Landscape-scale Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are increasingly recognized as vital for addressing the interconnected challenges of biodiversity loss and climate change. Their capacity to deliver multiple Nature’s Contributions to People (NCPs), maintain ecological connectivity, and enhance climate resilience makes them particularly valuable. However, their implementation is often hindered by complex policy, financing, social, and economic contexts. This paper explores the challenges of assessing these contextual factors in landscape-scale NbS, drawing on insights from a European research project. Using pondscapes – networks of ecologically valuable ponds and surrounding habitats – as an illustrative example, we synthesize methodological challenges and practical lessons from stakeholder engagement, policy and financing analyses, and socio-economic assessments. The results suggest that while assessing the specific context of landscape-scale NbS is essential for successful implementation, it is also challenging due to diverse stakeholder interests, lack of unified frameworks, and data limitations – factors that ultimately complicate implementation efforts. Our study underscores the challenge of balancing generalizable data collection with site-specific needs, highlighting the value of tailored, stakeholder-informed approaches. Co-production methods, especially workshops, help build trust and improve assessment practices. Our findings aim to inform researchers and practitioners working on systemic and integrated landscape-scale NbS planning.
Freshwater ecosystems are vital for biodiversity and human well-being, but remain amongst the most degraded globally. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) offer a promising pathway to restoration, yet implementation remains fragmented and often limited in scale. This paper synthesises insights from 18 demonstration cases across Europe, carried out under the EU Horizon 2020 MERLIN project, to identify key factors enabling the systemic upscaling of freshwater restoration through NbS. Drawing on practical experiences, five interdependent “building blocks” are proposed: (1) comprehensive status review; (2) narratives of the future; (3) evidence-informed approach; (4) resource management and (5) stakeholder engagement. These dimensions reflect cross-cutting challenges and capacities — such as context-sensitive planning, adaptive learning, financing strategies and inclusive governance. While grounded in diverse local contexts, the framework offers a strategic orientation for scientists, practitioners and policy-makers working to align restoration efforts with the ambitions of the European Green Deal and Nature Restoration Regulation. Rather than prescribing uniform solutions, the paper provides practice-informed guidance for embedding restoration in complex social–ecological systems. Highlights Synthesises lessons from 18 diverse freshwater restoration cases across Europe under the MERLIN project;Proposes five strategic building blocks for scaling Nature-based Solutions: system understanding, shared vision, evidence use, resource management and stakeholder engagement;Emphasises the interdependence of ecological, institutional and societal dimensions in upscaling restoration;Demonstrates the value of transdisciplinary collaboration, adaptive planning and embedded implementation;Offers practice-orientated insights aligned with the European Green Deal and Nature Restoration Regulation.
The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is a key lever to support the transition towards sustainable agricultural production in Europe. However, successive reforms have been incremental and modest with regard to environmental objectives. This contribution presents an assessment of the choices made by Member States in their CAP Strategic Plans (CSPs), directing the EUR 307 billion in funding to support agriculture and rural areas for the period 2023–2027. The focus is on the different funding instruments supporting the restoration of freshwater ecosystems, in particular addressing the impact of drainage, restoring wetland and floodplain connectivity, and increasing landscape-scale water retention. A detailed mapping of farm practices supported by CAP funding – i.e. conditionality, eco-schemes, rural development (Environment and Climate measures), and investments – is presented. Results show that interventions to reduce the impact of drainage, restore wetland and floodplain connectivity, and increase landscape-scale water retention remain limited in scope. Illustrative examples of good practice are highlighted, along with recommendations for improved implementation of the CAP in the current programming period and the next round of reform. Highlights CAP 2023–2027 offers opportunities for wetland and freshwater ecosystem restoration.Member State choices show limited ambition and do not fully exploit the potential of the CAP to support restoration efforts.Good practices where the CAP supports wetland and freshwater ecosystem restoration are identified.Better metrics and performance-based incentives are needed to improve outcomes.
More efficient environmental risk assessment and stronger protection are achievable.
Residues of pharmaceuticals in the environment can cause significant ecotoxicological issues but they also pose an imminent risk for human health e.g. by pollution of water resources used for food and drinking water production. Many active substances of pharmaceuticals for human use and their metabolites have been identified in the environment worldwide. To maintain water quality a variety of approaches during a pharmaceutical lifecycle are urgently needed, spanning actions from development, production over dispensing to end-of-pipe advanced wastewater treatments. In this paper, we report about a recently developed eco-directed pharmaceutical prescribing concept for Germany capable to trigger a significant beginning-of-the-pipe effect. The proposed system aims to balance therapeutical needs and environmental impacts by including ecotoxicological information and classification into pharmaceutical and medical decision making within the praxis of prescribing and dispensing medicines. We reviewed relevant existing eco-directed classification systems from Sweden, Finland, and Scotland. Based on these three different systems, we propose a practical environmental information, classification and dissemination system tailored to the German healthcare system, which combines positions from stakeholders including those responsible for regulation and health related data. Our results can be highly relevant to approaches aiming to establish similar systems in further countries. We identified the database ChemInfo hosted by the German Environment Agency as the central information system, for collecting environmental information from market authorisation processes. Our novel traffic light classification system is based on the hazard and risk outcomes of the environmental risk assessment and presents for the first time a European wide applicable environmental classification, capable of ranking pharmaceuticals within an indication group and identifying substances of concern to support decision making.The classification system will label all pharmaceuticals, recently added to the EU list of priority substances within the Water Framework Directive, in red. Finally, we identified eight dissemination systems through which this information and classification can be included into decision making.
