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Nature-based solutions (NBS), understood as actions that use ecosystem processes to address societal needs, can play important roles to future-proof river landscape development for people and nature. However, knowledge gaps exist how NBS can be planned and implemented at landscape scales. This Special Issue brings together insights and experiences from studies of assessing, planning, and implementing NBS in river landscapes in Europe and beyond. It addresses three research fields: (i) NBS effects, looking at the effectiveness of NBS to achieve ecological, social, and/or economic outcomes, (ii) NBS planning, focusing on approaches for planning and designing NBS, and (iii) NBS governance, relating to governance and business models for implementation. The twelve contributions deliver evidence on how NBS outperform conventional, rather technical solutions, provide guidance and tools to operationalize the NBS concept into practice, and showcase successful governance models of NBS in different contexts. The editorial ends with an outlook on further research needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Tools are needed to make institutions and actors involved in PES transparent. • By revealing power relations equity aspects of PES will be improved. • Net-Map visualizes actor relations for participatory group discussion. • Net-Map can be used for participatory PES development, implementation, evaluation. • Net-Map supports the design of inclusive and adaptive institutional processes. Abstract Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) are criticized, amongst other reasons, for their basis in ideas suited to the neoliberal political economy and for the unequal distribution of power inherent in such models. However, PES can be a natural resource management approach that combines social and environmental objectives so that they not only serve to protect ecosystems such as tropical forests and wetlands but also to improve social conditions and rural development. Particularly for community-based PES, tools are needed to bring transparency to PES institutional settings and actor constellations by revealing power relations, as well as to empower local actors to engage in social learning through participatory processes. Considering both of these aspects will improve the equity aspects of PES and establish a social context conducive to a payment scheme that considers local behaviors and attitudes towards conservation. Close collaboration – in knowledge co-production processes – between social science and practitioners can address these challenges and support the PES design and implementation process. In this paper, we demonstrate how Net-Map, as a specific tool for Social Network Analysis (SNA), can make actor relations visible for the purpose of group discussion within participation processes. We present how the results of participatory Net-Map Interviews can be used for participatory PES development, implementation and evaluation. In particular, we explain and discuss this for three case studies in Costa Rica. We conclude that this combination – using empirical data from social sciences for participatory planning – facilitates the creation of a common understanding of the PES-governance models, the creation of ownership, and the consolidation of transparency and trust amongst the participants, as well as reflection on the existing social capital necessary for implementation. The results of the Net-Map tool support the design of inclusive and adaptive processes that shape institutions, choices, design and the implementation of policy instruments such as PES. The additional value of the tool is that it makes these processes transparent by generating knowledge during a participatory process and helps to balance the actors' interests and values. This method of undertaking research in combination with workshops has its limitations, as it reveals – to a group – confidential information given in personal interviews. Further, for the scenario development of PES design, actors must have a certain level of openness and creativity so that the PES design does not merely end up being a copy of the initially net-mapped PES example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While in many cases the benefits of ecosystem services (ES) can be enjoyed on different scales, the provision of ES requires engagement and commitment at the local scale. Therefore, the local level becomes important when thinking about compensation schemes or payments for ecosystem services (PES) as an approach to managing ES. The difficult task of bringing together different actors and institutions at different scales for specific conservation projects at the local level often remains in the hands of intermediaries. In this paper, we investigate the role of a civil society organisation (CSO) as an intermediary organisation in a PES scheme, the Community Blue Carbon Project (CBCP) in Costa Rica. To assess the role of intermediaries in a PES scheme, we rely on social network analysis and examine the position and role of the intermediary organisation. Based on Net-Map interviews, which is an interview-based mapping tool that helps people understand, visualise, discuss and improve situations in which many different actors influence outcomes, we find that the intermediary organisation in the CBCP is composed of several institutional and individual intermediaries who create both formal networks for connecting the international to the local level and informal networks for creating trusting relationships among the actors. Different spatial levels are reflected within the CSO’s organisational structure, and the CSO mitigates the distributional, procedural, recognition and contextual aspects of environmental justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technological innovations in agricultural land use management can provide economic benefits and an important contribution to the provision of ecosystem services. However, the active implementation of management approaches regarding the provision of ecosystem services is not in the focus of economic actors because of the public good characteristic of most of these ecosystem services. Without economic intervention through additional payments to local land users or governmental regulation through certain rules it is challenging to develop and disseminate management innovations providing both economic benefits for local land users and environmental goals. In this paper, we examine a special case where technological innovation meets the provision of ecosystem services. We hypothesize that in such a case classical extension work is not enough and a new actor and governance form is needed. Therefore, we use a successful sustainable intensification example from Brazil to analyze the innovation intermediary of such kind of land management innovation. What type of organization is able to take over the responsibility of an innovation intermediary and what are the motivations of involved actors? What is the role of this actor during the whole innovation process, specifically regarding the implementation of an innovative land management practice? Based on interviews and participatory observations, we examined the role of a university based actor called Voisin Group (GPVoisin) in Southern Brazil's Encostas da Serra Geral Region during the innovation process. We found that this actor has some special features as it combines scientific knowledge skills to foster the innovation and its implementation with social skills and high intrinsic motivation that support the persuasion and decision making on the ground. GPVoisin combines the roles of a collection of agricultural researchers with that of knowledge facilitators. Thanks to this combination skills GPVoisin has earned a high reputation and could obtain acceptance for the introduction of an innovative land management approach, based on the idea of improving the ecosystem service provision by a technological innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving the adoption of Nature-based Solutions (NBS) requires learning from successes and failures. Knowledge derived from implemented cases helps to identify for instance drivers and barriers of NBS implementation, generates lessons learned, and supports their upscaling. Online data pools that catalogue information from NBS case studies may help scientists and practitioners to create this knowledge. The aim of this review is to assess the knowledge transfer potential of online data pools for implementing and upscaling NBS. For that, we compared 21 online data pools that report on NBS case studies in terms of topics, availability and quality of information on NBS. We found a high variability in quantity, type and quality of the information documented, hindering comparability and limiting knowledge transfer. Our results show that the most common knowledge provided was on actions undertaken on NBS, their outcomes, case study site descriptions, specific challenges and information on responsible entities and partners. Information on key attributes of NBS, such as on ecosystem processes and services as well as on governance and financing issues, was often omitted. The missing information however would be important for further comparative research to overcome implementation gaps for NBS. Based on the discussion of our findings we propose categories for a more efficient online data pool and give recommendations for further research on NBS. Unlabelled Image • The majority of examined data pools contain merely basic and limited information. • They inform of settings and implemented measures offering a broad catalogue of NBS. • Key information on ecosystem processes, governance and financing is omitted. • The missing data hinder case comparison and potential cross-fertilization processes. • Cases are mostly situated in the EU, other parts of the world are underrepresented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]