roads, railways, parks and other developments. These projects typically involve a lot of construction and encroachment on nature. Large areas are also excavated when underground cables or pipes need upgrading. Public authorities can reduce the negative impact of such projects by:
- prioritising a nature-based approach for entire (e.g., parks) or parts of the project (e.g., road runoff measures)
- protecting important ecosystems by avoiding interventions
- allocating a fraction of the project budget to NBS
- considering implementing NBS while the area is under construction
In the road transport sector, national authorities in some Nordic countries have integrated NBS into their handbooks for road construction, for example as a road runoff treatment measure or to avoid encroachment into wetlands. Similarly, some cities have also integrated NBS into their street standards. Some are more like guidelines while others make NBS the mandatory solution. Moreover, it varies to which degree the solutions are actual NBS or rather a hybrid of green and grey infrastructure.
Examples and Cases
Nordic examples of NBS opportunities in infrastructure projects:
#SWEDEN – Flood plains to prevent flooding by the road in Vretaholm eklandskap Gränna
On road 933 in Gränna, Sweden, NBS for climate adaptation was implemented in a Natura 2000 site. The road is located next to a high steep natural area, where rainfall can bring large amounts of water in a short time and cause damaging floods. In the event of large amounts of rain, mudflows are formed when the water finds its way down the slope, which led to a recurring problem where the road was flooded, and soil and material were deposited on the roadway.
The climate adaptation measure carried out in 2017 created two supplementary outflows from the existing stream channel, which help to divert the water into separate catchment zones during high flows. By creating two more outflows (flood plains), the water can be distributed in three different places, which reduces the load on the road's drainage system. Distributing the water over a larger surface leads to a reduction in the speed of the water and the problem of mud currents is reduced. To further help distribute and reduce the speed of the water, stones have also been placed in the stream channel. A key to the project's success was dialogue between the County Administrative Board, the Traffic Administration and the landowner.
More information about the flood plain in Vretaholm eklandskap can be found here:
#NORWAY – Considering nature in the handbook for road construction
The Norwegian Public Road Administration (NPRA) have integrated considerations for nature and NBS in their handbook for road construction from 2024, which is founded on Norwegian law. The version of the handbook from 2024 aims to reduce the impacts on nature by building narrower roads (and reduce the speed limit), reusing existing roads and consider whether it is possible to avoid encroachment on nature. It advises to map and document nature types that will be affected by the different alternatives for constructing the road, consider whether it is possible to avoid encroachment in wetlands, as well as mitigating measures to limit the extent and repair damage. NBS is also considered for treatment of road runoff.
The NPRA received positive feedback from an environmental NGO for their work on E16 through Valdres. In this case, the NPRA had to improve as much road as possible with a limited budget, and prioritised early involvement of entrepreneurs, maximum utilisation of existing roads, prioritise measures to improve traffic safety and accessibility, and a sufficient standard. This turned out to to also reduce the impacts on nature. The project was a pilot to develop a concept to save more money when improving existing roads and the NPRA aim to use this approach (Valdres-modellen) more often.
More information about the handbook for road construction and the Valdres project can be found here:
The handbook (V200 Vegnormal) is available here: https://store.vegnorm.vegvesen.no/n200
Newspaper article about the Valdres case (Fagernes – Øylo): https://www.nrk.no/innlandet/vil-at-valdresmodellen-skal-vere-eit-forebilete-i-bygg--og-anleggsbransjen-1.16717175
More about the road construction project in Valdres (Fagernes – Øylo): https://www.vegvesen.no/vegprosjekter/europaveg/e16valdres/delstrekninger/e16fagernesoylo/prosjektbeskrivelse/
#NORWAY – Development phasing (‘rekkefølgekrav’) to daylighting the stream Lindebergbekken
Provisions for development phasing (‘rekkefølgebestemmelser’) in accordance with the Norwegian Planning and Building Act is commonly used in zoning plans for large-scale development projects in the Norwegian context to secure necessary infrastructure such as sewage systems, pedestrian and cycle paths or recreational areas before granting a building permit for further development. It is possible to adopt provisions for development phasing in the land-use element of the municipal masterplan (‘kommuneplanens arealdel’) or zoning plans (‘reguleringsplaner’). This approach is also mentioned as an opportunity for stormwater management in the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate – NVE’s guidelines and has also been used by Norwegian municipalities to reopen streams.
A practical example is the reopening of the Lindebergbekken stream in Oslo. Provisions for development phasing was adopted in the zoning plan area, which resulted in 90 meters of the stream being reopened before the new nursing home, Lindeberg Omsorgssenter, was built. Municipal and state authorities focused on the reopening’s properties for stormwater management and securing biodiversity (fish migration and native vegetation species) when planning the restoration of the stream. The reopening finally took place in 2017-2020 after years of planning.
More information about the daylighting of Lindebergbekken can be found here:
Nesheim, I., Furuseth, I. S. & Barkved, L. J. (2023). Evaluering av bekkeåpningsprosjekter med naturbaserte løsninger i Alnas nedbørsfelt. (NIVA-rapport 7852-2023). Norsk institutt for vannforskning. https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3065213
Learn more
Strategic opportunities for nature-based solutions: Lessons for policy and practice from cross-city comparisons. A scientific article looking at among other things, strategic opportunities for NBS adoption. By Tran, J.H., Little, V.J., Tran, T.D., McClelland (2024): https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772411524000235
A Norwegian catalogue of measures for transport and environment explain a range of approaches to considering biodiversity in the road construction sector: https://www.tiltak.no/0-overordnede-virkemidler/0-4-kunnskap-og-verktoey-som-hjelpemidler/hensyn-til-naturmangfold-i-veiplanlegging/
The Norwegian Public Road Administration has published a report with a toolbox for nature restoration in the road transport sector: https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3134559
The Norwegian Public Road Administration also has webpages on biodiversity, linking to a number of resources: https://www.vegvesen.no/fag/fokusomrader/klima-miljo-og-omgivelser/naturmangfold/
A report by the Swedish Transport Administration on using NBS for climate risk in traffic infrastructure projects: https://trafikverket.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1846770/FULLTEXT01.pdf
International Obligations
Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
“Significantly increase the area and quality and connectivity of, access to, and benefits from green and blue spaces in urban and densely populated areas sustainably, by mainstreaming the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and ensure biodiversity-inclusive urban planning, enhancing native biodiversity, ecological connectivity and integrity, and improving human health and well-being and connection to nature and contributing to inclusive and sustainable urbanization and the provision of ecosystem functions and services.”Ramsar Convention
“Wetland benefits are featured in national/local policy strategies and plans relating to key sectors such as water, energy, mining, agriculture, tourism, urban development, infrastructure, industry, forestry, aquaculture, fisheries at the national and local level”.Another example is the
EU Adaptation Strategy
when it comes to climate change adaptation, where NBS is one of three cross-cutting priorities to integrate into policy.