Systemic integration of nature-based solution in cities with a focus on equity and social justice: a multi-disciplinary literature review: powerpoint

Recently, “nature-based solutions” (NBS) or “building with nature” have received global attention as a multidimensional approach to reduce impacts of climate change and associated meteorological disaster risks such as heat waves, droughts, floods as well as provide solutions to global challenges. The European Commission (EC) recognizes that NBS can support innovation and address social, economic and environmental challenges. There has been evidence on the potential of NBS in cities. One example is the use of green areas in cities to tackle adverse impacts of heatwaves in addition to improving air quality, promoting urban farming, or providing areas for water detention. However, knowledge on such applications is fragmented. Considering climate change and associated effects, a systematic literature review on the role of NBS as a policy tool with regard to equity, social justice and integration is very much needed and is the aim of this contribution. In this systematic literature review, we seek to synthesize the knowledge on 1) the state of art of NBS applications, 2) their relations with equity and justice, and 3) the systemic integration of social, economic and environmental dimensions in cities. The questions that we seek to answer through this literature review are: • How can NBS, as a policy and planning measure, help to integrate multiple dimensions (social, economic and environmental) and mitigate climate change impacts? • To what extent have current studies/policies considered issues of equity and social justice ? We conducted an electronic literature search and finalized it in May 2019, using Scopus and Web of Science databases. We limited the search to peer-reviewed articles, books and book chapters written in English. No other filters were applied. The selection of suitable full texts was based on a set of established criteria and a developed code book prior to the review. The search returned 147 unique records. In this paper we present the in-depth analysis of the selected 108 studies for a large target group involving decision makers, engineers as well as the planners. The results are indicative of the current state of the art of NBS applications in cities from 29 countries in 5 continents.