FAQS and Glossary

MNbS is a programme funded by the Ofwat Innovation Fund. Bringing together 22 multi-disciplinary partners, the programme is working to deliver greater value for society and the environment by enabling implementation of nature-based solutions as common practice. It focuses on five key areas:

Cross-sectoral engagement and dissemination of knowledge, findings and expertise

Consolidated tools and processes which support integration of planning, governance and collaboration between sectors

Investible pipeline of financially viable NBS projects at scale which is attractive to stakeholders and investors, bringing multiple/blended investment

Tried and tested Total Value Framework that acts as a common way to fairly assess the value of nature-based solutions

Consolidated evidence-based findings and recommendations disseminated to all key stakeholders including policy makers

Vision   

Mainstreaming nature-based solutions to deliver greater value for society and the environment.   

Mission   

Provide leadership and bring together multi-sectoral expertise which are critical to achieving our vision.  

Use data and evidence to underpin all our activities.    

Identify and overcome the barriers to nature-based solutions.   

Test regulatory, policy, financial and technical enablers of nature-based solutions using real world examples   

Promote the wider benefits that nature-based solutions can provide while they solve our societal problems of too much, too little and too dirty water.   

Outputs:   

1. Cross-sectoral engagement and dissemination of benefits, knowledge, findings and expertise
2. Consolidated tools and processes. Which support integration of planning, governance and collaboration between sectors  
3. Investible pipeline of financially viable NBS projects at scale which is attractive to stakeholders and investors, bringing multiple/blended investment  
4. Tried and tested Total Value Framework that acts as a common way to fairly assess the value of nature-based solutions and enable ‘added value’ decision making  
5. Consolidated evidence-based findings and recommendations disseminated to all key stakeholders including policy makers  

Outcomes:   

1. Increased sector-wide and cross-sectoral collaboration in support of NbS
2. Cultural shift in support of NbS
3. Greater long-term financial flows from a wider range of sources to fund NbS projects  
4. Tools and processes adopted which support greater uptake of NbS
5. Increased confidence and expertise in the planning, implementation, maintenance, monitoring and valuation of NbS
6. Regulatory changes which drive greater uptake of NbS

– Bring together experts to interrogate evidence and identify the barriers and enablers to delivering nature-based solutions   

2 – Convene and take senior decision makers on our journey, to guide and challenge the programme and ultimately embed outcomes to mainstream nature-based solutions   

3 – Collaborate within workstreams to create enablers to overcome barriers    

Workstream 1 – Collaboration   

Workstream 2 – Policy & Regulation   

Workstream 3 – Funding & Finance   

Workstream 4 – Standardisation   

4 – Integrate findings from the workstreams into a consolidated plan for action   

5 – Test action plan through real life regional case studies to validate and refine initial findings    

6 - Cross-sectoral engagement and dissemination of knowledge, findings and expertise throughout the programme duration   

7 – Consolidate and provide evidence-based findings and recommendations to all key stakeholders including policy makers and advocacy organisations   

The MNbS programme covers a wide range of technical areas and the potential scope is extensive. To help make important decisions (especially around scope) and ensure the programme is deliverable we have developed a decision-making framework.   

The programme is running until September 2028.   

What is happening during each programme phase?  

Phase 1 (2023-24): Identifying and mobilising: Identification of key barriers/failures in various real-life landscape activities currently in operation or planned (“tests”), convening stakeholders.  

Key Milestones: Project team and national steering group assembled; barriers and real-life tests identified; action plan drafted (v1)  

Phase 2 (2024-25): Assess, synthesise and test: Assessing actions which can be delivered to address barriers identified in Phase 1– using real-life activities as the testing ground to validate/challenge proposed actions.  

Key Milestones: real-life testing and refining of solutions; scoping of tools and processes that can be consolidated and standardised, including a total value framework; draft action plan (v2) 

Phase 3 (2025-26): Consolidate and escalate: Assessment and broader escalation of real-life tests, consolidating recommendations and key actions for change at scale.  

Key Milestones: escalated tests; drat action plan (v3) with recommendations for policy and regulation.  

Phase 4 (2026-28): Evaluation, transition into BAU: Testing recommendations with various stakeholders (local/national), impact assessment of readiness for investment and implementation at scale, aggregation of NBS opportunities.  

Key Milestones: impact assessment; final action and investment plan disseminated and embedded into policy, statutory plans, and organisational strategies. 

The Mainstreaming Nature-based Solutions regional tests are existing or ongoing project(s) that have been selected for their suitability for testing relevant programme priorities and/or “thought experiments” e.g. for policy changes. We will be able to test the recommendations coming out of the programme in real life situations to see if they are actionable recommendations that will mainstream nature-based solutions.  

