Building resilient coastal communities through nature-based solutions and empowerment tools

This report provides an evidence base on how Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and Empowerment Tools (ET) can support resilience in coastal communities. Using a Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA), this report synthesises the current state of the evidence concerning the role of NbS and community ET in addressing coastal challenges such as climate change across Europe.

Some of the recommendations to enhance resilience of coastal communities from the report include:

• Longitudinal studies on development and monitoring of NbS and Empowerment, including (knowledge) co-creation, along with a need for standardized measurement of empowerment beyond project timeframes
• Greater funding provisions for community-based and smaller scale NbS and Empowerment interventions important in fostering proactive action from not only academics/researchers but also the community at large.
• Increased collaboration amongst different sections of society- such as academia, civil society/citizens, industry, public sector, and media- is important in order to foster real change and encourage implementation of more NbS and Empowerment initiatives. Co-creation processes and mechanisms such as living labs can support strengthening democratic decisions and ownership.
• Strong focus on factors such as climate change as well as future socioeconomic changes to ensure the long-term impact of NbS and Empowerment initiatives for robust decision-making processes and longerlasting impacts of interventions, including adaptive pathways.