Severe hydro-meteorological phenomena are having a high impact in European territories and are of global concern. The science behind these phenomena is complex and advancement in knowledge proceeds with progress in data acquisition and forecasting useful for real-scenario interventions. The employment of nature-based solutions (NBS) to mitigate the impact of hydro-meteorological phenomena is not adequately demonstrated, still uncoordinated at the European level, therefore not reaching full potential. Actions to achieve highest NBS impact requires strategies to enhance societal acceptance, policy strengthening while demonstrating advantages for market development. The objective of OPERANDUM is to reduce hydro-meteorological risks in European territories through co-designed, co-developed, deployed, tested and demonstrated innovative green and blue/grey/hybrid NBS, and push business exploitation. It aims provision of science-evidence for the usability of NBS, best practices for their design based on participatory processes. It foresees a multiple level of stakeholders engagement from the local community up to the international level to leverage widest possible NBS acceptance to promote its diffusion as a good practice. It establishes the framework for the strengthening of NBS-based policies according to local legislation and promotes technology and innovation in NBS to create a European leadership. OPERANDUM is based on open-air laboratories (OALs), a fairly new concept that expands the Living Labs to a wider vision for natural and rural areas. In OALs novel NBS in seven European countries and three in China and Australia are implemented to address specific risks and their effectiveness, assessed through innovative monitoring systems and cutting-edge numerical modelling approaches. OPERANDUM realizes a multi-dimensional open and flexible platform enabling stakeholders and end users to improve knowledge in NBS to mitigate climate change as well as ways to promote and exploit the improved/preserved environment while increasing business opportunities.

The recent droughts in central Europe and unprecedented floods in central Europe have disclosed our vulnerability to extreme weather events. Besides climate change as a driver of more frequent and intensifying weather extremes, demographic change and socio-economic development exacerbate severe impacts. International frameworks for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation (e.g. SENDAI framework, EU Strategy on adaptation to climate change) acknowledge the critical need for integrating risk governance, communication and operational mechanisms for coping with extreme climate events throughout the entire Disaster Risk Management cycle. DIRECTED aspires to foster disaster-resilient European societies by expanding our capabilities to communicate, utilise and exchange state-of-the-art data, information and knowledge between different actors; boosting the integration, accessibility and interoperability of models; facilitating knowledge sharing; improving dialogue and cooperation encompassing all levels of actors based on enhanced community engagement and developing new governance and risk management strategies using a bottom-up, value-driven co-development approach. Key to supporting interoperability will be the establishment of the DATA-FABRIC, an innovative, governed, cloud platform that enables secure, flexible, discovery and sharing of all structured and unstructured data. Central to DIRECTED are four Real World Labs that co-develop new governance, interoperability and knowledge production frameworks and demonstrate their benefits for enhanced disaster risk governance supported by innovative technical frameworks to access, transform and integrate data and models into customised workflows for creating actionable solutions. The Real World Labs ensure the project continuously and actively involves key stakeholders in the co-development process and address topical problems of multi-hazard risk management and climate change adaptation to maximise impacts.

The iSCAPE project aims to integrate and advance the control of air quality and carbon emissions in European cities in the context of climate change through the development of sustainable and passive air pollution remediation strategies, policy interventions and behavioural change initiatives. It will tackle the problem of reducing air pollution at target receptors with an innovative SME-led approach, focusing on the use of “Passive Control Systems” in urban spaces. Improvements in air quality, microclimate and behavioural aspects of urban dwellers will be achieved by applying real-world physical interventions on the urban tissue to alter ventilation rates and dispersion patterns in the selected cities assessed for future climate change scenarios and representative of different cultural&life styles in Europe. Through the approach of Living Labs the team will deploy a network of air quality and meteorological sensors (both stationary and mobile) and evaluate through analysis and a suite of up-to-date numerical modelling the benefits expected from the interventions on a neighbourhood and city-wide scale for several aspects ranging from quantification of pollutant concentration to exposure. iSCAPE encapsulates the concept of “smart cities” by promoting the use of low-cost sensors, engaging citizens in the use of alternative solution processes to environmental problems. iSCAPE will support sustainable urban development by promoting the sharing of results with policy-makers and planners using local test-cases, and providing scientific evidence ready-to-use solutions potentially leading to real-time operational interventions. This integrated approach will include the development and assessment of a framework aimed at changing the mobility behaviour of people by studying processes and dynamics that lead to more resilient, healthy, and sustainable cities, by bringing together theory from urban planning, public policy, urban and environmental sociology and urban geography.

High-quality, safe, and sufficient drinking water is essential for life: we use it for drinking, food preparation and cleaning. Agriculture is the biggest source of pesticides and nitrate pollution in European fresh waters. The overarching objective of WATERPROTECT is to contribute to effective uptake and realisation of management practices and mitigation measures to protect drinking water resources. Therefore WATERPROTECT will create an integrative multi-actor participatory framework including innovative instruments that enable actors to monitor, to finance and to effectively implement management practices and measures for the protection of water sources. We propose seven case studies involving multiple actors in implementing good practices (land management, farming, product stewardship, point source pollution prevention) to ensure safe drinking water supply. The seven case studies cover different pedo-climatic conditions, different types of farming systems, different legal frameworks, larger and smaller water collection areas across the EU. In close cooperation with actors in the field in the case studies (farmers associations, local authorities, water producing companies, private water companies, consumer organisations) and other stakeholders (fertilizer and plant protection industry, environment agencies, nature conservation agencies, agricultural administrations) at local and EU level, WATERPROTECT will develop innovative water governance models investigating alternative pathways from focusing on the ‘costs of water treatment’ to ‘rewarding water quality delivering farming systems’. Water governance structures will be built upon cost-efficiency analysis related to mitigation and cost-benefit analysis for society, and will be supported by spatially explicit GIS analyses and predictive models that account for temporal and spatial scaling issues. The outcome will be improved participatory methods and public policy instruments to protect drinking water resources.