Assessing conditions for NbS transformation in a mediterranean urban context: policy expectations, emerging networks, and collaborative capacity in Madrid

Climate change and urban development processes have undermined the ecological fabric of urban areas and inhabitants’ quality of life. In response, scholars have highlighted the need for nature-centred strategies and actions that support urban resilience. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) can support the transition to more sustainable cities. Through focusing on innovative and replicable nature conservation and development interventions, NbS offer significant transformative potential. Existent research reveals that NbS applications are often limited by poor knowledge and understanding, lack of skills, and low levels of multisector engagement. Certain Mediterranean cities have experienced greater difficulties in addressing these issues than their north European counterparts. To assess the necessary conditions for NbS transformation within a Mediterranean context, this paper explores Madrid through a pilot study based on twelve semi-structured interviews with non-public professionals. Madrid was selected due to its strategic-level commitment to NbS and emerging experiences of preliminary practice.
Findings were analysed using a typological framework focused on both barriers and enablers of change drawn from literature on NbS transition. Our findings revealed barriers linked to knowledge and skills (competing and fragmented understandings of NbS), as well as silo-thinking and path dependency (limited policy awareness, poor levels of cross-collaboration and internal power struggles). We conclude that enabling mechanisms associated with improved knowledge, skills and communication could potentially strengthen cities’ collaborative capacity for NbS. In the paper, specific emphasis is given to enhancing awareness of ecosystem services, adapting and simplifying vocabulary, leveraging geospatial technologies, and improving participatory mechanisms.