Horizon2020 for Rob Raven and Hens Runhaar

Rob Raven, together with Hens Runhaar, is part of a winning consortium ‘NATUREVATION’ for the recent Horizon2020 call on ‘New governance, business, financing models and economic impact assessment tools for sustainable cities with nature-based solutions’. In the project the consortium will explore the urban innovation dynamics and institutional barriers around ‘Nature-Based-Solutions’ (NBS) with a particular focus on five partner city-regions, including Utrecht.

NBS is an emerging discourse in Europe and seen as an alternative to ‘grey solutions’ to the increasing impact of climate change on cities. The project will develop a database of 100 NBS initiatives globally, develop new assessments methods, and explore institutional barriers and opportunities in construction, finance and public policy. The research is inter- and transdisciplinary in nature and involves a strong collaboration in Utrecht between Institutions for Open Societies, members of the Copernicus Institute, the Utrecht School of Economics and the Sustainable Finance Lab.