Search Results (499)

Vegetated coastal wetlands, especially mangroves, seagrass beds, and salt marshes, are biodiversity-rich ecosystems whose blue carbon outcomes depend on living communities, sediment dynamics, hydrological connectivity, and landscape context. Biodiversity conservation and blue carbon management are often assessed through separate scientific, monitoring, and policy frameworks. This review uses a staged literature search and thematic synthesis to examine biodiversity–blue carbon linkages across the three major vegetated coastal wetland types. It considers how taxonomic, genetic, functional, and habitat diversity influence productivity, sediment stabilization, trophic exchange, carbon stocks, carbon burial, and carbon retention. It also evaluates how climate change, habitat fragmentation, hydrological alteration, pollution, and anthropogenic disturbance weaken these linkages. The synthesis compares representative carbon-stock and burial-rate baselines, examines conservation and restoration synergies and trade-offs, and expands the discussion of seagrass regime shifts. Field surveys, remote sensing, unmanned aerial vehicles, environmental DNA, and AI-enabled data integration are placed within a tiered monitoring framework. The review further develops an operational decision pathway for biodiversity-centered blue carbon management. Persistent blue carbon benefits arise where conservation and restoration maintain native communities, hydrological exchange, sediment stability, habitat complexity, migration space, and long-term stewardship capacity. Full article

Decommissioned airfields are increasingly recognized as strategic sites for ecological regeneration, climate adaptation, and the creation of new public spaces. However, research on their transformation has predominantly focused on the environmental performance of Nature-based Solutions (NBS), often overlooking the role of inherited spatial morphology in structuring regeneration processes and outcomes. This paper proposes an AI-assisted, morphology-based proto-ontological framework for analyzing and designing post-airfield architecture. The framework was developed through the inductive and comparative analysis of a corpus of 32 urban post-airfield regeneration projects, from which recurrent inherited morphologies, transformation actions, spatial devices, and NBS were identified and structured into a relational sequence. The framework was then applied to two contrasting case studies: Maurice Rose Airfield Park (Frankfurt) and Xuhui Runway Park (Shanghai); these were selected for their different transformation logics. The results show that similar airfield morphologies can generate markedly different climatic, ecological, social, and memory-related outcomes depending on how they are transformed and linked to NBS. The study demonstrates that inherited airfield morphologies are not passive remnants but operative spatial structures, and that NBS should be understood as spatially embedded and form-generating design components. The proposed proto-ontology offers a transferable analytical model and a basis for future computational and generative design applications. Full article

Sea-level rise is accelerating coastal erosion and storm-driven flooding, increasing risks to estuarine ecosystems and coastal communities. Nature-based solutions (NbS), such as those including ecosystem restoration, are widely endorsed for climate change risk mitigation, yet their protective performance under rising sea levels remains poorly quantified across future scenarios. Here we combined scenario-based modelling with spatially explicit exposure mapping to assess how saltmarshes influence shoreline vulnerability under three Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP) sea-level rise projections for 2050 and 2100. Using the InVEST Coastal Vulnerability Model and the Lima estuary (NW Portugal) as a case study, we showed that existing saltmarshes currently reduce mean shoreline exposure by approximately 5%, but this contribution declines with sea-level rise, falling to 2.6% by 2100 under SSP5-8.5, resulting in an increase in areas subject to High and Very High exposure risk. But under a saltmarsh revegetation scenario, model results indicated that this revegetation significantly increases the protection across all future scenarios, reducing the number of shoreline points in High and Very High exposure classes by up to 58% and lowering the potential coastal population exposure by up to 27% by 2100 under SSP5-8.5. However, the protective effect of saltmarshes diminished under the most extreme sea-level rise trajectories, indicating that saltmarsh revegetation alone may not be enough to fully offset accelerating coastal hazards. Our results demonstrate that saltmarsh restoration can deliver meaningful climate adaptation benefits; however, to safeguard estuarine systems and coastal communities under accelerating climate change in the long term, restoration actions must be integrated into broader adaptation strategies. Full article

Students and workers spend much of their day in school and office environments, where poor indoor air quality (IAQ) can negatively affect health and comfort. Indoor vegetation is increasingly proposed as a low-cost nature-based solution (NBS) to improve IAQ. This study evaluated the effects of phytoremediation on IAQ and indoor microclimate in schools across different regions and educational levels, as well as in office environments, under real-world conditions. Several C₃ plants (e.g., Chamaedorea, Schefflera, Ficus, Epipremnum, Yucca, and Spathiphyllum) were used, with crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) plants (Sansevieria) included in selected settings. Temperature, relative humidity, CO₂, PM_2.5, and PM₁₀ were continuously monitored using intercalibrated low-cost sensors in absence and presence of vegetation. A comparable plant configuration was implemented in offices to assess its effects on volatile organic compounds (VOC). Indoor greenery reduced particulate matter, especially PM10 (18–20%), and improved microclimatic conditions by lowering air temperature (1–2 °C) and increasing relative humidity (6–15%). However, CO₂ reductions were limited and context-dependent. In the tested office environments, plant introduction was associated with reduced total VOC concentrations (25–50%). Overall, our results further support that indoor vegetation constitutes a robust, cost-effective nature-based solution (NBS) capable of complementing conventional ventilation systems in both school and office environments. Full article

