Mainstreaming NbS: Experiences from the INTERREG ResiRiver initiative.

Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) integrate natural processes to address societal challenges, such as climate change, disaster risk, and biodiversity loss. Mainstreaming NbS involves incorporating these approaches into policies, planning, and decision-making across sectors like urban development, agriculture, and infrastructure. Key elements include upscaling, cross-sectoral collaboration, capacity building, financing mechanisms, and robust monitoring. However, the mainstreaming process faces challenges, including limited awareness, fragmented governance, and a lack of comprehensive data on the effectiveness of NbS. Overcoming these barriers requires coordinated efforts across sectors and stakeholders to scale up NbS and ensure their integration into long-term sustainability frameworks. ResiRiver is a transnational project focused on resilience enhancement in river systems in North-West Europe through mainstreaming and upscaling NbS. By means of a range of project partners working on NbS in pilot sites, mainstreaming theory is tested in practice. This results in identification of diverse mainstreaming activities and objectives, creating opportunities to develop support for NbS mainstreaming tailored to pilots and organizational capacities to overcome mainstreaming challenges.