Bridging the pathways of industrial and urban sustainability: A perspective for mainstreaming Nature-Based Solutions into Industrial Parks

Industrial and urban areas are known for generating significant environmental and social impacts. While Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) have gained widespread adoption in urban areas to address these challenges, their integration in active industrial zones has been limited. NBS have primarily been applied in post-industrial contexts, but they hold the potential to be similarly utilized in industrial areas to address comparable sustainability challenges, such as pollution reduction, resource efficiency, and climate resilience. This perspective paper presents a viewpoint on the potential incorporation of NBS inside industrial areas to promote eco-innovative systems, particularly Eco-Industrial Parks (EIPs). To better contextualize the possible NBS mainstreaming in industrial areas for the advancement of more nature-positive frameworks, an overview of the main industrial and urban sustainability policies has been offered, followed by a brief literature review assessing the inclusion of NBS and related concepts within current industrial areas. Finally, a perspective is proposed as a framework to highlight NBS contribution for enhancing industrial sustainability by reducing environmental impacts, improving resource efficiency, and fostering biodiversity restoration. Particularly, within industrial areas already facing sustainability processes (e.g., EIPs), NBS projects can trigger public-private partnerships to achieve shared goals. By doing so, industries can contribute to a net-zero and nature-positive future, aligning with broader environmental and social objectives. Future research should focus on fostering collaboration and expanding NBS adoption in industrial contexts. • Few studies address NBS in active industries, showing a major research-policy gap. • Eco-Industrial Parks (EIPs) offer testbeds for scaling NBS in industrial settings. • NBS can help overcome EIP barriers via ecosystem services and stakeholder synergy. • Effective NBS uptake requires regulatory tools and alternative financing schemes. • Embedding NBS in EIPs supports supranational targets like Net Zero and restoration.