A new handbook published by the European Commission to help decision-makers and practitioners develop impact evaluation frameworks for nature-based solutions was launched yesterday, with contributions from ICLEI Europe projects CLEVER Cities, Connecting Nature, proGIreg, alongside 14 other EU-funded NBS projects and collaborating institutions.

The handbook was developed by the NBS Task Force 2: Nature-based Solutions Impact Evaluation Framework – a task force coordinated by NetworkNature, in which ICLEI Europe is a partner. The publication, titled “Evaluating the impact of nature-based solutions”, provides a robust set of indicators and methodologies to assess the impacts of nature-based solutions across 12 societal challenge areas.

The handbooks’ set of indicators and methodologies create a common understanding about impact evaluation frameworks for nature-based solutions at different scales, and will serve as a reference for relevant EU policies and activities.

The future work of this NBS Task Force, in which ICLEI is involved as NetworkNature coordinator and key partner, will likely include the joint preparation of NBS impact assessment reports based on the outcomes of European Commission-funded NBS projects.

For more information, download the handbook here.