How are the characteristics of Nature-based solutions clustered in European cities?

An increased awareness of the way in which urbanisation, climate change, a reduction in the quality, quantity of and access to green space and natural infrastructure (such as blue spaces) all interact to threaten health and well-being of urban populations (Nesshover, et al, 2017; Kabisch & van de Bosch, 2017) has led to the emergence of a new conceptual framework, Nature-based Solutions. Through the management and use of nature, this concept aims to co-produce ecosystems services that not only allow cities to mitigate and adapt against the effects of climate change and increased urbanisation, but also reduce the public health risks associated with these challenges(WHO, 2016, 2017; Hartig at el. 2014; Kabisch et al. 2017), stimulate economies to improve inequality in cities (Nesshover, et al, 2017) and improve the quality of urban life (Mitchel & Popham, 2008; Mitchell et al. 2015). Using data from the Urban Nature Atlas, a database of a 1000 nature-based solutions from across a 100 European cities, this paper examines how the differing characteristics of these solutions (such as their ecological domains, ecosystems services, forms of governance, innovation, etc) are clustered and how the characteristics of these clusters relate to different social, economic and health factors that influence quality of life in our cities.