The European Union-funded NBS4Drought project aims to showcase the viability and cost-effectiveness of wetland-based nature-based solutions (NBS) for sustainable water management in the context of mitigating the impacts of extreme drought and to advance the adoption of these solutions across Europe.
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By Stephanie Rose
Across the globe, climate change is making droughts longer, more frequent and more intense. Much of Europe is at risk of drought. However, the related impacts and risks in Europe are still underestimated, with limited research in this area.
Wetlands are a promising solution for enhancing water management and reducing the impacts of severe drought. This is because they function like sponges, storing significant amounts of fresh water from rain and snowmelt, which can then be released slowly into local aquifers. However, there is a lack of data about the benefits and cost-effectiveness of using wetlands for drought mitigation under different climatic and socio-ecological conditions, leaving a critical knowledge gap.
Tackling Droughts With Nature-Based Solutions
The EU-funded NBS4Drought project aims to demonstrate the viability and cost-effectiveness of wetland-based nature-based solutions (NBS) for sustainable water management in the context of mitigating the impacts of extreme drought and to advance the adoption of these solutions across Europe. Officially launched in September in Aarhus, Denmark, the project involves a consortium of 24 partners from eight European countries. According to Lorenzo Pugliese, an academic employee at the Department of Agroecology at Aarhus University, the project will “prove that different types of nature-based solutions can effectively tackle climate change and improve resilience to drought.”
The project integrates advanced research tools with local involvement to deliver sustainable solutions with practical applicability. The outcomes will indicate the efficiency, replicability, and sustainability of NBS across different regions, supplying stakeholders with technical, economic, and social data to integrate NBS into climate adaptation strategies.
“We are focusing on evidence-based research and also innovation to show both the immediate impacts and what these solutions could achieve over the next 100 years,” Shubiao Wu, Associate Professor at the Department of Agroecology at Aarhus University, told Earth.Org.
NBS4Drought emphasizes collaboration between science and society in developing flexible and adaptive solutions that offer utility beyond the project. Through citizen science, stakeholder engagement, and monitoring, the project will co-produce approaches for sustainable water management, aquifer recharge, and drought resilience. Combined with a robust communication strategy, this will assist in building adaptation capacity across Europe.
“It is essential to align expectations, not only for researchers but also for stakeholders and managers. Simultaneously, we need to consider the European Commission’s goals for impact,” said Wu.
The Project Showcases
NBS4Drought utilizes seven wetland showcases, chosen to reflect five bioclimatic zones across Europe, for pilot testing of nature-based solutions to obtain the necessary data. These showcases include a city wetland park in Barcelona, Spain, for surface water cocreation; tertiary treatment wetlands in Granollers, Spain, for quality control; rewetting low-lying organic soils to create a green circular corridor around Aarhus, Denmark; constructing wetland reservoirs to secure agriculture production on Samsø island, Denmark; using small wetland water bodies to maintain biodiversity and water resilience around Lake Constance, Germany; riparian wetland restoration to sustain downstream water resources around Świniobródka River, Poland; and peatbog conservation to safeguard sustainable water management in Polesie National Park, Poland.
These showcases serve as living laboratories to codesign and test innovative approaches to drought resilience. The project will enhance the showcases through additional knowledge and cocreation using AI-based modelling building on wetland databases, ecosystem services analysis for measuring the benefits to people and nature, cost-effectiveness assessments, and stakeholder engagement to ensure each solution is tailored to the locale. To facilitate collaboration and replication, data sharing across the showcases will be designed to be simple and accessible.
“Our goal is to create a user-friendly platform that brings together technological, economic, and social data to support decision-making and knowledge sharing,” Pugliese told Earth.Org.
Developing Solutions on a European Scale
Over the next four years, NBS4Drought will demonstrate how wetlands can reduce drought risk and generate benefits for both nature and local communities, generating robust scientific and technical evidence on the scalability of wetland-based NBS. The data obtained will feed into hydrological, lifecycle, and socioeconomic assessments to demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of wetland-based solutions. However, Pugliese says the biggest challenge “will be scaling up our findings to the European level, to show that these solutions can work on a larger scale and support widespread implementation.”
With this in mind, the findings from NBS4Drought will feed into tools and policy to upscale solutions that prove to be effective in the showcases for replication throughout Europe. This will empower communities across the continent to manage water scarcity and develop drought resilience for the future. By demonstrating the technical, economic, and social effects of wetland-based NBS, the project will contribute to building a stronger foundation for future climate adaptation of various communities under different climate conditions. Moreover, with its commitment to mapping drought risks and identifying suitable areas for replication across Europe, NBS4Drought is set to make significant contributions to the EU’s climate adaptation strategies.
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About the author: Stephanie Rose is a freelance science writer based in Scotland. She has a BSc in Marine Biology and an MSc in Aquatic Pathobiology and, since discovering her passion for science communication, she now enjoys writing about a variety of topics within the life and environmental sciences.
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