ICTA-UAB researcher Francesc Baró to participate in an expert’s meeting on implementation of NBS in Mediterranean cities

ICTA-UAB researcher Francesc Baró involved in Naturvation project will participate on 20th and 21st February 2018 in a forthcoming expert meeting on how to implement Nature Based Solutions (NBS) in Mediterranean cities organized by IUCN-Med.

Currently 60% of the Mediterranean’s population is living in urban areas. With one of the fastest urbanization rates worldwide, the region’s urban population is expected to increase by an additional 22.5 million by 2030, due to persistent rural-urban migrations and endogenous urban growth. This fast urban growth has led to significant imbalances and dysfunctions at multiple levels: territorial, economic, social and environmental. Mediterranean cities are also experiencing high vulnerability to the effects of climate change such as water scarcity, droughts, forest fires and heat waves.



The objectives of the event include: 1) to explore how to better address the existing gaps for the implementation of the NBS concept in Mediterranean cities (in terms of effectiveness, design, NBS-society relationships, etc.); 2) to define a list of potential actions to address the identified gaps; and 3) to discuss the opportunity and the most suitable scope of a common project on NBS in the urban Mediterranean context.

The invited group of experts will focus their discussions around the following three questions:

• What are the strategic elements we have to address to achieve re-natured cities and sustainability-related challenges in the Mediterranean cities/urban areas?


• What would be the most suitable NBS we should focus on to get the best results, in terms of societal and biodiversity benefits?


• What are the tools we need to develop further to facilitate NBS implementation in Mediterranean cities?