Nature-Based Solutions and Resilience of Infrastructure Systems

Dear Colleagues,

In an era marked by intensifying climate disruption, the resilience of European infrastructure has never been more paramount—extreme weather conditions, shifting landscapes and ecological changes threaten the assets that underpin economic flows, human well-being and social stability across the continent. This raises the challenge and opportunity of harmonising critical infrastructure integration with nature itself to build resilience to disasters and climate change impacts thus the reducing risk of natural hazards.

In this Special Issue, we solicit high-quality original research articles focused on the state-of-the-art techniques and methods employed in the creation, validation, upscaling, and sustainability of nature-based solutions (NbS) for climate resilience/proofing of vulnerable infrastructure. We welcome both theoretical and application articles of a high technical standard across a range of disciplines, thus facilitating awareness of techniques and methods in one area that may be applicable to other areas. We seek high-quality submissions of original research articles, as well as review articles on all aspects related to nature-based solutions that have the potential for practical application.

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, the following topics:

• Relevant NbS for the protection of infrastructures;
• Parameterised solutions for direct integration in digital tools;
• NbS approaches to quantify adaptation pathways and risk reduction potentials;
• Characterisation of system dynamics and cascading effects to optimise and prioritise NbS portfolios;
• Identification and implementation of comprehensive suites of NbS for green, blue, and hybrid green-grey infrastructure green, blue, and hybrid NbS;
• Monitoring techniques and data for advanced observation networks;
• Assessment of NbS interactions and system-wide resilience impacts.

Prof. Dr. Alfred Strauss
Prof. Dr. Rosemarie Stangl
Prof. Dr. Johannes Hübl
Prof. Dr. Mosbeh R. Kaloop
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Infrastructures is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• nature-based solutions
• natural hazards
• climate adaptation
• critical infrastructure
• resilience
• sustainability