Contained in:
Book Chapter

Nature-based Solutions for water risks resilience

  • Costanza Carbonari
  • Luca Solari

Urban areas face rising water risks -flooding, scarcity, and pollution- worsened by climate change and urbanization. Water security broadens management beyond floods to all water hazards. Nature-based Solutions integrate ecological and engineered systems, using hybrid blue-green infrastructure to improve resilience and sustainability.

  • Keywords:
  • Water-related risks; Risks mitigation; Integrating ecological approach in risk management,
+ Show More

Costanza Carbonari

University of Florence, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0002-8681-0009

Luca Solari

University of Florence, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0001-9227-4305

  1. Burek, Peter, Sarah Mubareka, Rodrigo Rojas Mujica, Ad De Roo, Alessandra Bianchi, Claudia Baranzelli, Carlo Lavalle, e Ine Vandecasteele. 2012. Evaluation of the effectiveness of Natural Water Retention Measures - Support to the EU Blueprint to Safeguard Europe’s Waters. EUR 25551 EN. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. https://data.europa.eu/ DOI: 10.2788/5528
  2. Carbonari, Costanza, e Luca Solari. 2025. “Riverscape Nature-Based Solutions and River Restoration: Common Points and Differences.” Sustainability 17, 13: 6108. DOI: 10.3390/su17136108
  3. Dudgeon, David, Angela H. Arthington, Mark O. Gessner, et al. 2006. “Freshwater Biodiversity: Importance, Threats, Status and Conservation Challenges.” Biological Reviews 81, 2: 163-82. DOI: 10.1017/S1464793105006950
  4. Dudgeon, David. 2019. “Multiple Threats Imperil Freshwater Biodiversity in the Anthropocene.” Current Biology 29, 19: R960-67. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.08.002
  5. European Commission: Directorate-General for Environment. 2014. EU policy document on natural water retention measures – By the drafting team of the WFD CIS Working Group Programme of Measures (WG PoM). Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. https://data.europa.eu/ DOI: 10.2779/396202
  6. European Commission: Directorate-General for Environment. 2022. Nature restoration law – For people, climate, and planet. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. https://data.europa.eu/ DOI: 10.2779/86148
  7. European Commission: Directorate-General for Environment, ACTeon, IMDEA, e Amec Foster Wheeler. 2015. A guide to support the selection, design and implementation of natural water retention measures in Europe – Capturing the multiple benefits of nature-based solutions. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. https://data.europa.eu/ DOI: 10.2779/761211
  8. European Commission: Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, e Tom Wild. 2020. Nature-based solutions improving water quality & waterbody conditions – Analysis of EU-funded projects. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. https://data.europa.eu/ DOI: 10.2777/2898
  9. European Parliament and Council of the European Union. 2000. Water Framework Directive, 2000/60/EC. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX:32000L0060 (2025-06-21)
  10. European Parliament and Council of the European Union. 2007. Floods Directive, 2007/60/EC. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=celex:32007L0060 (2025-06-21)
  11. Frantzeskaki, Niki, Timon McPhearson, Marcus J. Collier, Dave Kendal, Harriet Bulkeley, Adina Dumitru, Claire Walsh, Kate Noble, Ernita Van Wyk, Camilo Ordóñez, Cathy Oke, e László Pintér. 2019. “Nature-Based Solutions for Urban Climate Change Adaptation: Linking Science, Policy, and Practice Communities for Evidence-Based Decision-Making.” BioScience 69: 455-66. DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biz042
  12. Grey, David, e Claudia W. Sadoff. 2007. “Sink or Swim? Water security for growth and development.” Water Policy 9: 545-71. DOI: 10.2166/wp.2007.021
  13. Hall, Jim, e Edoardo Borgomeo. 2013. “Risk-based principles for defining and managing water security.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A 371: 20120407. DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2012.0407
  14. Harrison, Ian, Robin Abell, William Darwall, Michele L. Thieme, David Tickner, e Ingrid Timboe. 2018. “The Freshwater Biodiversity Crisis.” Science 362, 6421: 1369. DOI: 10.1126/science.aav9242
