Partnering for success: securing expertise and funding
A partnership between the Malmö housing company, Malmö water and city planners was a critical ingredient in the implementation of this project. Technical expertise was required from each of these partners to ensure appropriate design, and funding of the project was also collaboratively provided. Further components of this successful partnership included stakeholder engagement, the presence of sophisticated technical expertise, and a high level policy directive in support of experimentation. Understanding of the local ecosystems was not critical, but project designers had to possess a very detailed understanding of the frequency and severity of local floods.
Without the partnership between the Malmö water company, housing authority, and others, the funding for this project would not have been sufficient. Significant incentive to fund experimentation and implementation was provided by national and sub-national legislation, while the Green Roof initiative was financed through the EU LIFE programme.
It is key to clearly define the terms of a partnership (both short term and long-term roles) and appoint responsibilities before implementation in order to avoid later confusion and conflict. In the case of ecosystem-based approaches like SuDS in Malmö, it is also key to secure sufficient financing before the project starts to cover the entire duration of the project, including for maintenance and monitoring activities after implementation is completed. Highlighting the potential benefits which will be produced by the project for individual finance providers can be a useful tool in securing funding and increasing support.
Fostering win-win solutions through innovative partnerships for landscape engineering
Within the Wallasea Project, land-raising and landscape engineering was innovatively approached by creating a novel public private partnership. Materials from the Crossrail tunneling project were transported to a low-lying coastal area at high risk of flooding, in order to raise the land. The project thus established a precedent for using largely waste material generated by a major infrastructure project to meet biodiversity conservation and climate change adaptation aims elsewhere. Financing stemmed from both the private company Crossrail as well as from the Environment Agency, with all parties profiting due to the economic as well as environmental benefits set off by recycling the leftover materials. With Crossrail on board as a delivery partner, the project represents a partnership between Europe's largest civil engineering project and Europe's largest intertidal habitat creation project.
Instead of paying to remove waste materials from tunnel construction, Crossrail opted to transport them to Wallasea Island. An unloading facility enabled the materials to be shipped and then distributed across the island to build the habitats. Crossrail covered most costs (e.g. land purchase and some staff costs), with the Environment Agency (RA) funding the rest. The EA `bought` into the project to deliver replacement habitats for areas impacted/lost within the local Natura 200 network.
While sufficient buy-in was obtained by RSPB to buy the land, funds had not initially been collected to carry out the project itself. At this point, Crossrail came forward with an offer of materials and funding that permitted the project to move forward with more confidence. The main lesson learned is thus to think ‘outside the box’ and consider novel (public-private) partnerships to tap into previously unconsidered resources, and making sure to highlight the range of benefits which will be delivered to each party as a result of the project. Furthermore, a strong relationship with the landowner was particularly important in the early design phases of the project, as this led to the ability of RSPB to take out a two-year purchase option. This meant that, for a two-year period, RSPB could purchase the majority of the island if they decided to, and the price would be fixed at the beginning of this period, thereby creating some certainty surrounding the initial costs of the project.
Securing sufficient funds for a multi-purpose EbA solution
As this solution serves various goals and meets several objectives, it was possible to secure sufficient funding from diverse parties, domains and funding bodies to cover the entire implementation of the project. In the case of the creation of Lake Phoenix, this included funding for water management from the water board; funding for ecology from the ecological funding program by the federal state; funding for urban development from etc. The water board, for instance, provided the amount of money that was already budgeted for the construction of a flood retention basin. This basin was not needed anymore, as the lake solution already provided the required flood retention function. Some additional potential funding sources were not even used in the end, because it would have slowed down the marketing of the real estate and would have tied the project to certain restrictions, which were not desired by the decision-makers.
Given that the solution serves various goals, funding was able to be secured from a range of parties, sectors and sources. The marketing of real estate properties along the new lake shore was a financial aspect considered from the project’s start in order to make the project implementation financially partly self-supporting. The project consortium took great care of timing, for instance regarding the deadlines of the various funding programs.
Establishing the diverse benefits provided by a solution is an important step in the planning process, as it highlights the various sectors and stakeholders who can potentially be involved in and benefit from the solution. Drawing attention to the potential benefits, and underlying this with a sound scientific evidence base with which to approach these parties, can facilitate the successful generation of funds from a range of sources. Innovative financing approaches can also act as ‘self-sustaining’ and generate funds during the course of the project to fund some of the foreseen activities.
Synergistically addressing diverse problems and goals
In order to find an EbA solution for e.g. the development of an area in which multiple actors have an interest in, it is important to synergistically combine various interests, ambitions, challenges and goals.
