Publications

Publication:Website
 
UBA Webstite
The toolkit brings together tried-and-tested instruments and organises them along a typical municipal workflow: from initial orientation and planning through to implementation, maintenance, monitoring and evaluation. Local authority departments, planners and other stakeholders will find concise fact sheets outlining each tool, advice on how to apply it at different project stages, as well as links to further resources and practical examples.

Toolkit for Nature-Based Climate Adaptation

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Publication:Fact Sheet
 
This fact sheet summarizes the information contained in the publication Burgos Cuevas et al. (2025): Moving from interconnected crises to systemic solutions. Resource efficiency, nature-based solutions, and systemic transformation as responses to the complexity of the triple planetary crisis. Interim report, Climate Change 83/2025. German Environment Agency: Dessau-Roßlau. https://doi.org/10.60810/openumwelt-8108.

Moving from Interconnected Crises to Systemic Solutions

Resource efficiency, nature-based solutions, and systemic transformation as responses to the complexity of the triple planetary crisis

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Publication:Report
 
The triple planetary crisis is a systemic challenge, not three separate issues: climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution reinforce one another through shared drivers and feedback, threatening planetary and human well-being. It is driven by fossil fuel dependence, unsustainable production and consumption, overexploitation of land and resources, and structural inequalities. The analysis concludes that the triple crisis can only be effectively addressed through systemic, cross-sectoral, and justice-oriented approaches. By linking resource governance, NbS, and transformative change, this report highlights how today’s triple crisis can be turned into an opportunity to regenerate ecosystems, reduce inequalities, and build resilient societies within planetary boundaries.

Moving from Interconnected Crises to Systemic Solutions

Resource efficiency, nature-based solutions, and systemic transformation as responses to the complexity of the triple planetary crisis

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Publication:Fact Sheet
 
Nature-based solutions are central to climate change adaptation. Urban green spaces and waterbodies can reduce heat in cities, for example. How can local authorities implement such measures despite limited resources? This paper presents financing options based on practical examples – from crowdfunding to green bonds – and assesses which ones are suitable and when. It also provides recommendations on how the federal and state governments can provide support.

Jenseits öffentlicher Gelder: Wie Kommunen naturbasierte Lösungen für die Klimaanpassung finanzieren können

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Publication:Report
 
cover page
The study, developed under the ReFoPlan project "Natürlich Klimaanpassung! Resiliente naturbasierte Lösungen für Kommunen", provides an overview of the current state of NbS implementation for municipal climate adaptation in Germany. It identifies key barriers that hinder local action – from limited resources to conflicting interests – and highlights strategies and tools that can help overcome them.

Naturbasierte Lösungen für klimaresiliente Kommunen stärken

Herausforderungen und Lösungsansätze

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Publication:Policy Brief
 
In this Policy Brief of the EU-funded NICHES project, Benjamin Kupilas (Ecologic Institute) and David Alejandro Camacho Caballero (UAB) examine how cities like Barcelona, Berlin, and Rotterdam can shape the transition to sustainable urban water systems through Nature-based Solutions (NBS). The core question is which governance models, participatory processes, and methodological approaches are needed to embed NBS effectively into urban storm- and wastewater management strategies.

Transitioning to Sustainable Urban Water Systems

Insights from Barcelona, Berlin, and Rotterdam

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Publication:Report
 
Cover page of BfN publication 733 “Urban Nature Plans as a Strategy for German Municipalities”. Recommendations on Urban Nature Plans from the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030. Authors: Rieke Hansen, Lena Enderich, McKenna Davis, with contributions by Sandra Naumann. The image shows a paved path through a light birch forest.
The EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 calls on all European cities with more than 20,000 in-habitants to develop and rapidly implement an "Urban Greening Plan". These plans should contain ambitious targets and measures to conserve biodiversity, promote human well-being, and contribute to climate adaptation and mitigation. The European Commission now refers to these plans as "Urban Nature Plans". The project documented in this report aimed to stimulate a discourse on Urban Nature Plans in Germany and to develop recommendations for local authorities.

Stadtnatur-Pläne als Strategie für deutsche Kommunen

Empfehlungen zu "Urban Nature Plans" aus der EU-Biodiversitätsstrategie 2030

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Publication:Policy Brief
 
In this policy brief, Ida Meyenberg and Evgeniya Elkina analyze which governance approaches enable the successful implementation of nature-based solutions (NBS) for managing combined sewer overflows (CSO) in cities. The central question is what institutional, procedural, and financial enabling conditions municipalities and water authorities need, to integrate NBS effectively into urban stormwater management strategies. The Ecologic Institute was project lead in the NICHES project and chiefly responsible for the governance and best-practice analysis in five European and North American cities, deriving from it practice-oriented recommendations.

What Makes Nbs Work? Governance Approaches to Tackle Combined Sewer Overflows in Urban Water Systems

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Publication:Report
 
Cover of the publication “Considering Biodiversity in Urban Development Funding” by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN Series 732, 2025). The image shows a forest path with an artistic wooden installation featuring golden speaker-like elements. Authors: Lena Enderich, Rieke Hansen, Rebecca Noebel and Benjamin Kupilas.
This publication examines how municipalities can strategically use urban development funding to conserve and promote biodiversity in cities. As a project partner of the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) in the "BioViBeS – Incorporating Biodiversity into Urban Development Funding" research project, the Ecologic Institute played a key role in analyzing best-practice examples and deriving practical action fields and recommendations.

