As part of the Presidency of the Estonian Republic of the Council of the European Union, a flagship conference “Nature-based Solutions: From Innovation to Common-use” will be organized by the Ministry of the Environment of Estonia and the University of Tallinn.

The conference will address nature-targeted innovation actions involving all societal actors. It will host leading scientists, policymakers and entrepreneurs from around the world who will share their experience on how nature-based innovation and eco-innovative technologies can be implemented in many areas of life.

Urbanization and global climate change are creating ever-increasing problems. In combination with smart-city solutions, nature-based solutions (NBS) can offer a wide variety of ways to increase the resilience of cities and the wellbeing of its citizens.

Many researchers are looking towards NBS to solve water problems such as high demand for energy in conventional water treatment plants and the removal of problematic pollutants. Many urban areas are also vulnerable to flooding and extreme rainfall events that can be mitigated with the right blue-green infrastructure.

The conference will also showcase the latest Information and Communications Technology (ICT) solutions such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS), environmental data analysis or mobile phone apps for the monitoring of natural systems that support the development, implementation and monitoring of NBS.

The first day of this three-day conference will feature field vists and side events for organisations related to NBS. The second day will focus on policy and governance of NBS and day three will highlight research and innovation.

Discussions will cover policy and financing as well as innovative solutions close to or already on the market to give inspiration and show what can be done. The conference aims to strengthen synergies among various recent initiatives and programs related to NBS launched by the European Commission and by the EU Member States.

The call for abstracts is open until July 14 and the registration for the conference will be opened in August 2017. More information is available here.