Abstract
Like many cities worldwide, the city of Asmara, Eritrea, faces severe water security challenges that technical solutions alone cannot address. Nature-based Solutions (NBS) have been identified as a promising and multifunctional approach to address multiple societal challenges, including urban water security. NBS4Water is an interdisciplinary research and innovation project, aiming to develop and apply a strategic planning approach for harnessing naturebased solutions (NBS) for water security in the Asmara metropolitan region. It comprises three objectives: i) to assess water security challenges and opportunities, ii) to co-develop spatial scenarios of NBS for water security, and iii) to evaluate potential impacts of NBS scenarios regarding the alleviation of water challenges and generation of co-benefits. NBS4Water’s work plan systematically combines quantitative and qualitative methods and interdisciplinary expertise from spatial modelling, remote sensing, and environmental planning. It consists of four, logically linked work packages. Firstly, water security challenges and NBS opportunities in Asmara will be assessed through geospatial analyses and landscape metrics. Hence, plausible storylines with NBS will be co-developed with stakeholders and translated into spatial scenarios through simulations. Thirdly, scenario impacts on ecosystem services will be evaluated, including trade-off analysis, to inform the refinement and decision-making of NBS strategies in Asmara. Importantly, novel approaches such as online map surveys will be tested to engage the youth. NBS4Water promises the co-production of credible and salient knowledge to support NBS planning in Asmara, contributing to raising awareness, and transferability to other cities.