Toward resilient urban environments: Transition pathways in nature-based solutions

Resilient urban built environment countering environmental risks and supporting transformation into a bio-based circular economy may be fostered by nature-based solutions (NBS), e.g., innovations in green infrastructure and regenerative building materials. Our research contributes to the scarce literature within sustainability transition studies linked with research questions: 1) What factors catalyze the NBS innovation? 2) What kinds of visions and pathways for the futures of NBS are envisioned by local innovation actors? 3) How do NBS in the innovation ecosystem contribute to future urban resilience in the case cities? Our empirical data were collected in focus groups of two multi-actor workshops organized in two large Finnish cities and supplemented with 11 expert interviews in 2023. From this material, future-related pathways were created up to 2050, showing similarities across two cities regarding preferable futures to make cities greener, calmer, and more comfortable places to live. Furthermore, learning was an overreaching theme with strong connections to all other aspects of the NBS innovation ecosystem. Consequently, mainstreaming NBS is characterized with expanding the knowledge base of innovation ecosystem actors via experiments and co-creative activities. • There is a need to build resilient urban environments to manage expected environmental risks. • Nature-based solutions with wooden building materials provide benefits and resilience to foreseen risks in case cities. • Four transition pathways for sustainable futures in 2050 for the case cities were created to highlight the actions needed. • Local innovation ecosystem could catalyze the desired trajectories via creative learning and shared knowledge base.