A crucial factor for the realization of Lake Phoenix was the successful linking of various problems (flood risks; abandoned brownfield site) and goals (flood retention; river restoration; increase of attractiveness of the city, etc.) to gain support from a range of actors. To this end, the lake was designed to serve as a biodiversity hotspot, flood retention basin, and recreational area. Most significantly, it increased the attractiveness of the city by rejuvenating an underprivileged district.
Achieving multiple objectives required compromising, for example between ecological objectives (i.e. size of the lake and natural areas) and economic priorities (i.e. land being available for real estate development). As a result of a common will to succeed and a number of group and bilateral meetings between key stakeholders, these compromises could be reached. Interviewees also highlighted that the actors’ good relations and belief in the project helped find solutions, just as it helped to settle discussions concerning upcoming additional costs and risks. The (historical) role and position of the water board as a mediator was important in this respect. The realization of Lake Phoenix was furthermore facilitated by favorable timing, being that the Emscher conversion coincided with the abandonment of the brownfield site. The obligations and environmental objectives resulting from the implementation of the Water Framework Directive can also be seen as an important facilitating factor.
Vulnerability assessment of the protected area

This building block is an essential part of the EbA approach and was carried out prior to the implementation of EbA measures in the Nor Yauyos-Cochas Landscape Reserve. It was considered important to understand the vulnerability to climate change of ecosystems and of populations living in the reserve and whose livelihoods depend directly on the reserve´s ecosystem services.

The objective was to determine the level of sensitivity and the ability to cope with the adverse effects of climate change and extreme events using present observations and future scenarios. Based on the results of these vulnerability and impact studies, the districts with higher vulnerability of ecosystems and ecosystem services -if current management practices would be continued – were identified.

This information served not only to select pilot areas but also to confirm that previously identified EbA measures were adequate to increase resilience of ecosystems to climate change.

  • Availability and access to necessary information, both scientific (climatic, hydrological, etc.) and field information.
  • Time: the study required time for data collection and analysis.
  • Coordinated work of the actors: SERNANP and Communities
  • Knowing and understanding how vulnerable ecosystems and populations are to climate change is absolutely necessary in order to identify the most appropriate measures to reduce this vulnerability in the future.
  • There is no single way to measure vulnerability. The main lesson is that not only a scientific study is required, but a complete and agile and participatory process that generates the quantitative and qualitative information that is needed.
  • If the study is very expensive or very complex, it is not replicable. It is necessary to evaluate in advance to what extent the study should be carried out.
Integrating Climate Change (CC) and Ecosystem Services (ES) into the draft Planning Bill
oThis process had been led by Department of Planning Management (DPM) under Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) in collaboration with Institute of Strategy and Policy for Natural Resources and Environment (ISPONRE) and with technical support from GIZ. This was the first-ever effort had been made in this regard in Vietnam without any precedence. The draft Planning Bill is expected to constitute a comprehensive legal framework for planning in Vietnam that was rather chaotic in the past. MPI’s ambition is to bring all stakeholders and their interests in one plan and to improve the regulatory framework for integrating EbA into the planning processes. oA comprehensive concept note providing a comprehensive picture/panorama on how to integrate Climate Change and Ecosystem Service Considerations into the planning system in Vietnam from the Law, Decree, and Circular levels has been made available to policy makers of MPI, GoV, and National Assembly. oConcrete recommendations and texts for integrating CC and ES have been made available to the draft Planning Bill for MPI for their consideration. oCapacity building for MPI’s officers have been made.
•strong interest and mandate of Ministry of Planning and Investment in the topic •willingness to cooperate among different institutions •unclear planning frameworks of the past created a high demand for change
Capacity building and the formation of multi-stakeholder partnerships were important elements of this activity
Integrating EbA into Provincial Climate Change Response Plans
Updating the Provincial Climate Change Response Action Plans (CCRAP) of Quang Binh province and Ha Tinh province for 2016 – 2020 was an important entry point for EbA mainstreaming. This process had been led by Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DONRE) of Quang Binh and of Ha Tinh with technical support from GIZ. The Provincial CCRAP is a legal basis for all coordinated efforts of Quang Binh and Ha Tinh provinces in response to climate change mitigation and adaptation. This CCRAP includes priority projects and programs implemented by different provincial agencies to response to climate changes in Quang Binh and Ha Tinh during the period of 2016 – 2020. Findings and recommendations from the Vulnerability Assessment for Socio-Ecological Systems including recommendations of EbA have been fed into the CCRAP process at both provincial and local levels to create synergies. Expected impacts are to reduce negative impacts of climate changes in Quang Binh and Ha Tinh in the short run and in the long run.
