The Nature-Based Solutions Working Group (GT-SbN) is a multidisciplinary group of professionals interested in deepening the application of the Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) approach in their daily work, as well as in identifying projects and strategies that use NBS to re-naturalise the city throughout the country and disseminate them with the intention that this vision of the city of the future, more natural and healthy, spreads throughout Spain.

At a time when it is important to promote the NBS in different areas of society, CONAMA offers the possibility of giving continuity to the group on a permanent basis, extending its activity beyond the National Environmental Congresses and establishing a framework of collaboration that allows the generation of a network of key people working in this area.

Recently, from the Observatory of NBS of the CONAMA Foundation, the project information has been updated in the directory of NBS initiatives of the Observatory’s website (available here) and an article has been published in interview format in which Miguel Vega, General Coordinator of LIFE-myBUILDINGisGREEN and Project Manager at the Royal Botanical Garden (RJB-CSIC), shares some key aspects and lessons learned from this initiative.

First, information is extended on the criteria followed for the selection of the pilot buildings of the project and the challenges identified in this selection process, as well as the solutions that were foreseen as appropriate to address them.

Then, the improvements in well-being, coexistence or functionality in the intervened centres after implementing the NBS are explained, as well as other additional benefits provided by these solutions.

It also mentions the difficulties that currently exist to incorporate NBS in construction or renovation projects compared to classic insulation solutions and the steps taken by LIFE-myBUILDINGisGREEN to incorporate these innovations in sustainable construction certificates or regulations, such as the VERDE certificate of Green Building Council Spain (GBCe) or the inclusion of NBS in the Online Catalogue of Construction Solutions of the Technical Building Code.

The article also addresses the concerns that currently arise in relation to this type of solutions, either because of the cost of maintenance or because of technical difficulties.

Finally, it highlights a series of relevant deliverables of the project, which may be of special interest for those centres that want to adopt the type of solutions developed and tested by the LIFE-myBUILDINGisGREEN project.

Sedum carpet and other plant species used in green roofs © LIFE-mBiG

To access the full article (available just in Spanish), visit the website of the CONAMA Foundation’s NBS Observatory.

The Nature-Based Solutions Working Group (GT-SbN) is an initiative coordinated by the CONAMA Foundation and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Implementation process of a green roof in the Évora school © LIFE-mBiG

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