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Nature-based solutions may actively reduce hydro-meteorological risks in urban areas as a part of climate change adaptation. However, the main reason for the increasing uptake of this type of solution is their many benefits for the local inhabitants, including recreational value. Previous studies on recreational value focus on studies of existing nature sites that are often much larger than what is considered as new NBS for flood adaptation studies in urban areas. We thus prioritized studies with smaller areas and nature types suitable for urban flood adaptation and divided them into four common nature types for urban flood adaptation: sustainable urban drainage systems, city parks, nature areas and rivers. We identified 23 primary valuation studies, including both stated and revealed preference studies, and derived two value transfer functions based on meta-regression analysis on existing areas. We investigated trends between values and variables and found that for the purpose of planning of new NBS the size of NBS and population density were determining factors of recreational value. For existing NBS the maximum travelling distance may be included as well. We find that existing state-of-the-art studies overestimate the recreational with more than a factor of 4 for NBS sizes below 5 ha. Our results are valid in a European context for nature-based solutions below 250 ha and can be applied across different NBS types and sizes.

Forest herbs in the face of global change: a single-species-multiple-threats approach for Anemone nemorosa

The notion of climate anxiety has gained traction in the last years. Yet uncertainty remains regarding the variations of climate anxiety across demographic characteristics (e.g., gender, age) and its associations with adaptive (i.e., pro-environmental) behaviors. Moreover, the point-estimate proportion of people frequently experiencing climate anxiety has seldom been probed. In this study, we assessed climate anxiety (including its related functional impairments), along with demographic characteristics, climate change experience, and pro-environmental behaviors, in 2,080 French-speaking participants from eight African and European countries. 11.64% of the participants reported experiencing climate anxiety frequently, and 20.72% reported experiencing daily life functional consequences (e.g., impact on the ability to go to work or socialize). Women and younger people exhibited significantly higher levels of climate anxiety. There was no difference between participants from African and European countries, although the sample size of the former was limited, thus precluding any definite conclusion regarding potential geographic differences. Concerning adaptation, climate anxiety was associated with pro-environmental behaviors. However, this association was significantly weaker in people reporting frequent experiences of climate anxiety (i.e., eco-paralysis) than in those with lower levels. Although this observation needs to be confirmed in longitudinal and experimental research, our results suggest that climate anxiety can impede daily life functioning and adaptation to climate change in many people, thus deserving a careful audit by the scientific community and practitioners.

This publication brings together the major recommendations for the initial memorandum for the Spatial Implementation Plan (SIP) for the Oudland Polder (phase 1) arising from the European COASTAL Horizon 2020 project. They are based on a far-seeing exploration of the future, up to 2100, in which a range of societal developments were explored. This means that we reviewed, for example, how the further urbanisation and population growth in this polder region could evolve. We also checked which agricultural practices we could expect in the Oudland Polder in the future. This implies that we had to take into account a great many uncertainties when developing these recommendations. One of the ways to do this is to work with scenarios, whether or not supported by modelling work. This means each of the recommendations on the following pages is substantiated by the insights arising from this scenario work. Furthermore, we involved a diverse group of stakeholders living and/or working in the region in this exploration of the future. Through their expertise in relation to the Oudland Polder, they provided a valuable contribution to the debate on the future of this polder region. What they brought to the table helped to contextualise and interpret results. Thirdly, where possible, we also made the link between European and Flemish policy lines that are aimed at the longer term and present some clear objectives for the coming decades. This means the recommendations presented in this publication are a synthesis of research combining both qualitative and quantitative work, and in which modelling work builds upon a direct dialogue with stakeholders, but has also fed into it. We would therefore like to expressly thank all the stakeholders and experts who have made us familiar with the Oudland Polder in recent years, in particular the staff at the VLM. We also extend our sincere thanks to everyone who took part in one of the workshops, gave feedback on publications or took the time to work with us on the various scenarios referred to in this publication.

This paper has theoretically substantiated and experimentally established the intensity of thermal radiation at burning and sublayer extinguishing of alcohols with environmentally acceptable aerosols. An installation has been improved that determines the effectiveness of sublayer extinguishing with fire-extinguishing aerosols; a procedure that has been devised for determining the intensity of thermal radiation implies equipping it with an additional heat flow meter HFM–01 at a distance of 30 and 60 mm. The task to establish the intensity of thermal radiation when burning alcohols and its impact on the process of sublayer extinguishing of alcohols with aerosols has been solved. The dependence of sublayer extinguishing efficiency on thermal radiation implies that the fire extinguishing aerosol completely shields the surface of the combustible liquid against its action. The result of this study has established that the intensity of thermal radiation at a distance of 60 and 30 mm from the surface of an alcohol flame with an area of 234 cm2 ranges from 0.8 to 4.7 kW/m2; the intensity of burning and, accordingly, radiation, maximizes on seconds 30‒40 of burning. It has been found that the intensity of thermal radiation for ethanol decreases with the addition of an aerosol with an intensity of up to 0.2 g/s, and decreases even more at the intensity of supply from 1.2 g/s. With a further increase in the intensity of aerosol supply, the radiation intensity begins to decrease, probably due to a decrease in the rate of combustion. In this case, the flame first decreases in size up to 2 times, and then, after 2‒3 seconds, it goes out. The use of fire-extinguishing aerosol for the sublayer extinguishing of alcohols ensures the effect of several factors that synergize and reduce the intensity of evaporation, burning, and, accordingly, thermal radiation

Results of many years of introduction research on Panicum virgatum L. (Poaceae) in M.M. Gryshko National Botanical Garden of the NAS of Ukraine are presented. The biomorphological characteristics, biochemical composition of the plant, crop yield of the above ground plant mass and seed are determined. The yield of valuable compounds and energy efficiency of the crop are identified. High-yield forms with assigned features of crop yield, sugar content of plant biomass, total energy yield and biofuel output per one square unit are created. We proved that in the condition of crop introduction almost all forms of Panicum virgatum undergo full cycle of plant development – from the seed to the seed during one growing season, starting from the first-year. A phase of a seed maturation in the early developed plant forms begins in the third decade of September, in late developed forms until the middle of October, some forms have their growing season until the beginning of winter frosting. The major morphological features of plants are dependent on the forms and crops variations and ripening phase. Total harvest of the above ground mass and general output of the plant up till the flowering phase increases, where at the end of growing season decreases. We showed that plant forms with retard development had a high yield of above-ground mass for 58.0–115.6 % greater than the early developed plants. Increment in the dry matter content of plants from tiller to seed ripening phase is demonstrated. However, the percentage of sugars, ascorbic acid, carotene, and lipids is diminished. During the same growing season we did not observe any correlation between lignin and fiber accumulation. Similar results were acquired for the heat capacity harvest of above ground mass. High-yield Panicum virgatum crop provide substantial output of the dry mass, ethanol, and energy throughout all development phases of the plant. Among studied plant samples the top productivity was supplied by Zoryane cultivar.