The contemporary debate on the climate crisis increasingly emphasizes the need to protect and enhance nature and biodiversity through the active involvement of local communities, including in tourism initiatives. In this context, there is growing demand for models and methodologies able to systematically support more sustainable approaches to territorial governance. This study explores how reflections developed in tourism studies, ecosystem restoration, and museology reveal converging interests and could benefit from a more explicit alignment of efforts. More specifically, we examine whether nature-based solutions (NbS) can support a local turn in tourism and whether ecomuseums can be considered NbS. The analysis combines a review of theoretical contributions with their application to ecomuseum experiences. Comparing the founding principles and criteria of each field, we identified four shared dimensions: place-based governance, community engagement, environmental sustainability, and education and awareness. Analysis of 94 questionnaires collected from Mediterranean ecomuseums showed how these dimensions are reflected in institutional practices. Results revealed a strong correlation between place-based governance and community engagement, and between environmental sustainability and education and awareness. Finally, an Integrated Ecomuseum Performance (IEP) Index was developed to assess the capacity of ecomuseums to act as community-based NbS and sustainable tourism actors. Ecomuseums, NbS, and the local turn in tourism are therefore presented as interconnected approaches promoting holistic, inclusive, and environmentally responsible development. The proposed criteria and index could be used as a tool to diagnose and strengthen ecomuseums’ role in sustainable tourism governance and NbS implementation at the local level. Full article

The Special Issue “Potential for Nature-Based Solutions in Urban Green Infrastructure” is published within the section Urban Contexts and Urban–Rural Interactions and focuses on the increasing importance of ecological engineering (EE) and nature-based solutions (NbS) for shaping sustainable urban and peri-urban landscapes [...] Full article

Land degradation and declining groundwater availability threaten the sustainability of rural livelihoods across semi-arid regions. This study evaluates the hydrological performance of contour-based trenches as a low-cost and replicable nature-based solution (Nbs) for soil restoration, runoff regulation, and potential distributed managed aquifer recharge (MAR) in Guerrero, Mexico. The structures were installed on 12% slopes and designed using a simplified water balance criterion based on trench storage capacity, runoff coefficient, and representative rainfall events. Each trench was constructed along contour lines with overflow notches and connecting micro-trenches to improve hydraulic continuity, reduce erosion, and enhance infiltration opportunities under degraded field conditions. After one year of field monitoring, the trenches reached an average filling efficiency of approximately 90% per effective rainfall event, with estimated infiltration rates ranging from 0.0069 to 0.011 L·s⁻¹. Soil moisture in the upper soil layer showed a relative increase of approximately 10–18% compared to adjacent untreated areas, while visible reductions in runoff velocity, sediment transport, and surface erosion were observed across the treated plot. Based on trench storage capacity, observed infiltration behavior, and assumed deep percolation fractions, the potential induced recharge was estimated between 216 and 360 m³·yr⁻¹ (43–72 mm·yr⁻¹). These values represent indicative plot-scale estimates rather than direct measurements of aquifer recharge, since no tracer studies or piezometric validation were performed. The results demonstrate that contour-based trenches contribute not only to infiltration enhancement and runoff control, but also to short-term soil restoration and improved water availability in rainfed agricultural systems. Their low-cost implementation, combined with community-based maintenance and adaptation to local environmental conditions, makes them a viable complementary strategy for strengthening decentralized water management, soil resilience, and climate adaptation in semi-arid rural landscapes. However, long-term effectiveness remains dependent on maintenance continuity, institutional support, and local governance conditions. Further multi-year monitoring and direct hydrogeological validation are recommended to improve the design and replicability of decentralized MAR systems. Full article

Aiming for a just transition towards climate neutrality requires urban regeneration strategies that address ecological and social vulnerabilities. This study examines the strategies and experiences of developing nature-based solutions (NBS) for the regeneration of public space in neighbourhoods of seven European cities participating in the URBiNAT project. The aim is to move beyond the discussions on material solutions and focus on the sociopolitical components that shape the impact of NBS towards adaptation of urban communities and public spaces to climate change. Drawing on a qualitative sociological approach, the research enquires into the drivers and impact of participatory processes in the ecological and social dimensions of urban regeneration. More specifically, the study addresses the following research questions: (1) What are the individual, collective and institutional motivations that instigate different typologies of actors to engage in these processes? (2) What is the relevance of balancing material and immaterial solutions? (3) What are the lessons learned from the multiple actors, considering their experiences, expectations, and priorities? Findings confirm that the aim to produce socially and ecologically robust climate solutions for urban regeneration can be achieved through collaborative governance strategies emerging from, and tailored to, the typology of actors’ specific sensitivities, expectations, and priorities. Full article