•Sufficient awareness on current and furture climate change impacts among provincial authorities •Willingness to cooperate across sectors and government agencies
oCapacity of provincial officers involved in the CCRAP updating process including DONRE, DPI, DARD was significantly improved but continuous capacity developmenemnt efforts are needed due to staff turnover oEbA has been perceived by provincial policy makers and professional officers as a promising measure to adapt to climate change in Quang Binh and Ha Tinh that has never happened before.
Vulnerability Assessments for Socio-ecological Systems
The EbA vulnerability assessments (VA) provide an overview of climate change hotspots and identify priorities for Action at the the macro- (Provincial-level) and micro-level (community or local-scale). The Macro-level VA uses existing information on province’s ecological, social and economic assets and climate change projection and identifies specific “hot spots” that require cloer attention. It enables a province to get a comprehensive overview of climate change issues and identify priorities for action. The micro-level VA focuses on a selection hot-spots and repeats the analysis, applying more conventional bottom-up methods of field work, local data collection and stakeholder participation. The key concept here is VA for Socio-Ecological System (SES) incl. the following: Scoping the provincial context for climate change to identify and prioritize the important issues ; Identification of SES and key economic assets based on economic, social and ecological profiles, and using the expert judgment based on Google Earth to identify different types of land cover, infrastructure and human activities; VA of SES and KEA including assessment of impacts, adaptive capacities, vulnerabilities; Identifying EbA and other Adaptation Options.
-Active support of relevant provincial departments in collecting data, information, field work as well as availability for discussion and consultation with expert team. -Available datasets on digital formats as well as time series for socio-economic sectors, land cover maps, etc.
-Good climate, social, economic, and ecological database in time series is very important to provide scientifically sound assessments and recommendations -Interdisciplinary and inter-department coordination is very important because climate change, climate change adaptation are cross-cutting issues and go beyond mandates of a single department, -Local knowledge and local participation is very important to identify their local climate change problems and propose their locally-tailor made EbA solutions, -Innovation and flexibility in application of EbA vulnerability assessment is a key to success to adapt with existing data and information and local contexts. -Participation of local government officers ensures that findings and recommendations of EbA will be taken up and translated into policy and guidances.
Top Down - National and International initiative
Top-Down is the process to create broader political awareness of the issue. It includes advocacy for national and international support. Commonly a concept paper that explains the problem initiates this process with further research to support and document the issues. It is important to appeal to the news media, as their attention is necessary to heighten the political awareness of the issues and to convey the information to the public, resulting in the creation of a broader public demand for action. Media attention mobilizes national and international engagement and can foster domestic and international resource mobilization. In our experience, public opinion plays a decisive role in dictating the political agenda to local leaders as well as national decision makers.
Strong community engagement and public initiatives create the demand for political action. It is important to create an environment in which it is politically safe to discuss the solutions, if the solutions are truly in the national self-interests then politicians will more easily embrace the change and even lead it. Good relations to media and the international community can facilitate government involvement.
In an unsteady political landscape, environmental issues are held hostage, used as pawns in the overarching political conflict and within the framework of the official peace process. In order for the initiatives to produce a real change, a careful balance must be maintained: to achieve the explicit approval of officials without losing momentum to the tedium of politics.
Bottom Up - Grassroot initiative
Local stakeholders learn to become environmental leaders. They learn about their water reality. When people understand the local problems and their community's responsibility, they can meet and engage with similar groups of stakeholders from other communities across the conflict. The common ground for these cross conflict meetings is the safeguard of the shared watershed and the communities engage in productive meetings to identify solutions. Together they identify projects that speak to the self-interest of both sides. Through this process, the communities gain the capacity to advance solutions even within a turbulent political environment. In most cases, the combination of a strong youth program and outspoken adult leadership creates the political will of mayors and other municipal leaders to get involved.
The local community's leadership needs a respected leader from the local community to provide the best leadership. It is important that a regional project manager with strong project experience mentors the local leader.
Local leadership from the local community is especially important in a conflict situation to secure the trust that the leader acts in the community’s self-interest. Walks in the nature and along shared water bodies provide the best opportunity for communities to understand their water reality. Only when people understand the local problems and their community's responsibility, they can meet other communities. Community members voice an appreciation and need for an organization as EcoPeace to facilitate cross border meetings to ensure that the meetings provide a “safe-place” for the local communities to discuss issues effecting cross-border and neighbor communities. Participants were free to talk about their realities while using constructive means to seek solutions. Meetings and collaboration on environmental issues delivers a capacity to create and sustain strong networks of cross-border communication with long-term impact beyond the cross-border initiative.