Mainstreaming nature-based solutions in torrential landscapes : establishing demonstration sites in Austria and Slovenia

Poutamo, Helinä (author), Kuzmanić, Tamara (author), Kuschel, Erik (author), Lebar, Klaudija (author), Humar, Nina (author), Obriejetan, Michael (author), Alivio, Mark Bryan (author), Grabrovec, Veronika (author), Kozmus Trajkovski, Klemen (author), Hübl, Johannes (author), Mikoš, Matjaž (author), Stangl, Rosemarie (author)

Torrential landscapes, characterized by steep slopes, confined channels, and rapid runoff, are increasingly susceptible to climate-driven hazards triggered by heavy precipitation. The resulting fluvial and pluvial floods, debris flows, and associated erosional processes pose a risk to infrastructure and communities in surrounding and in downstream areas. While historical evidence supports the use of nature-based solutions (NbS) in these environments, they support alternative and/or complementary investments to grey infrastructure. However, there is a significant lack of robust, long-term data regarding their effectiveness in the complex alpine terrain. Within the scope of the NATURE-DEMO project, this gap is addressed by investigating the potential of NbS to mitigate climate risks through real-world demonstration sites in Austria and Slovenia. The project establishes two distinct demonstration sites within torrential landscapes located in Austria and Slovenia, addressing conflicting socio-economic, ecological and technical contexts. In Slovenia, the Gradaščica River site demonstrates NbS implementation in semi-urban and urban contexts within Ljubljana. This site focuses on large-scale river restoration, including channel widening and the creation of buffer zones, to protect over 17,000 inhabitants from recurrent flooding. In contrast, in Austria at the Brunntal Valley the focus is on facilitating sedimentation within the valley floor and mitigate erosional processes to safeguard aquifers that serve as a strategic drinking water supply for the city of Vienna. Given that stringent environmental regulations in this water protection zone largely prohibit conventional grey infrastructure and the application of NbS is preferable. To gather empirical evidence on NbS functionality, the project employs advanced monitoring strategies. These include UAV-LiDAR and UAV-Photogrammetry to track geomorphological changes and sediment dynamics, alongside traditional hydrological gauging. Preliminary results from the planning and establishment phase highlight the challenges of technical approval and the necessity of stakeholder engagement in mainstreaming green solutions and shifting the paradigm from purely technical engineering to resilient, hybrid landscape management. This results in a multitude of ecological and socio-economic co-benefits that support climate resilience of water infrastructures. Thus, this contribution presents the establishment of torrential landscape demonstration sites and the monitoring strategies used to gather evidence on NbS functioning, along with preliminary results obtained during the planning and establishment phase.

• Language: English
• Work type: Abstract or summary
• Typology: 1.12 - Published Scientific Conference Contribution Abstract
• Organization: FGG - Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: 2 str.
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-181073
• UDC: 556(436)(497.4)
• DOI: 10.5194/egusphere-egu26-17605
• COBISS.SI-ID: 272838403
• Publication date in RUL: 24.03.2026

Record is a part of a monograph

• Title: EGU General Assembly 2026 : Vienna, Austria & Online, 3–8 May 2026
• Place of publishing: [Munich]
• Publisher: EGU - European Geosciences Union
• Year: 2026
• COBISS.SI-ID: 272591107

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: sonaravne rešitve, kritična infrastruktura, poplavna varnost, zeleno-modra infrastruktura, siva infrastruktura, Gradaščica, demonstracijski projekti

Projects

• Funder: EC - European Commission
• Project number: 101157448
• Name: Nature-Based Solutions for Demonstrating Climate-Resilient Critical Infrastructure
• Acronym: NATURE-DEMO

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: P2-0180
• Name: Vodarstvo in geotehnika: orodja in metode za analize in simulacije procesov ter razvoj tehnologij