DesirMED project had a strong presence at European Geosciences Union General Assembly (EGU2026) by organizing the session “Mainstreaming Nature-Based Solutions for Water Resilience: Turning the EU Strategy into Action”, convened by Elisa Furlan (CMCC-DesirMED Lead Partner) and in collaboration with CARDIMED EU project and NBS4EU cluster.
Elisa Furlan led this key session, setting the tone for discussions on how Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) can bridge the gap between EU water resilience policies and practical implementation on the ground.
DesirMED representation during the session:
-Oral Presentation by DesirMED Demonstrating Region Sardinia by Carla Asquer: “A methodology for the nature-based management of the reservoir sediment: Supporting decision-making to enhance the resilience of local communities”, addressing the methodology used by the Region to reuse reservoir sediment for beach nourishment, improving coastal resilience and dam sustainability under climate change impacts. Promoting research-driven decision-making is one of the cross-cutting objectives of the Regional Adaptation Strategy.
-Oral Presentation by DesirMED partner DELTARES by : “Mainstreaming Nature-Based Solutions for Water Resilience through System-Wide Landscape Planning”, focusing on a system-wide landscape planning approach, which conceptualises landscapes as interdependent biophysical, socio-economic and governance systems with the aim to classify landscapes, implement spatial multi-hazard analysis and identify Potential impacts on Key Community Systems (KCS).
-Poster presentation by DesirMED partner UNIST-FGAG: “Urban Challenges Under Climate Change – Managing Sealed Surfaces”, focused on problem diagnosis to solution development, and how DesirMED is now scaling up these efforts into an integrated, stakeholder-driven adaptation strategy for the wider Kaštela Bay area, prioritizing Nature-based Solutions.
Other Session Highlights
The session brought together a wide range of research exploring water resilience through NbS, including:
• Presentations on AI-supported decision support systems for co-developing climate adaptation pathways, demonstrating the role of technology in NbS planning.
• Examples of real-world implementation of NbS in European regions, highlighting governance, financing, and stakeholder engagement challenges and successes.
• Innovative engagement tools like the NbS Fresco©, supported by @NBRACER project, which uses collaborative learning to raise awareness and advance stakeholder support for NbS.
Find out the detailed session programme here
