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The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Urban and Regional Futures pp 1104–1113Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Nature-Based Solutions for River Restoration in Metropolitan Areas

The Example of Costa Rica

Synonyms

Ecological engineering; Ecological restoration; Ecosystem-based adaptation; Ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction or building with nature; Ecosystem-based management; Green and blue infrastructure; Nature-based interventions, Planning with nature, green/soft engineering

Definition

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are “actions which are inspired by, supported by or copied from nature” (Commission 2015), or more specifically, actions that (i) alleviate a well-defined societal challenge, (ii) utilize ecosystem processes, and (iii) are embedded within viable governance models (Albert et al. 2019). The term is used as an umbrella term for existing concepts such as ecological restoration, ecological engineering, green and blue infrastructure, ecosystem-based management, ecosystem-based adaptation, ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction, or building with nature.

River restoration refers to a variety of ecological, physical, spatial, and management measures aimed at restoring the...

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Nature-Based Solutions for River Restoration in Metropolitan Areas, Fig. 1

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Acknowledgments

We thank Gonzalo Pradilla Villamizar for a friendly review of an earlier version of this entry. We further acknowledge the funding that we received from the German Federal Ministry of Research and Education (Grant ID: 01UU1704 and 01UU1601B).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Technical University of Darmstadt, Section of Ecological Engineering, Institute of Applied Geosciences, Darmstadt, Germany

    Jochen Hack

  2. Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Working group Governance of Ecosystem Services, Müncheberg, Germany

    Barbara Schröter

  3. Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies (LUCSUS), Lund, Sweden

    Barbara Schröter

Authors
  1. Jochen Hack
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  2. Barbara Schröter
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Barbara Schröter .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Our Future Water, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Robert C. Brears

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Hack, J., Schröter, B. (2022). Nature-Based Solutions for River Restoration in Metropolitan Areas. In: Brears, R.C. (eds) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Urban and Regional Futures. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87745-3_166

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