In a collaborative effort, EU-funded projects MERLIN, SpongeWorks, SpongeBoost, SpongeScapes, and FutureLakes released a policy brief on nature-based solutions for climate resilience in Europe. Together, the projects focus on restoring and protecting natural landscapes – such as sponge landscapes, freshwater ecosystems, and European lakes – through ecological innovation and green solutions that strengthen climate resilience, while advancing nature-based solution policies and encouraging broader dialogue on the topic.

The policy brief, titled “Advancing the Water Resilience Strategy through Sponge Landscapes and Nature-Based Solutions for a Climate Resilient Europe”, outlines concrete policy recommendations for operationalising the EWRS by addressing key gaps in the interplay between EU-level policy-making, Member State (MS) policy implementation, and local action, based on lessons learned from EU research projects.

The brief proposes four main policy action areas for integrating sponge landscapes into the European Water Resilience Strategy (EWRS). These include aligning policies and governance across sectors (water, climate, agriculture, and land use) and across governance levels (EU, Member State, and local levels). They also include strengthening system understanding through improved access to evidence, monitoring, and guidance for adapting sponge landscape measures. Additionally, the strategies aim to enhance stakeholder engagement and co-creation through accessible tools and participatory approaches, including digital mapping tools, scenario-based GeoDesign methods, and communication materials, such as the SpongeBoost comic books and SpongeWorks’ solution game cards. Finally, the strategies will advance financing and investment through blended finance, improved cost–benefit analysis, and alignment with existing funding frameworks, including the Common Agricultural Policy.

Co-written as a joint effort between participants in EU-funded projects, the document draws on evidence and practical experience from EU-funded projects and demonstrates how governance, policy integration, innovative research, stakeholder engagement, and financing can enable large-scale implementation, thereby supporting the operationalisation of the EWRS.

To support the implementation of sponge landscape and nature-based solution policies, the policy brief highlights various publications and tools for the outlined strategies, such as the SpongeScapes model selection map and MERLIN’s financial planning workflow. The brief marks the beginning of a series of policy briefs, which will be developed as part of the SpongeBoost project.

The publication is now available on Zenodo and on SpongeBoost’s website.

***

SpongeBoost receives funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No.101112906.

Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Neither the EU nor CINEA can be held responsible for them.