In the context of flood risk management, nature-based solutions (NbS) are seen as a promising way to overcome the divide between flood protection and river restoration projects. However, so far little is known about how this concept unfolds at national and sub-national scales. In the US some agencies use the term NbS interchangeably with concepts such as green infrastructure, including engineered systems, while others see nature-based solutions as actions focused on protecting and restoring ecosystem’s natural processes and functions to improve ecosystems’ health so that this healthier ecosystem can provide benefits to society. Some clarity and consistent language in statute and policy is recommended for this concept to bring new insights on how we should reframe the current approach to manage natural resources and mitigate risk at the same time.
In this webinar, representatives from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the European Commission (EC), and the Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) will talk about how this concept is being conceptualized — internationally (IUCN, UN), in the EU, and in the US — and how different institutions are now defining what is a nature-based solution in the context of risk management versus what it is not.
This webinar is co-hosted by Social Science Matrix together with UC Berkeley Center for Catastrophic Risk Management and the International Committee of the Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM), with the collaboration of the EU Working Group on Floods.
Agenda
All times are listed in Pacific Time
09:00 am: Welcome and Introduction: Anna Serra-Llobet, University of California Berkeley & Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) – International Committee
09:10 am: The IUCN NbS Framework: from Conceptual to Operational: Emmanuelle Cohen-Shacham, International Union for Conservation of Nature
09:30 am: Nature-based Solutions and the European Commission’s Perspective: Ioannis Kavvadas, European Commission
09:50 am: Nature-based Solutions According to Different US Agencies and Institutions, Eileen Shader, American Rivers
10:10 am: Q&A and Discussion
11:00 am: Adjourn
Speakers
Emmanuelle Cohen-Shacham is a consultant and the Nature-based Solutions Thematic Group lead at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Commission on Ecosystem Management.
Ioannis Kavaadas is a team leader in the Water Policy Unit of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Environment, where he supports the implementation of the Floods Directive. He also co-chairs the EU Working Group on Floods.
Eileen Shader is the director of River Restoration at American Rivers. She also co-chairs the Natural and Beneficial Functions Committee at the American Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM).
Anna Serra-Llobet (organizer) is a researcher at the UC Berkeley Center for Catastrophic Risk Management. She also co-chairs the International Committee at the American Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM).
