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Home » Practical Cases » NBS URBAN project: Map of the potential of Natural Solutions for Climate Change Adaptation at the local level: Methodological guide for its identification and mapping. Donostia-San Sebastián Case Study

NBS URBAN project: Map of the potential of Natural Solutions for Climate Change Adaptation at the local level: Methodological guide for its identification and mapping. Donostia-San Sebastián Case Study

Image author: Ainhoa Gea / Fototeca CENEAM

The NBS URBAN project aims to integrate nature into urban planning, strengthening the use of ecosystems and nature together with existing infrastructures, for adaptation to climate change at the level of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, using a map for its identification and deployment.

The Natural Solutions Potential Map provides local administrations with a clear, coherent and easily replicable methodological sequence, which allows them to identify and map both existing natural solutions and the potential for their development, for adaptation to climate change. The Map of the potential of Natural Solutions has been implemented on a pilot basis in the Municipality of San Sebastián, in the context of its Local Adaptation Plan.

Case Study Description
Challenges: 

The Autonomous Community of the Basque Country has planning and management responsibilities in many areas that are particularly sensitive to climate change and therefore vulnerable to its impacts. Moreover, more than 75% of the population lives in urban areas, which face specific and local challenges arising from the effects of climate change. Urban metabolism, understood as the energy flows and cycles of matter that circulate and feed the cities and surrounding territories, is directly impacted by climate change, causing disruptions across multiple areas, services, and sectors. In this context, planning and management by local administrations can offer solutions to minimise vulnerability.

In the international discussion on climate change adaptation policies, there is a clear emphasis on measures that integrate nature into human-dominated environments, while also highlighting the importance and potential of municipalities in adaptation efforts due to their capacity for urban transformation and their proximity to citizens.

Green spaces and the trend towards urban greening are proposed as key drivers of change, especially in municipal urban areas, transforming inert asphalt into green, permeable spaces. In terms of climate change adaptation, Natural Solutions present a significant opportunity.

Objectives: 

The integration of nature into urban planning by strengthening the use of ecosystems, along with existing infrastructures, is key for adapting to climate change at the local level in the Basque Country.

The goal is to provide local administrations with a clear, coherent, and easily replicable methodological sequence that enables them to identify and map both existing Natural Solutions and the potential for their development, helping them adapt to climate change. This approach makes use of existing resources while embarking on a path towards effective adaptation.

Adaptation measures implemented in the case study: 
Structural/physical: Ecosystemic options
Institutional: National and governmental policies and programs
Social: Education options
Solutions: 

The Natural Solutions Map for Adaptation to Climate Change at the local level provides a clear, coherent, and easily replicable methodological sequence, which has been implemented on a pilot basis in the Municipality of San Sebastián, as part of its Local Adaptation Plan. This innovative methodology enables:

  • Understanding the natural capital of a municipality and identifying its adaptation assets—those natural measures already adopted at the local level that contribute to adaptation.
  • Identifying urban spaces and elements that are available to accommodate natural solutions.
  • Establishing priorities and coordinating efforts on adaptation measures and actions in the most vulnerable and suitable spaces for deployment.
  • Identifying new areas for development and/or urban regeneration that could host natural solutions.
  • Creating synergies between adaptation and mitigation measures and actions.
Importance and relevance of the adaptation: 

Adaptation is the core part of the project.

Additional Details
Stakeholder engagement: 

TECNALIA Research & Innovation, through international alliances, has developed the Natural-Based Solutions (NBS) methodology, thanks to the KLIMATEK programme call: R&D projects, Innovation, and Demonstration in Adaptation to Climate Change 2016, promoted by the Basque Government. To give the project a practical and demonstrative character, the NBS methodology has been applied to the municipality of Donostia/San Sebastián. The results of the NBS mapping for this city will serve as the foundation for developing its Climate Change Adaptation Plan.

The main beneficiaries are: ˗ City councils and all their associated bodies, which, in the exercise of their functions, can promote and implement mechanisms that favour the presence of green spaces in the municipality and a more inclusive urban design integrating nature. ˗ Private initiatives, in cases where the promoter is not the public administration, which aim to incorporate some type of natural solution into their actions as an adaptation measure. ˗ Citizens in general, who wish to carry out specific interventions on their property, so they have a broad and integrative vision of the benefits that small interventions can bring to their area and the municipality as a whole.

