Addressing Climate Change Impacts through an Ecosystem-Based Approach for More Resilient Cities and Regions: Trends, Challenges, and Innovations

Dear Colleagues,

During the 20th century, the Earth has observed changes, such as a surge in global temperatures, rising sea levels, and the increasing frequency as well as intensity of extreme events, which affect the lives of human beings. These changes have been linked to the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases are mainly generated by human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, agriculture, and land-use changes. Addressing the environmental challenges resulting from climate change and related risks has become an urgent issue. Adaptation measures play a key role in facing climate change by increasing the resilience of territories as well as infrastructures and reducing risks.

Within this theoretical and conceptual framework, the role of ecosystem-based approaches has proven particularly effective in addressing the environmental challenges posed by climate change. An ecosystem-based approach is operationalized through three key concepts: ecosystem services (ESs), green infrastructures (GIs), and nature-based solutions (NBSs).

ESs are the multiple benefits provided, directly or indirectly, to humankind by ecosystems. ESs represent a two-dimensional conceptual category. From an operational point of view, ESs explain and quantify the relationships between humans and natural systems; from an interpretative point of view, ESs represent the starting points for the definition of regulatory frameworks aiming at preserving natural systems as well as biodiversity and improving life quality. GIs represent networks of natural and semi-natural areas that are characterized by their ability to provide various ESs and are to be “strategically planned” in order to ensure the ecological connections among ecosystems. NBSs are defined by the IUCN as “actions to protect, sustainably manage and restore natural and modified ecosystems in ways that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, to provide both human well-being and biodiversity benefits”.

Climate change impacts not only the lives and health of human beings, but also the ecosystems on which humans depend. From this point of view, on the one hand, ESs, GIs, and NBSs offer opportunities to mitigate the effects of climate change; on the other hand, because ecosystems, their structures, and functions are affected by climate change, the delivery of ESs can, in turn, be negatively impacted as well. It is therefore vital to understand how ecosystems can be maintained healthily and put to good use, especially in urbanized areas where their presence is scarcer, and open green spaces are subject to multiple and competing demands.

This Special Issue focuses on the role that ESs, GIs, and NBSs play in addressing climate change and related risks in urban and rural areas.

In this Special Issue, theoretical and methodological contributions, as well as critical discussions on policy implementation, are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

1. What is the role of ESs, GIs, and NBSs in tackling climate-related risks, and how can planning practice and research consider and integrate such roles?
2. What are the impacts of climate change on ESs, related to spatial planning processes?
3. What tools are available to planners to better understand and assess ecosystems’ contributions to make urban and rural environments more resilient?
4. How can climate neutrality and climate resilience be pursued within spatial planning?
5. What good practices and innovative ecosystem-based approaches have already been implemented, and what was their outcome?
6. What are the challenges and gaps that limit the use of ecosystem-based approaches in spatial planning to address climate change, and how can these limitations be overcome?

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Federica Leone
Dr. Sabrina Lai
Prof. Dr. Corrado Zoppi
Guest Editors

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• ecosystem services
• green infrastructures
• nature-based solutions
• climate change
• spatial planning