Building with Nature

The most serious threat facing the North Sea Region (NSR) is climate change, increasing flood and coastal erosion risk from storm surges in coastal and estuarine areas and heavy rain causing flooding of rivers and lakes inland.The Building with Nature (BwN) project demonstrates BwN solutions that utilize natural processes to deliver flood risk and coastal erosion management whilst enhancing ecosystem services. However, the performance of BwN solutions is uncertain and hampers wider uptake across NSR. A common transnational evidence base is needed to justify investments and optimise the effectiveness of BwN solutions (EC, 2015).The overall objective of the BwN project is to make coasts, estuaries and catchments of the NSR more adaptable and resilient to the effects of climate change. BwN will demonstrate BwN-based climate change adaptation solutions at 7 coastal target sites in NL, D, DK, SE (sand nourishment at North Sea Coasts and Wadden Sea barrier islands) and at 6 catchment scale sites in B, NL, SE, SCO (e.g. river restoration).BwN creates joint transnational monitoring programmes, uses state-of-the-art analysis methods, develops improved designs and business cases. The laboratories generate the evidence-base to incorporate BwN in national policy and investment programmes of each of the NSR countries (worth €200M/y). BwN gathers (national) governments that manage most of the North Sea coast, Wadden Sea and river basins and thus provide critical mass for major uptake.Indicator: New coastline plans using shared insights, designs and demonstrations of the effectiveness of the methods of Sand Nourishments, based on Building with Nature principles.
Target (Unit): 700 km.
Definition: Defined as described by the BWN project in mail forwarded via OMS, 4 March 2016. Message ID b7bb9e077b1ea44830b2931cbacc9022. Insight deepened and broadened by prolongation work on Source-Pathway-Receptor approach. Indicator: New catchment areas managed using shared BwN techniques as a result of the effectiveness of project demonstrations, based on Building with Nature principles.
Target (Unit): 550 km.
Definition: Length of waterway managed using Building with Nature techniques. Indicator: Climate change resilience increase at target sites.
Target (Unit): 10 Percentage of improvement (+10%) of reduced long term (projected) erosion and flood probabilities at target sites.
Definition: Aggregating reduced long term (projected) erosion and flood probabilities at coastal sites and reduced flooding in catchment areas.Indicator : Number of new and/or improved climate change adaptation solutions demonstrated ,
Target : 13 ,
Indicator : Number of enterprises participating in cross-border, transnational or interregional research projects ,
Target : 18 ,
Indicator : Number of research institutions participating in cross-border, transnational or interregional research projects ,
Target : 1 ,
Indicator : Number of organizations/ enterprises adopting new solutions by project end ,
Target : 20 ,
Indicator : Number of organizations/ enterprises informed about new solutions by project end ,
Target : 50 ,