Policy instruments supporting NbS are now available in an Urban Government Atlas
The Urban Government Atlas (UGA), a brand-new interactive online database of 250 policy instruments from 41 countries supporting nature-based solutions and ecosystem restoration, was officially launched on 11 May 2023 at the INTERLACE Cities Talk Nature Conference in Chemnitz, Germany.
The Atlas – available in English and Spanish - aims to serve as a resource to policymakers, urban planners, researchers, civil society organisations, and others who seek to gain insights about good practice policy instruments for supporting cities to become greener. The UGA features numerous examples of the following types of policy instruments in Europe, Latin America and beyond:
- Legislative, regulatory and strategic
- Agreement-based or cooperative
- Economic and fiscal
- Knowledge, communication and innovation
“Many of the policy instruments featured in the Urban Governance Atlas are relevant to the NICHES community and have a great potential to support urban water management through nature-based solutions,” - says McKenna Davis, Project Coordinator of NICHES and developer of the Atlas within the INTERLACE project. “Policy instruments from some of the NICHES cities are already available in the Atlas, including an overview of their objectives, governance approaches, financing, and achieved outcomes. For example, the UGA features the Sheffield Waterways Strategy and Barcelona Nature Plan 2021-2030.”
The UGA is a product of the INTERLACE project, a European-funded collaborative project between European and Latin American partners and cities focusing on strengthening urban ecosystem restoration through the use of nature-based solutions. Challenges such as climate change, human health and wellbeing, economic development, wildlife conservation and more are addressed within the project and by the highlighted policy instruments.
Visit the Urban Government Atlas and get inspired from successful policy instruments supporting nature-based solutions around the world. There is also the opportunity to still add new policy instruments – reach out to the UGA to learn more!
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