Nature-based solutions (NbS) are increasingly promoted in European policy for their potential to support climate adaptation and contribute to human health. Yet evidence on their health impacts remains fragmented across disciplines and limited to specific health outcomes or ecosystems. We carried out a systematic review of studies assessing the links between NbS and human health in Europe, covering multiple ecosystem types (agricultural, coastal, forest, mountain, urban, rural and freshwater ecosystems) and both mental and physical health outcomes. A total of 115 studies met the inclusion criteria and were concentrated in the United Kingdom (38%) and Spain (17%), with urban (45%) and forest (17%) ecosystems most frequently examined. Most studies evaluated Type 1 NbS (minimal intervention) and focused on adult populations (58%). Mental health outcomes were studied nearly twice as often as physical health, including positive mental health, circulatory diseases and mental and behavioural disorders. Nearly 88% of quantitative studies reported at least one positive association, whereas qualitative studies highlighted that perceived health benefits of NbS were often shaped by participants’ subjective experiences. Our findings emphasise the need for more longitudinal and experimental research designs, attention to NbS types and equity considerations, and better integration of human health into NbS planning and policy. Full article

Nature-based solutions (NBSs) involving tree-based interventions deliver multiple community benefits, yet evidence linking these benefits to underlying socio-ecological vulnerabilities remains limited. This study synthesised metadata from 131 European treescape NBS case studies spanning eight biogeographical regions using reverse-logic, thematic qualitative analysis. Case studies were identified via adapted PRISMA guidelines from open-access repositories, with community benefit themes categorised and mapped spatially across bioregions. The analysis revealed eleven principal community benefit categories and distinct region-specific patterns: Mediterranean interventions primarily mitigated extreme heat and drought vulnerabilities, whilst Alpine projects addressed slope stability and hazard reduction. The Continental and Atlantic regions emphasised social cohesion, recreational access, and the preservation of cultural heritage. The reverse-logic methodology successfully identified underlying socio-ecological vulnerabilities through systematic analysis of observed benefit profiles across diverse European contexts. This approach provides evidence-based guidance for designing location-sensitive treescape NBS that advance environmental research and public health objectives. The findings establish a methodological foundation for future assessments of NBS effectiveness and for refining location-specific treescape interventions that address community vulnerabilities and enhance adaptive capacity. Full article

As urban areas expand, the sustainable management of municipal water becomes a critical challenge, especially in arid and semi-arid regions facing severe water scarcity. Accurate assessment of urban plant water requirements (PWR) is essential for developing sustainable landscape architecture and resilient green infrastructure. In this study, a new quantitative equation (PWR_q) was developed as a regional proof of concept to adjust reference evapotranspiration estimates for hyper-arid conditions. A Tree Morphology Coefficient (K_tm) is introduced to combine canopy features (form, height) and leaf traits (size, density) with an updated drought-resistance coefficient (K_dr). Field measurements of 277 mature trees, representing 27 native and introduced species in Riyadh and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, were analyzed. The framework explicitly includes an empirical multiplier to account for extreme urban heat island (UHI) effects and aerodynamic canopy scaling. Instead of direct empirical validation, the PWR_q model was benchmarked against established reference indices: Water Use Classification of Landscape Species (WUCOLS) and Simplified Landscape Irrigation Demand Estimation (SLIDE), showing strong alignment with established categorical indices and structural traits. The results confirm that the morphology-based method effectively makes previously subjective classifications objective. Notably, the quantitative assessment found that the dominant introduced species require about 3.5 times more water than native species. As a proof of concept, future research should empirically validate these findings against direct physical measurements, such as sap flow sensors or lysimeters. The proposed framework presents a practical, objective decision-support tool for municipal policymakers and landscape architects to optimize species selection, implement nature-based solutions (NBS), and achieve long-term sustainability in urban greening. Full article