Biologische Vielfalt berücksichtigen in der Städtebauförderung

Empfehlungen zur Integration der biologischen Vielfalt in Fördergebieten der Städtebauförderung

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Publication:Policy Brief
 
This brief examines how policymakers, industry and practitioners can steer the built environment toward a nature-positive future by integrating ecological resilience and quality of life with economic development. It was developed under the EU research project GoNaturePositive!

Built Environment

Sectoral Brief

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Publication:Website
 
The image shows a webpage from the German Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt) on 'Naturbasierte Klimaanpassung in Kommunen' (Nature-based Climate Adaptation in Municipalities). The page features a header with a photo of a serene river landscape with trees, accompanied by an overview of nature-based solutions for climate adaptation. It includes navigation links and sections such as 'Einbettung in die kommunale Praxis' (Integration into local practice) and 'Finanzierung und Förderung' (Funding and Support).
Nature-based solutions, such as green spaces or river restoration, can make a valuable contribution to municipal climate adaptation. The new topic page 'Nature-based climate adaptation' on the Federal Environment Agency's website highlights different aspects of such approaches and offers municipalities targeted support in their planning and implementation. In addition to information on the legal framework and funding issues, it also contains practical examples and helpful publications. Ecologic Institute designed and implemented the content of the website on behalf of the Federal Environment Agency.

Naturbasierte Klimaanpassung in Kommunen

UBA topic page

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Publication:Video
 
This video, produced within the REACHOUT project, focuses on the Fluvial Flooding hazard, and showcases how climate service tools can be applied in real-world urban policy challenges. It serves as a visual guide to help municipal representatives, local consultants, and service providers understand and implement these tools effectively.

Increasing Flood Resilience: tools for city planners

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Publication:Video
 
This video, produced within the REACHOUT project, focuses on the Urban Heat climate hazard, and showcases how climate service tools can be applied in real-world urban policy challenges. It serves as a visual guide to help municipal representatives, local consultants, and service providers understand and implement these tools effectively.

Tackling Urban Heat: tools for city planners

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Publication:Report
 
Deckblatt
D3.6 presents an expanded set of over 15 climate service tools developed within the REACHOUT project. Aligned with the Triple-A framework, the tools support cities across all adaptation phases and have been tested through co-creation with seven European City Hubs. The report highlights practical applications, integration potential, and readiness levels—laying the groundwork for a future digital platform.

Guidelines for Climate Service Tools

Deliverable 3.6 of Horizon 2020 project REACHOUT

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Publication:Report
 
Cover page of the REACHOUT project report “D3.7: Guidelines for climate service tools”. The image features the REACHOUT logo with the subtitle “shaping climate resilient cities”, a list of contributing authors from various European institutions, and the EU funding acknowledgment at the bottom. The design includes colorful rounded shapes in blue, green, and turquoise.
As part of the EU-funded REACHOUT project, a comprehensive suite of climate service tools has been developed to support cities in addressing climate adaptation challenges. The newly released Guidelines for Climate Service Tools provide a structured overview of more than 20 technical and soft tools, as well as supporting consultancy services, all integrated into the Triple-A Toolkit – a web-based platform designed to enhance urban climate resilience. The tools address the full policy cycle of adaptation by covering the phases of Analysis, Ambition, and Action, and have been tested and refined through extensive co-creation with seven European City Hubs.

Guidelines for Climate Service Tools

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Publication:Report
 
Urban community garden with a colorful sign reading 'Cosechando Comunidad' (Harvesting Community), part of the INTERLACE project publication cover titled 'Locally rooted, globally connected' about Europe–Latin America knowledge exchange in urban ecosystem restoration.
The publication “Locally rooted, globally connected” captures key lessons learned from the knowledge exchanges in the context of the transdisciplinary research and international cooperation between cities, researchers, city networks, and wider stakeholders from Europe and Latin America conducted in the frames of the INTERLACE project. Through partnerships across the two regions, the project highlighted both the opportunities and challenges of working across diverse cultural, institutional, and geographic contexts and demonstrated the importance of tailoring NbS to local contexts while balancing the need for comparability across regions.

Locally Rooted, Globally Connected

Lessons from Europe-Latin America knowledge exchanges in a transdisciplinary research project

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Publication:Book
 
Book cover of "Sustainable Urban Development in the European Arctic" from the "Routledge Studies in Sustainable Development" series. Authors include Dorothea Wehrmann, Michał Łuszczuk, Katarzyna Radzik-Maruszak, Jacqueline Götze, and Arne Riedel. The cover features technical drawings in white on a dark green background, along with the Open Access symbol and the Routledge logo.
Focusing on cities in the European Arctic, this book consolidates research on sustainable development, local and urban governance, and transnational cooperation in the region. It examines to what extent there is transnational cooperation between urban areas in remote locations and how it can be enhanced to better align with global sustainable development policies to successfully implement goals set for example by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Sustainable Urban Development in the European Arctic

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