Nordic NBS researchers and practitioners got together in Malmö to share experiences and learn more about Nordic nature-based solutions. All the Nordic NBS projects were presented, including the ongoing work on the A-DVICE and GuideNBS handbooks.
The Nordic Council of Ministers’ NBS programme organised the Nordic conference on nature-based solutions in Malmö, Sweden 26. – 27. September 2024.
Presenting the NBS projects
The conference kicked off with opening speeches from the chairman of the NBS Programme board, Jan-Petter Huberth Hansen (Norwegian Environment Agency), Ingilín D. Strøm, Minister of Environment, Housing, and Labour Market Affairs in the Faroe Islands, and Sofia Hedén, Deputy Mayor for Environment, City of Malmö.
In the first day all the projects that are part of the Nordic NBS programme were also presented, including S-ITUATION, S-UMMATION and the NBS pilot projects and the Yggdrasil project.
The ongoing work with the handbooks on policy development in A-DVICE and practical implementation in GuideNBS was also presented. Through a short mentimeter survey we also got the opportunity to ask for feedback and expectations for the two handbooks.
Field trips, poetry and rap battles
The afternoon on the first day was excursion time, and the participants could choose between three different themes and destinations:
(photos: Caroline Enge)
- Lomma municipality: Exploring coastal nature-based solutions to address climate related hazards such as sea-level rise, coastal erosion, drought, and flooding, showcasing different NBS from the LIFE Coast Adapt-project. The visit was guided by Helena Björn, environmental strategist at Lomma municipality.
- Greening Möllan and Augustenborg: The excursion visited two urban NBS projects guided by Hugo Settergren, landscape architect and expert on NBS and urban climate adaptation at IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute. “Greening Möllan” is an area in Malmö with a range of multifunctional green interventions centered around trees. The “eco city” Augustenborg is a pioneering city planning project were climate related hazards have been addressed with nature-based solutions since 1998.
- Nordic Genetic Resource Centre (NordGen): The Nordic countries’ joint seed genebank and knowledge centre for genetic resources are also part of the infrastructure used for many types of nature-based solutions. The visit to the seed laboratories, greenhouse and garden was guided by Lise Lykke Steffensen, executive director of NordGen.
The excursions provided great opportunities for sharing experiences, seeing how to implement nature-based solutions in practice and discussing the policies behind them. With mostly rain and windy weather we also really got an impression of the solutions at work!
The evening also gave some nice surprises, with poetry and songs about nature in all the different Nordic languages. We also got a summary of some of the discussions in rap form when the rappers from Rapolitics reunited with the nature-based solutions programme.
Workshops on coastal landscape, biodiversity and cities
The second day started with three parallel sessions that included both presentations and workshops.
The topics were:
- Nature-Based Solutions and Land Use Focus on Coast and Coastal Landscapes
- How cities can mainstream nature based solutions – Defining the success factors of the Nordic operational model
- Biodiversity – Now and for Future Generations
See the whole program for the conference and all the speakers here. The recording of the online version of the conference is available here.
Thank you to the Nordic NBS programme and all the speakers and participants for a wonderful conference!
Nordic NBS 