Federated learning is a distributed machine learning paradigm that enables multiple devices to collaboratively train a shared model while keeping their raw data localized. Federated learning has become an attractive solution for intrusion detection in Internet of Things (IoT)-based wireless sensor networks because it enables collaborative model training without transferring raw traffic data. However, real deployments rarely satisfy the common assumption that client data are independent and identically distributed (IID). In practical wireless sensor networks, data heterogeneity naturally arises from spatial variation, uneven attack exposure, traffic imbalance, and differences in sensing conditions, which can substantially affect detection reliability and deployment feasibility. This study presents an application-oriented evaluation of federated intrusion detection under controlled non-IID conditions using three representative datasets: WSN-DS, CIC-IDS-2017, and UNSW-NB15. An LSTM-based intrusion detection model is trained in a federated setting and assessed using three aggregation strategies, namely, FedAvg, FedProx, and SCAFFOLD, under label skew, quantity skew, and feature skew scenarios. The results show that standard FedAvg degrades markedly as heterogeneity increases, with accuracy reductions of up to 23.4 percentage points and substantially higher communication cost under extreme non-IID settings. In contrast, FedProx and SCAFFOLD improve convergence stability and reduce the impact of client drift, with SCAFFOLD showing the strongest overall robustness and up to 45% lower communication cost than FedAvg due to faster convergence. These results demonstrate that non-IID awareness is essential for building deployable privacy-preserving intrusion detection systems for resource-constrained IoT environments. The study provides practical guidance for selecting federated aggregation strategies in wireless sensor network security applications where robustness, bandwidth efficiency, and real-world data heterogeneity must be jointly considered. Full article

Cities are artificial ecosystems that suffer most from environmental issues and climate change. Urban Heat Island (UHI) effects represent an increasing challenge, especially for compact Mediterranean cities characterized by high population density and extensive impervious surfaces. This study assessed localized microclimatic conditions within the small Maltese coastal town of Isla through a 15-day summer field monitoring campaign. Air temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed were measured across urban locations characterized by different levels of vegetation coverage and thermal vulnerability. The analysis combined descriptive statistics, Mann–Whitney U testing, and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) models. In addition, site-specific Nature-based Solutions (NbS) scenarios were proposed as context-sensitive strategies to support urban heat mitigation and climate resilience. The results highlighted distinct microclimatic responses between the sites investigated. In particular, the MLR analysis suggested that non-vegetated areas were more sensitive to short-term atmospheric variability associated with wind speed and relative humidity fluctuations. These findings suggest that urban vegetation may contribute not only to localized cooling, but also to increased microclimatic stability within compact Mediterranean urban environments. Full article

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are increasingly promoted in environmental management to address water, climate, biodiversity, and pollution challenges while delivering social and economic co-benefits. Yet decision-makers still face uncertainty about what works where, for whom, and how reliably over time. This narrative review synthesizes cross-cutting, peer-reviewed evidence on three decision-critical domains: NBS effectiveness for key environmental management objectives; co-benefits, trade-offs, and equity (including distributional risks across groups and places); and monitoring and evaluation (M&E). This review is not a systematic review, not a semi-systematic review with a fixed, protocol-driven study inventory, and not a meta-analysis; “comprehensiveness” refers to breadth of themes and management objectives addressed, not to exhaustive capture of all published sources. A distinguishing contribution is an intervention–pathway–endpoint typology oriented to measurement and M&E: it links broad NBS categories to dominant biophysical mechanisms and to concrete indicator families. Unlike criteria-first verification frameworks, this typology is organized around measurement logic (what to monitor, and how endpoints chain from processes to management decisions). It complements criteria- and process-oriented NbS quality frameworks (e.g., the IUCN Global Standard’s criteria and indicators for verification, design, and scaling) by foregrounding an explicit indicator logic chain for appraisal, monitoring, and cross-project comparability. The review assesses effectiveness for water quality, flood and flow regulation, heat mitigation, biodiversity, and carbon/climate mitigation; consolidates social, economic, and ecological co-benefits; reviews recurring M&E weaknesses; proposes a pragmatic minimum indicator set and feasible evaluation designs; and outlines an implementation-oriented NBS environmental management cycle. The aim is to strengthen transparent, climate-aware, evidence-based, and equity-aware environmental management. Full article

This work examines the contribution of additive manufacturing as an enabling technology in the design and development of smart and sustainable construction systems, with particular emphasis on nature-based solutions. While the existing literature has devoted considerable attention to the material properties of additive manufacturing, much less emphasis has been placed on its role in design processes, prototyping, and decision-making in construction and urban systems. To address this gap, this study presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the intersection between smart city frameworks and 3D printing technologies, utilizing a dataset of 103 peer-reviewed publications retrieved from the Scopus database. Using keyword co-occurrence analysis and network mapping through VOSviewer, this study identifies dominant thematic structures, core research hubs, and evolving trends within the field. Complementing this bibliometric analysis with qualitative synthesis, it also reveals a significant convergence of digital design, smart cities, and sustainability strategies. This work further highlights the contribution of additive manufacturing to design processes through rapid prototyping, customization, and the exploration of design alternatives. Rather than framing additive manufacturing as a replacement for conventional design practices, this study positions it as a complementary design capability that can enhance the design process, while also acknowledging important challenges related to scaling, regulation, and integration into construction workflows. This review concludes by outlining future research directions for strengthening the design-oriented integration of additive manufacturing within smart construction systems. Full article