Building with Nature (BwN) works: the time is ripe for its definitive scale-up in Dutch water management. This paper discusses the essential findings that emerge from more than a decade of EcoShape experience in BwN knowledge development, projects and dialogue with key Dutch stakeholders.

BwN is an approach that makes active use of natural forces and processes to develop, implement and upscale Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for water-related challenges and infrastructural needs. NbS involve a combination of green and grey solutions. In addition to the primary function they fulfil for infrastructural purposes specifically, they maximise the combined benefits for society and ecology. This paper advises the adoption of Integrated System based Asset Management for mainstream BwN projects in the Netherlands. The authors hope the findings and the recommendations presented here will motivate Dutch water managers to embed a system-based vision with BwN at its centre in Dutch water policies.

A clear shift towards NbS rather than conventional infrastructure approaches can be seen both in the Netherlands and internationally. The global Climate Adaptation Summit on 25 and 26 January 2021 recognised water as the main challenge for climate adaptation and NbS as a critical way to achieve resilience and sustainable development in the future. Numerous NbS interventions and pilot projects have been executed in the last decade and others are still in progress. A large contingent of NbS ambassadors is developing in the young generation of scientists, engineering and industry professionals, as well as government officials.

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