  15. International Union for the Conservation of Nature. 2016. WCC-2016-Res-069-EN Defining Nature-Based Solutions. https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/resrecfiles/WCC_2016_RES_069_EN.pdf (2025-06-21)
  16. International Union for the Conservation of Nature. 2020. IUCN Global Standard for Nature-Based Solutions. A User-Friendly Framework for the Verification, Design and Scaling up of NbS. First Edition. https://portals.iucn.org/library/node/49070 (2025-06-21)
  17. Krauze, Kinga, e Iwona Wagner. 2019. “From classical water-ecosystem theories to nature-based solutions - Contextualizing nature-based solutions for sustainable city.” Science of the Total Environment 655: 697-706. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.11.187
  18. Kreibich, Heidi, Anne F. Van Loon, Kai Schröter, et al. 2022. “The challenge of unprecedented floods and droughts in risk management.” Nature 608: 80-86. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04917-5
  19. Li, Lei, Faith Chan, e Ali Cheshmehzangi. 2023. “Nature-based solutions and sponge city for urban water management.” In Adapting the Built Environment for Climate Change, edited by F. Pacheco-Torgal, e C.-G. Granqvist, 371-402. Sawston, UK: Woodhead Publishing. DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-323-95336-8.00004-4
  20. Penning, Ellis, Catherine Wilson, Christopher Wittman, Guglielmo Sonnino Sorisio, e Daniel Jones. 2025. “Evaluating Nature-based Solutions for small catchments and streams: Incorporating floods, droughts and biodiversity.” Hydrolink 1: 5-9. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17521833
  21. Pievani, Telmo. 2014. “The sixth mass extinction: Anthropocene and the human impact on biodiversity.” Rendiconti Lincei 25: 85-93. DOI: 10.1007/s12210-013-0258-9
  22. Santiago Fink, Helen. 2016. “Human-nature for climate action: Nature-based Solutions for urban sustainability.” Sustainability 8: 254. DOI: 10.3390/su8030254
  23. Scheffran, Jürgen. 2025. “Water security in the polycrisis: between negative and positive tipping points.” Frontiers in Water 7: 1567262. DOI: 10.3389/frwa.2025.1567262
  24. United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. 2017. “Terminology on Disaster Risk Reduction.” https://www.undrr.org/drr-glossary/terminology (2025-06-21)
  25. United Nations. 2018. World Water Development Report 2018: Nature-Based Solutions for Water. Paris: UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000261424 (2025-06-21)
  26. Wagner, Iwona, e Pascal Breil. 2013. “The Role of Ecohydrology in Creating More Resilient Cities.” Ecohydrology & Hydrobiology 13, 2: 113-34. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecohyd.2013.06.002
  27. Wagner, Iwona. 2022. “Formally designate blue–green infrastructure for climate adaptation.” Nature 607, 7920: 657. DOI: 10.1038/d41586-022-02000-7
PDF
  • Publication Year: 2025
  • Pages: 61-69
  • Content License: CC BY 4.0
  • © 2025 Author(s)

XML
  • Publication Year: 2025
  • Content License: CC BY 4.0
  • © 2025 Author(s)

Chapter Information

Chapter Title

Nature-based Solutions for water risks resilience

Authors

Costanza Carbonari, Luca Solari

Language

English

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0966-3.09

Peer Reviewed

Publication Year

2025

Copyright Information

© 2025 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Bibliographic Information

Book Title

Nature and City

Book Subtitle

An Integrated Approach to Urban Biodiversity

Editors

Roberto Bologna, Anna Lambertini, Luca Solari

Peer Reviewed

Number of Pages

320

Publication Year

2025

Copyright Information

© 2025 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Publisher Name

Firenze University Press

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0966-3

ISBN Print

979-12-215-0965-6

eISBN (pdf)

979-12-215-0966-3

Series Title

Studi e saggi

Series ISSN

2704-6478

Series E-ISSN

2704-5919

0

Fulltext
downloads

0

Views

Export Citation

1,498

Open Access Books

in the Catalogue

3,359

Book Chapters

6,027,628

Fulltext
downloads

5,585

Authors

from 1177 Research Institutions

of 66 Nations

77

scientific boards

from 412 Research Institutions

of 46 Nations

1,384

Referees

from 408 Research Institutions

of 40 Nations