Partnering with
nature to thrive

Athens, Lillestrøm, Logroño, and Milan are aware that nature can help protect their communities from extreme heat and flooding while also supporting ecological goals.

Implementing Nature-Based Solutions (NBS), however, requires careful planning and buy-in from communities and engagement from stakeholders to ensure lasting impact.

This poses a challenge to the local government:

Where and how should NBS be implemented to reach the highest benefits for people, assets, and biodiversity?

Illustration of a heatwave strategy — Athens
Athens is a very large city located the Attica region and it is the capital of Greece. The Municipality of Athens, has over 600 thousand inhabitants.

Concept of urban importance — Why it matters?

Examples of urban solutions — Seven urban realities

— Nature Based Solutions

Case Study 3

Solution

Milan, Lillestrøm, Logroño, Gdynia, and Athens used a combination of REACHOUT’s climate services to find answers

Risk

Priority

Action

Understanding the risk

The Pluvial Flood Tool

The Pluvial Flood Tool helped the cities identify flood-prone areas under different rainfall scenarios. It also evaluated the effectiveness of NBS—such as green roofs and urban green spaces—in reducing flood damage and protecting vulnerable populations.

**Figure 1:**
Damage and population exposed reduction per unit of area in a scenario of green improvement of 25% for a rainfall event RP100. -produced by CMCC

Priority

Turning data into actionable priorities

The Climate Resilient City Tool (CRC-Tool)

The cities went a step further, applying the Climate Resilient City Tool (CRC-Tool) in design workshops to explore diverse adaptation options and assess their potential co-benefits.

In Athens and Gdynia, the tool encouraged dialogue among stakeholders and made it easy for everyone to participate in planning.

⸻

In Athens, stakeholders used the tool to co-design solutions tailored to specific neighbourhoods, ensuring the proposed measures were practical, effective, and locally relevant.

**Figure 2:**
CRC-Tool used in the stakeholder workshop to identify regeneration options for the Votris factory and surrounding area in Athens - produced by Deltares

Action

Defining a plan of action

Leveraging the tools

The tools are already shaping policy targets and guiding decisions.

Milan is using assessment results to inform the "Air and Climate Plan" of the city. Athens is incorporating the CRC-tool directly into upcoming local projects like the Cooling Havens blue-green infrastructure project.

As part of a National effort, Gdynia is using NBS workshops for the systemic implementation of blue-green infrastructure. The workshops are helping Gdynia define climate vulnerable areas to start developing local NBS conceptual designs.