sustainability-logo

Journal Browser

Journal Browser

Nature-Based Solutions to Address Climate Change for Sustainable Development

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Resources and Sustainable Utilization".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 6022

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Evripou Campus, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, ‎Greece
Interests: nature-based solutions against flooding, drought, and urban heat islands

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Research Centre for Atmospheric Physics and Climatology, Academy of Athens, Athens, ‎Greece
Interests: climate change; radiative transfer; nature-based solutions; air–sea interactions

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Nature-based solutions (NbS), and more specifically ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction measures (Eco-DRR), have been promoted as adaptive measures against predicted increasing hydrometeorological hazards (HMHs), such as heatwaves and floods which have already caused significant loss of life and economic damage across the globe and are expected to worsen under adverse climate change conditions. Nature-based solutions (NbS) can be beneficial to human communities by helping them to build resilience to climate change by managing and mitigating the impacts of hydro-meteorological hazards (HMHs). Even though substantial research has been carried out in the past on the detection and assessment of HMHs and their derived risks, knowledge around the performance and functioning of NbS to address them is severely lacking. The latter is exacerbated by the lack of practical and viable approaches that would help to identify and select NbS for specific problems. The design and implementation of environmentally, economically, technically, and socioculturally sustainable NbS requires inter- and transdisciplinary approaches which could be achieved by fostering co-creation processes by engaging stakeholders across various sectors and levels, inspiring more effective use of skills, diverse knowledge, workforce and resources, and connecting and harmonizing adaptation aims. Furthermore, underpinning factors such as policy framework, end-users’ interests and participation for NbS design and operationalization are yet to be established. The aim of this special issue is to address these open research issues and provide a comprehensive roadmap to the co-design, operationalization, and monitoring of sustainable NbS, mitigating a wide range of climate-change-induced hydrometeorological hazards.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • NbS co-design and operationalization;
  • Financial considerations and NbS sustainability;
  • NbS performance monitoring;
  • NbS social context and public acceptance;
  • Modeling aspects of NbS.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Michael Loupis
Dr. Christos Spyrou
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. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2400 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.

Keywords

  • nature-based solutions
  • hydro-meteorological hazards
  • risk mitigation and adaptation
  • NbS policies
  • green infrastructure
  • ecosystem-based management
  • stakeholder participation
  • co-creation
  • ecological engineering

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

24 pages, 12655 KiB  
Article
Green Roofs as a Nature-Based Solution to Mitigate Urban Heating During a Heatwave Event in the City of Athens, Greece
by Christos Spyrou, Marika Koukoula, Pantelis-Manolis Saviolakis, Christos Zerefos, Michael Loupis, Charis Masouras, Aikaterini Pappa and Petros Katsafados
Sustainability 2024, 16(22), 9729; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16229729 - 8 Nov 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2902
Abstract
This study investigates the impact of green roof (GR) implementations as a mitigation strategy for urban heating during an extreme heat wave event in Athens, Greece, from 28 July to 5 August 2021. Three GR scenarios were simulated, namely 100% grass coverage, 100% [...] Read more.
This study investigates the impact of green roof (GR) implementations as a mitigation strategy for urban heating during an extreme heat wave event in Athens, Greece, from 28 July to 5 August 2021. Three GR scenarios were simulated, namely 100% grass coverage, 100% sedum coverage, and 50% grass coverage, using the Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF) in conjunction with the multi-layer urban-canopy-model BEP&BEM (Building Effect Parameterization/Building Energy Model) and extra urban land-use categories from Local Climate Zones (LCZ). Based on the results, GRs alter the local heat balance in the Greater Area of Athens (GAA), leading to a total temperature reduction. The 100% grass coverage proved to be the most effective, particularly during daytime, reducing the 2 m temperature field by approximately 0.7 C (mean value) in the GAA. In some locations, temperature reductions exceeded 2 C, depending on the local characteristics and the direction of the prevailing winds. Grass offered superior cooling effects compared to sedum, although sedum is more resilient to dry and moderate climates. The extent of vegetation coverage played an important role in the effectiveness of GRs. Reducing the coverage by 50% significantly reduced the cooling benefits, highlighting the importance of maximizing vegetation coverage to achieve notable temperature reductions. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

20 pages, 8991 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of Nature-Based Solutions to Improve the Urban Microclimate in Mediterranean Climate Conditions: A Case Study of Izmir-Karsıyaka
by Gülşah Kaçmaz Akkurt and Seda Şemsiyeci
Sustainability 2024, 16(7), 2646; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16072646 - 23 Mar 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1603
Abstract
Today, rapid urbanization and increasing human activities have affected the climate at macro and micro scales in cities and caused unfavorable conditions in terms of human thermal comfort, especially in outdoor spaces. In this context, new solutions need to be researched, developed, tested, [...] Read more.
Today, rapid urbanization and increasing human activities have affected the climate at macro and micro scales in cities and caused unfavorable conditions in terms of human thermal comfort, especially in outdoor spaces. In this context, new solutions need to be researched, developed, tested, and updated to improve thermal comfort in cities. Using ENVI-met 5.1 software, this study investigated the effects of different NBS combinations on the urban microclimate and human bioclimatic comfort in Izmir (Turkey). The current situation, the scenarios where some nature-based solutions (NBS) are applied within the scope of the European Union’s HORIZON 2020 “URBAN GreenUP” project, and two other scenarios planned within the scope of the study were evaluated. The findings of the study showed that both the NBS scenarios created within the scope of the EU project and the NBS scenarios with large deciduous trees had the most positive impacts on improving thermal comfort conditions in all three study zones and achieved temperature reductions of up to 2.5 °C in urban temperatures. In terms of thermal comfort, the most significant differences were calculated between the minimum PMV values and were close to 1 °C. In addition, the simulation results showed positive changes in psychological stress levels. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

23 pages, 715 KiB  
Review
The Benefits of Green Roofs and Possibilities for Their Application in Antalya, Turkey
by Hasan Ertop, Atılgan Atılgan, Tomasz Jakubowski and Joanna Kocięcka
Sustainability 2025, 17(9), 3949; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17093949 - 28 Apr 2025
Viewed by 597
Abstract
Rapid population growth, urbanization, and industrialization have many negative environmental effects. These adverse effects are felt more in urban areas than in rural areas. Considering the high rate of urban development, the idea that green roof structures can be used on rooftops is [...] Read more.
Rapid population growth, urbanization, and industrialization have many negative environmental effects. These adverse effects are felt more in urban areas than in rural areas. Considering the high rate of urban development, the idea that green roof structures can be used on rooftops is important in reducing the current negative effects. In addition, water retention on these roof areas can be helpful in the face of drought periods. In this study, the amount of water that can be retained on a 100 m2 roof area in Antalya Province, Turkey was calculated. As a result, it was determined that August is the month when the least water can be retained due to rainfall. It was calculated that between 0.168 m3 and 0.363 m3 of water can be retained in August. Furthermore, the month in which the most water can be retained due to rainfall is December, and the amounts of water that can be retained are between 5.762 m3 and 21.640 m3. These calculated values are anticipated to be important in understanding how much water can be retained in the planned green roofs. In addition, it has been determined that the energy savings that can be made for heating purposes in a 100 m2 green roof area can be between 3900 kWh and 11,250 kWh. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop