After the six info-packs shared in the last edition, this sixth and final edition closes NBSINFRA’s three-year storytelling journey presenting some of the project’s most significant closing results: ten posters from the Final International Conference, the NBSINFRA Best Practices Book, an international policy brief, and five City Lab Handbooks.

• Ten posters from the Final International Conference (Brussels, 10 June 2026), five per City Lab and five on the project’s cross-cutting tools, published on the NBSINFRA website and on Zenodo.
• The NBSINFRA Best Practices Book, synthesising lessons and policy recommendations from the five City Labs for policymakers, public authorities and practitioners.
• A policy brief prepared by UNESCO in collaboration with City Lab partners, “Recognising Nature-based Solutions as critical infrastructure: bridging the implementation gap”, translating five national policy analyses into six recommendations for the EU and national/regional authorities.
• Five City Lab Handbooks, documenting Ruse, Fingal, Aveiro, Prague and Cologne’s progress through the NBS implementation lifecycle.

All these materials are available for download on Zenodo and on the NBSINFRA website’s Resources page.

As this chapter closes, we thank everyone who has followed our journey, contributed to our work and helped shape NBSINFRA’s results over the past three years.

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After the video tour of our five City Labs in the last edition, this issue moves from images to insights: six info-packs bringing together the project’s core methods and tools, ready for use well beyond the five partner territories. The info-packs span the full breadth of the project’s innovation:

• Resilience and Sustainability Quantification Framework: a data-driven methodology for comparing Nature-Based Solutions under different conditions and extreme weather events.
• Reference Framework Specification for the NBSINFRA Digital Twin, connecting live sensor and satellite data to simulation models, moving planners from monitoring to prediction.
• NBSINFRA Toolbox and API for NBS Tools: an interoperability layer letting planning software, planners, and residents map green interventions and see their projected impacts.
• Co-creation Framework for Citizen Participation with NBS, combining deliberative democracy with geodesign to make communities genuine co-authors of local solutions.
• Self-learning Toolkit for Community Engagement and NBS Co-creation: bridging social reflexivity and technical infrastructure protection through web and text mining, video neuroanalytics, and affective computing.
• NBSINFRA Replication Roadmap: a structured pathway for municipalities, regional authorities, and infrastructure managers to adapt and scale the project’s frameworks and tools.

Together, these six info-packs are an open invitation: to cities facing flood risk or urban heat, to planners seeking evidence-based methods, and to communities wanting a genuine voice in decisions that shape their environment. The knowledge generated across Aveiro, Cologne, Fingal, Prague, and Ruse is ready to travel.

Download the info-packs and start putting them to use.

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In this edition, we are delighted to share five short video clips, one for each City Lab, showcasing the cities, the risks they face, and the nature-based solutions being tested to strengthen their resilience.

From the canals of Aveiro to the banks of the Rhine in Cologne, from the Danube shores of Ruse to the growing suburbs of Fingal and the rooftops of Prague, each video offers a concise and engaging introduction to what makes each City Lab unique.

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How can Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) help protect critical infrastructure from climate-related and disaster risks?

On Wednesday, 10 June 2026, UNESCO will host the international conference on NBS for critical infrastructure resilience at the Palais des Académies in Brussels, within the framework of the EU-funded NBSINFRA project.

The conference will bring together representatives from European institutions, civil protection authorities, academia, local authorities, private-sector experts and practitioners to explore how NBS can strengthen the resilience of critical infrastructure in the face of increasing climate and disaster risks.

As extreme weather events and climate-related hazards continue to place pressure on urban systems, infrastructure and communities, the event will provide a timely opportunity to discuss how nature can become part of the solution. Through policy dialogue and expert exchange, the conference will highlight the role of NBS in protecting infrastructure, reducing risks and supporting more resilient territories.

The programme will include a policy round table on how NBS can protect infrastructure, followed by a discussion panel focused on translating evidence into policy. The session will feature insights from the NBSINFRA project, alongside contributions from leading European experts and practitioners.