The pilot project in Donostia/San Sebastián has been supported by a participation process aimed at increasing citizens' knowledge and awareness of climate change while engaging them in identifying spaces or elements that can accommodate nature-based solutions. This process included:

  •  Socialization of the initiative with the departments of Urban Planning, Projects and Works, Maintenance and Services, Environment-Biodiversity.
  • A participatory session at the UPV University Campus. ˗ Socialization of the initiative with the private sector: Meeting with the M-etxea group of architects.
  • A working session with social agents: Association Plus +55.
  • Presentation of the project in the local Agenda 21 to integrate the concept of Natural Solutions into future agendas.
Project interest: 

The Natural Solutions Map for Adaptation to Climate Change is conceived as a decision-making support tool, aimed at defining an anticipatory, proactive, planned, and conscious adaptation strategy. This strategy is based on the consideration and, where appropriate, the integration of nature into urban planning, through the creation and application of a clear, coherent, and easily replicable methodology.

It makes a significant contribution to advancing the integration of adaptation into planning and management, while enhancing the resilience of systems, sectors, resources, and geographical areas vulnerable to climate change.

Success and limiting factors: 

Limiting factors:

  • Institutional or jurisdictional barriers. Lack of authority on the part of the local institution to act, as the land on which a Natural Solution could be implemented falls under the jurisdiction of another body or is privately owned.
  • Social barriers. Changes in land use can lead to social controversy. To mitigate this, interventions must be accompanied by effective education and awareness programs.
Budget, funding and additional benefits: 

Total amount of the project: 50,000 euros.

Funding source: Basque Government's KLIMATEK Programme - Ihobe.

Natural Solutions are characterized by their multifunctionality, meaning they are designed to provide multiple benefits that extend far beyond the original scope and objective of adaptation to climate change. They offer numerous additional benefits in terms of environmental quality (in areas such as water, noise, air, and soil), human health and well-being, urban regeneration potential, improvement of living conditions, increased land value, job creation, and more.

Legal aspects: 

The Map of Natural Solutions for Adaptation to Climate Change at the local level has been implemented on a pilot basis in the Municipality of San Sebastián, in the context of its Local Adaptation Plan.

The results of mapping Natural Solutions in the context of urban planning for local adaptation to climate change offer multiple interpretations. The results should be used to:

  • ˗ Inform decision-making, providing a comprehensive diagnosis of green capital as input for the progress documents of the General Urban Development Plans.
  • ˗ Similarly, inform urban development instruments, for example, by providing criteria for the design of urbanization and building in areas at risk.
  • ˗ On a broader scale of city strategy in the context of climate change adaptation, the map of green solutions availability, together with specific risk studies such as flooding or temperature rise, can provide valuable information for:
    • Identifying the most anthropized areas of the municipality, which may require priority action in the implementation of natural solutions.
    • Defining Action Plans aimed at promoting certain initiatives across the entire municipal area: green roofs, sustainable drainage systems, greening public streets, etc.
    • Formulating a strategy aligned with the municipality's needs, agreed upon with the city council, and integrated into municipal public management policy, including both general urban planning and development planning, as well as a future Local Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change.
    • o Defining a system for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of Natural Solutions in adapting to climate change, as well as their co-benefits in addressing other environmental, social, and economic challenges.
Implementation time: 

2016 - 2017

Reference Information
Contact: 

Entity: Tecnalia Research&Innovation

Contact name: Efrén Feliú, email: efren.feliu@tecnalia.com

 

Entity: Ihobe Sociedad Pública de Gestión Ambiental del Gobierno Vasco

Contact name: Mari Mar Alonso MariMar.Alonso@ihobe.eus

 

Entity: Ayuntamiento de Donostia/ San Sebastián

Contact name:  Ana Juaristi, email: ana_juaristi@donostia.eus

Sources: 

Ihobe, Sociedad Pública de Gestión Ambiental Departamento de Medio Ambiente, Planificación Territorial y Vivienda Gobierno Vasco (2017). ‘Soluciones Naturales’ para la adaptación al cambio climático en el ámbito local de la Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco Guía metodológica para su identificación y mapeo. Caso de estudio Donostia-San Sebastián. (Nature-based solutions for local climate adaptation in the Basque Country)

In Spanish http://www.ihobe.eus/Publicaciones/Ficha.aspx?IdMenu=97801056-cd1f-4503-bafa-f54fa80d9a44&Cod=adbf2e51-3d8c-4879-ab8d-9a7ab8d48e45&Idioma=es-ES

In English  http://www.udalsarea21.net/Publicaciones/Ficha.aspx?IdMenu=892e375d-03bd-44a5-a281-f37a7cbf95dc&Cod=adbf2e51-3d8c-4879-ab8d-9a7ab8d48e45&Idioma=en-GB&Tipo=

Ihobe, Sociedad Pública de Gestión Ambiental Departamento de Medio Ambiente, Planificación Territorial y Vivienda Gobierno Vasco (2017). Cambio climático en el País Vasco, 28 buenas prácticas.

http://www.euskadi.eus/contenidos/documentacion/12practicas/es_def/adjuntos/28buenaspracticas.pdf