| dc.description.abstract | Recently, the concept of nature-based solutions (NBS) has been introduced as an innovative way to utilize ecosystem processes to contribute to climate change adaptation and mitigation, biodiversity or sustainable development in general. This thesis explores and explains the manifestation of NBS in urban planning policy and practice, in search for ways to more effectively promote the concept at an urban scale. The relevant institutional - and policy frameworks and key stakeholders that shape the implementation of NBS have been investigated through a qualitative case-study in the context of the city of Amersfoort, the Netherlands. Through a combination of a literature review and interviews with relevant actors, the concept was investigated in three exemplary projects as well as their urban, national and European contexts. NBS projects are often organized on the dividing line between the social system and the ecosystem and therefore concerns both urban and environmental governance. The novelty of the concept and the corresponding uncertainty and complexity of the object, process and context of NBS planning, are structural problems that lead to policies on different scale-levels, that lack substance and require non or merely voluntary action. As a result, these policies leave much room for interpretation as well as the responsibilities to act at the local scale-level. The implementation of NBS is partly done in a semi-experimental manner, where different types of solutions are being explored and shaped mostly by actors that believe they can contribute to a more sustainable future, be it socially, economically or environmentally. Different strategies can be applied in order to implement NBS-related concepts, but this depends on who are involved, what role they play and in what context they operate. In general, approaches that enable non-hierarchical collaboration between actors from different sectors and that facilitate experimentation and innovation seem to be most desirable for the development of urban NBS in a sustainable way. A structural challenge in the organization and governance of NBS however seems to be the ability to work in an integral manner, which impedes the further development of the concept. Even though the development of NBS depends on many factors, it can partly be steered and more effectively promoted to become a viable planning option for sustainable development. | |