Event details

• Date: Wednesday, 10 June 2026
• Time: 14:00–18:00
• Registration: from 13:30
• Reception: following the conference
• Venue: Palais des Académies, Salle Christian de Duve, Rue Ducale 1, 1000 Brussels, Belgium

Why attend?

The conference will offer participants the opportunity to:

• learn how NBS can contribute to critical infrastructure resilience;
• engage with policy and practice perspectives from across Europe;
• discover insights emerging from the NBSINFRA project;
• connect with experts working at the intersection of climate adaptation, disaster risk reduction, infrastructure and urban resilience.

Registration

• Participation is open upon registration.
• Register here
• For further information, please contact:
• brussels@unesco.org
• Tel: +32 2 891 59 97

As part of the NBSINFRA project, partners have developed Nature’s Bet, an innovative card-based game designed to explore the risks faced by the project’s five city labs while introducing players to the role of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) in building urban resilience.

Grounded in the concept of serious play, Nature’s Bet combines simple, engaging gameplay with meaningful educational content. Players interact with hazard and solution cards that reflect real-world climate challenges, such as floods and heatwaves, encountered across European cities. Through play, participants discover how NBS can help mitigate these risks and contribute to more resilient urban environments.

The game has been designed with flexibility in mind. It can be played individually or in groups, making it suitable for a wide range of settings and audiences. From classrooms introducing key sustainability concepts, to workshops and stakeholder engagement sessions that encourage dialogue, Nature’s Bet offers an accessible and interactive way to learn. It also provides an enjoyable experience for adults interested in understanding how nature-based approaches can address urban challenges.

By turning complex topics into an interactive experience, Nature’s Bet supports the NBSINFRA mission to promote awareness, knowledge exchange, and practical understanding of Nature-Based Solutions across Europe.

Play the game now!
Ready to explore urban resilience in a fun and interactive way? Access Nature’s Bet, learn the rules, print your cards and start playing!

After the first edition introduced the project’s mission to strengthen critical urban infrastructure through Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) and presented the five European City Labs, the second edition took readers deeper into each local context through five dedicated booklets exploring territorial challenges, governance processes and place-based NBS approaches. Building on this journey, the third edition puts the spotlight on the story maps of the five City Labs.

These visual narratives bring together scientific data, local knowledge and visual storytelling to show how Nature-Based Solutions are being tested, adapted and embedded across diverse European cities. They offer an accessible and engaging way to understand how urban areas are addressing climate challenges while shaping more resilient, inclusive and liveable environments.

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From 19 to 21 March 2026, the NBSINFRA consortium gathered in Aveiro, bringing together partners, local stakeholders, and EU representatives to take stock of progress and exchange key lessons.

The Assembly opened with updates from project partners, setting the stage for a collaborative workshop on the project’s replication roadmap. Here, partners joined forces to validate key exploitable results and identify potential early adopters as an important step toward ensuring the project’s long-term impact.

This forward-looking discussion was complemented by a visit to the Aveiro case study, where participants explored the city’s urban water management system, including the Vilar stream, Bocage landscape, and the Lower Vouga Lagoon’s defence infrastructure.

NBSINFRA consortium during the field trip

Building on these on-site insights, technical sessions highlighted a central message: nature-based solutions must be tailored to local contexts. Findings from Aveiro showed that combining solutions can deliver stronger results, while the Cologne case study pointed to the need to address multiple climate risks simultaneously. Alongside this, a digital twin model for water management was presented, offering new opportunities for data-driven flood mitigation planning.

Policy discussions further enriched the programme, emphasising the importance of stakeholder engagement, coordination across municipal departments, and integrating nature-based solutions into long-term strategies. Participants also addressed practical challenges, from implementation and funding to building community trust, highlighting the role of communication, knowledge sharing, and participatory approaches.

The Assembly also created space for exchange through a round table on urban water management, a dedicated policy working group, and a community workshop on rainwater reuse, which reinforced the project’s strong focus on collaboration and local engagement.

The event concluded with a shared recognition: nature-based solutions play a vital role in strengthening urban resilience and sustainability, and continued cooperation will be key to turning knowledge into action.