Their purpose is to help the programme refine and give confidence in the recommendations we make through the programme and to promote nature-based solutions. 

The tests are spread geographically across England, Wales and Ireland. This will allow us to test recommendations in different areas and identify any geographical differences and learnings.  

Each test is led by a “Connector” whose role it is to act as multi-sector landscape convenors, providing a crucial link between technical expertise and real-life tests. They will connect the Mainstreaming Nature-based Solutions programme to communities and implementers across the country, providing the evidence for action to mainstream nature-based solutions.   

• Wales – Afonyd Cymru

• Northern Ireland – The Rivers Trust All Ireland   

• North West – River Ribble Trust  

• North East – The Rivers Trust 

• East of England – The Rivers Trust   

• South East – South East Rivers Trust   

• South West – West Country Rivers Trust   

Nature-based solutions are actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural and modified ecosystems that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously benefiting people and nature.   

— Definition of nature-based solutions. Source: IUCN   

The water environment is facing ever-growing stress from:   

• Climate change  
• Population growth
• Biodiversity crisis
• Societal pressures e.g. affordability
• Ageing infrastructure
• Biodiversity and nature loss   

Unlike traditional engineered approaches, nature-based solutions are multi-functional and can help resolve multiple pressures whilst delivering social and environmental benefits however barriers prevent their large-scale adoption.   

Deliver multiple improvements at the same time e.g. water quality & flood reduction.

Provide multiple benefits to society while being vital for enhancing the environment.

Drive value across a range of ecosystem services. 

Break down silos to foster collaboration and innovation.

Provide economic benefits.

In the context of increasing environmental challenges and societal expectations, and with added pressure of affordability, it is more important than ever that every pound spent on the environment delivers as much wide-reaching benefit as it possibly can. Traditional approaches alone cannot resolve the pressures facing the water environment and they will continue to worsen without more holistic and targeted funding and action.   

Nature-based solutions (NbS) have the potential to provide multiple socio-economic and environmental benefits by tackling flooding, drought and water quality issues at landscape scale and the use of NbS can unlock further co-benefits such as improvements in biodiversity. However, there are systemic barriers currently preventing wider adoption and the benefits of NbS from being fully maximised, such as fragmented/siloed investment, lack of standardisation and regulatory restrictions. This transformational programme of work brings together multi-sectorial expertise and leadership to collaboratively create and test new solutions to remove these barriers through real-life case studies and facilitate and enable transition of NBS into business-as-usual to deliver greater value for customers, society and the environment.   

The water industry and its regulators recognise that the time is now to take action to enable the large-scale implementation of NbS and that we are not starting from scratch:   

• There is a willingness for change across many organisations to work in partnership to deliver better catchment-based outcomes through NbS.   

• The multiple range of benefits that NbS provide is now acknowledged, paving the way for their more widespread application.   

• A wide range of strategic documents and regulatory directions point towards the need for widespread delivery of NbS to achieve our national environmental goals (25 Year Environment Plan, Strategic Policy Statement (SPS), WINEP for example).   

• There is political recognition that NbS are essential for tackling climate change and biodiversity decline.   

• The number of scheme/pilot level applications of NbS are growing. This provides evidence of their benefits and costs.   

• There is increasing practitioner experience across partnerships that can be harnessed to maximise opportunities.   

• Increasing willingness from water companies to work in partnership to harness the recognised value of NBS at catchment scales.   

NbS achieve maximum value when they:  

Deliver a multi-functional purpose: one NBS can deliver multiple improvements at the same time for e.g., water quality, flood reduction, biodiversity and therefore provide a multitude of social, environmental and economic benefits.  

Integrate with engineered solutions: synergies and trade-offs are optimised with traditional infrastructure, to reduce impact on carbon-intensive measures, and provide hybrid or integrated solutions that can be not only cost-effective, but also more resilient.  

Drive collaboration in planning and delivery and much better coordination at landscape scale.  

Incentivise multiple investment and joined-up funding: by aggregating their diverse benefits and functions, NBS can become an attractive proposition to a number of investors and funding mechanisms.

• Uncertainty around implementation, maintenance, effectiveness and valuation of NBS  
• Siloed ways of working, complexities around risk and ownership, competing pressures  

• Inadequate and conflicting policy and regulation  

• Limited financial incentives to attract investment and revenue streams at scale 

The following enablers are being delivered through the MNbS programme:  

• Partnership working & collaboration  

• Policy & regulatory incentives  

• Standardisation & capability building  

• Joined up planning, delivery & resourcing  

• Systematic knowledge sharing and tracking