Conference Agenda

The NATALIE project, funded by Horizon Europe, aims to promote the broader adoption of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) by providing evidence of their benefits. The project explores methodologies, models, and resilience assessment tools to address climate challenges, including water-related climatic hazards in urban areas, such as pluvial flooding, droughts, and the associated water quality issues. The NATALIE methodological framework involves analyzing regional climate and socio-economic scenarios, utilizing downscaled climate change projections, and conducting a comprehensive hazard and impact assessment using tailored performance indicators. It also examines the mitigation mechanisms of NBS and their implementation in physically-based modelling. The project underscores the importance of land use maps in hazard modelling and exposure assessment, presenting a method to downscale land use changes within future socio-economic scenarios. NATALIE features eight case studies, including two that focus on urban drainage in the Canary Islands (Spain) and Bucharest (Romania): the first addressing non-point source pollution in the natural reserve of Maspalomas (Gran Canaria), and the latter focusing on freshwater habitat restoration in Văcărești Natural Park (Bucharest).