Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) have emerged as a cornerstone of sustainable urban and regional climate adaptation strategies. However, despite their integration into high-level European policy frameworks such as the EU Green Deal and the EU Climate Adaptation Strategy, the translation of NbS into territorial climate efforts remains inconsistent and unevenly distributed across EU Member States. This paper presents findings from the ESPON ReAdapt (Re-Naturing Territorial Development for Climate Risk Adaptation) project, which systematically mapped the fragmented NbS knowledge landscape across four interlinked domains: (i) policy frameworks, (ii) EU-funded implementation projects, (iii) knowledge-sharing platforms and networks, and (iv) the scientific literature across EU Member States.
Our meta-analysis shows a persistent disconnect between strategic policy ambitions and local and territorial implementation capacities. Policies often refer to NbS conceptually, but lack actionable territorial or sectoral guidance. Projects, while rich in experimentation, are disproportionately concentrated in a few European regions, indicating spatial governance gaps in other regions. Specific NbS interventions such as wetland restoration and urban green corridors demonstrate significant potential for improving habitat connectivity, biodiversity, ecosystem services and climate resilience, yet their implementation remains fragmented across territories. Although multiple knowledge platforms and repositories exist for climate adaptation efforts, they suffer from low visibility, limited interoperability, and weak uptake by local planning actors. The scientific literature continues to advance conceptual rigor, yet remains poorly integrated into territorial planning and municipal decision-making processes.
We frame fragmentation of nature based solutions as a broken feedback loop between ecological data, local knowledge, and policy action. Restoring this loop requires horizontal integration across sectors and disciplines, and vertical integration across local, regional, and national scales. Direct effort and resources to these integrations.
Establish cross level NbS mandates in regional and local spatial plans. Adopt standardized monitoring and reporting protocols. Use shared data standards and interoperable repositories. These steps let stakeholders find, assess, and combine evidence across sources. They strengthen spatial planning, improve policy coherence, and support territorial equity in NbS deployment.
Our findings indicate that effectiveness depends on more than ecological design and innovation. It also depends on institutional capacity, robust knowledge infrastructure, co-creation with communities and enabling national and local policies. Prioritize interoperability, territorial sensitivity, and a strong policy to practice interface to build climate resilient, sustainable and climate resilient futures.
Author Contributions
Conceptualization, P.K.; methodology, P.K., Y.W., L.C.G., S.V.K. and A.G.; validation, P.K., Y.W., L.C.G., S.V.K. and A.G.; formal analysis, P.K. and Y.W.; data curation, P.K., Y.W., L.C.G., S.V.K. and A.G.; writing—original draft preparation, P.K. and Y.W.; writing—review and editing, P.K. and L.C.G.; visualization, P.K.; funding acquisition, P.K. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding
This work was funded by ESPON through the ESPON ReAdapt project (Service Contract Ref. 045/2024) managed by the ESPON EGTC.
Institutional Review Board Statement
Not applicable.
Informed Consent Statement
Not applicable.
Data Availability Statement
The data underlying this poster are part of an ESPON ReAdapt database that is currently under development. This database is planned to be made openly accessible through the ESPON platform after the end of the project in 2026, in line with ESPON data policies.
Acknowledgments
We would like to express our sincere thanks to Gavin Daly, Project Manager, and to the Steering Committee members, Blanka Bartol and Stijn Vanderheiden, for their guidance and support.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
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