Scaling Nature-Based Water Treatment Solutions: A Practical Guide for Cities
As cities worldwide grapple with increasing water challenges – flooding, droughts, and wastewater treatment inefficiencies—nature-based solutions for water treatment (NbS-WT) offer a sustainable alternative. These solutions not only enhance urban resilience but also provide co-benefits such as cooling, biodiversity restoration, and improved public health. However, large-scale implementation remains slow due to governance, financing, and stakeholder coordination barriers.
To address these challenges, the Horizon 2020 MULTISOURCE project has been developing a Practical Guide to Business Model Development for Urban Nature-Based Water Treatment Solutions. This guide will serve as a roadmap for city planners, developers, and private sector stakeholders, offering practical insights derived from 57 NbS case studies, 23 interviews, and stakeholder workshops in Oslo, Girona, Milan, and Lyon.
The guide outlines a structured five-stage approach to help cities scale NbS-WT:
1. Project Development – Define objectives, engage stakeholders, and align financing.
2. Planning – Assess sites, integrate solutions into urban policies, and ensure regulatory compliance.
3. Design & Engineering – Develop technical blueprints and foster community engagement.
4. Construction – Implement NbS-WT with a focus on long-term sustainability.
5. Operation & Maintenance (O&M) – Establish clear roles, monitoring frameworks, and adaptive management strategies.
One of the primary hurdles to scaling NbS-WT is securing sustainable financing. The report will bring forward four business models: Public-Public, Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), Public Service on Private Property, and Private-Private models. Aligning financing with ecosystem services and long-term maintenance is key to mainstream adoption.
As climate pressures intensify, cities must move beyond pilot projects and toward scalable, self-sustaining NbS-WT. The MULTISOURCE guide will also provide actionable strategies to unlock investments, align financing with ecosystem services
