Nature-Based Solutions for Flood Mitigation Environmental and Socio-Economic Aspects

This book provides an overview of the typical nature-based solutions (NBS) used for flood mitigation at different scales and in different areas (e.g. from catchment to hillslope scale; from urban to coastal areas).

NBS can provide several ecosystem services, such as water regulation and water quality enhancement, and as such offer relevant technical solutions to complement typical grey infrastructures to mitigate flood hazard and water quality problems. In recent years, political awareness and interest from the scientific community have led to increasing implementation of NBS worldwide.

In light of this trend, this book provides valuable insights into the environmental aspects of NBS, particularly their effectiveness for flood and pollution mitigation, and discusses socio-economic aspects related to the implementation of NBS, including regulatory aspects, cost, and citizens’ perceptions of NBS. Compiling the latest research, the book furthers our understanding of the role of NBS for flood mitigation and its relation to environmental aspects, to guide scientists and stakeholders in future NBS projects. It is intended for the scientific community and stakeholders, such as spatial planners and landscape managers.

Chapter "Nature-based solutions for flood mitigation and resilience in urban areas" is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Introduction: Nature-Based Solutions for Flood Mitigation.- Multidimensional Aspects of Floods: Nature-Based Mitigation Measures from Basin to River Reach Scale.- Nature-Based Solutions to Mitigate Coastal Floods and Associated Socioecological Impacts.- Nature-Based Solutions for Flood Mitigation and Resilience in Urban Areas.- Nature-Based Solutions Impact on Urban Environment Chemistry: Air, Soil, and Water.- The role of floods on pathogen dispersion.- The Role of Plants in Water Regulation and Pollution Control.- Impacts of Land Abandonment on Flood Mitigation in Mediterranean Mountain Areas.- Modelling and Evaluation of the Effect of Afforestation on the Runoff Generation Within the Glinšcica River Catchment (Central Slovenia).- Long-Term Impacts of Land Use Change Upon the Natural Flood Storage Reservoirs Along the North Bulgarian Black Sea Coast.- Hydrological Aspects of Nature-Based Solutions in Flood Mitigation in the Danube River Basin in Croatia: Green vs. Grey Approach.- Assessment of NBS Impact on Pluvial Flood Regulation Within Urban Areas: A Case Study in Coimbra, Portugal.- Identification of Surface Runoff Source Areas as a Tool for Projections of NBS in Water Management.- Using Landscape Connectivity to Identify Suitable Locations for Nature-Based Solutions to Reduce Flood Risk.- From Sponge Cities to Sponge Landscapes with Nature-Based Solutions: A Multidimensional Approach to Map Suitable Rural Areas for Flood Mitigation and Landscaping.- A Cooperative Game for Upstream–Downstream River Flooding Risk Prevention in Four European River Basins.- Win–Win for Everyone? Reflecting on Nature-Based Solutions for Flood Risk Management from an Environmental Justice Perspective.- What nature-based flood protection solutions are best perceived by people? Lessons from a field research in Czechia.- Legal Implications of Natural Floods Management: Lithuania Case Study.- Sticks, carrots and sermons for implementing NBS on private property land.- Socio-Economical Aspects of NBS.- Conclusions.

 

Carla Ferreira is a senior researcher at Stockholm University, Sweden. She is an expert on surface hydrology and pollutant dispersion, and investigates the application of nature-based solutions and their effectiveness to mitigate water related hazards in different environments. She has been active in the scientific community through the organization of several special issues in many international peer reviewed journals and scientific events.

Zahra Kalantari is an Associate professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Her main competence is in Geoscience and environmental engineering for Sustainability in the Anthropocene. Her research interests include combining science and applications to manage current and mitigate future climate and land use changes, vulnerability assessment to water-related disasters, adaptive land-use planning for decision support and Nature-Based Solutions for sustainable rural and urban development.

ThomasHartmann is professor for land policy and land management at TU Dortmund University (DE) with expertise in flood risk management and land policy. He is the editor and author of numerous books on these issues and Vice-Chair of the EU Cost Action LAND4FLOOD, associate editor of WIRES Water and a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Flood Risk Management.

Paulo Pereira is full professor of Environmental Science at Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania. He is an expert on Ecosystem Services, Spatial Analysis, Land Degradation, Fire Effects on Soil Properties, Nature-Based Solutions and land use change impacts on ecosystems. He edited several books and is Associated Editor in Chief of the Journal Geography and Sustainability, Associated Editor of the Journals Science of the Total Environment and Helyion and editor and guest editor of more than 10 other journals.