NAT-AGRI is an interdisciplinary project aimed at investigating how nature-based solutions (NBS) can be implemented in mosaics on Danish agricultural land to improve both the quantity and quality of biodiversity in Denmark, whilst simultaneously increasing the provision of ecosystem services (ES) from agricultural land, with a focus on the beneficial effects of implementing hedgerows, riparian zones, ponds and wetlands.
The NAT-AGRI project also examines how the implementation of NBS can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase carbon sequestration, and reduce soil- and nutrient loss to downstream areas. Ultimately, this interdisciplinary initiative is to result in an opportunity map which can be used to guide future land-use management to assist Denmark in achieving its climate goals, enhance biodiversity, and strengthen the landscape’s own resilience in a changing climate.
Approximately 80% of Europe’s habitats are currently degraded due to human activity. This poses a serious threat to the global economy, as more than half of the global GDP depends on ES, and further degradation or loss of habitats may therefore have catastrophic consequences. In Denmark, the Green Tripartite Agreement has been established to improve this situation; however, since food production remains a top priority, the majority of the Danish landscape will continue to consist of agricultural land. It is therefore highly relevant to investigate how biodiversity and ES provision within and from agricultural landscapes can be enhanced. In countries such as Norway and Sweden, NBS are widely applied, but in Denmark the potential of NBS to address societal challenges in ways that also benefit nature is still rarely utilized.
NAT-AGRI focuses in particular on how terrestrial and freshwater NBS can affect ES positively. The project utilizes amongst other techniques: Area surveillance with unmanned aerial vehicles, acoustic monitoring, as well as eDNA-analyses to investigate the effects of hedgerows, riparian zones, ponds and wetlands.
Pollinators such as bees and hoverflies are vital for biodiversity, food production, and healthy ecosystems. While conservation efforts often focus on flowers and terrestrial habitats, the role of freshwater habitats such as ponds, wetlands, and streams remains largely overlooked.
POLLENET asks a simple yet surprisingly unexplored question: How do freshwater habitats support pollinator diversity and health?
Using environmental genomics, environmental DNA (eDNA), ecological field surveys, and innovative behavioural experiments, POLLENET will investigate how freshwater ecosystems influence pollinator diversity, nutrition, microbiomes, immune function, and resilience. The project will explore whether aquatic resources, including microalgae and beneficial microbes, provide previously overlooked benefits that help pollinators survive and thrive.
By uncovering the hidden connections between freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems, POLLENET will generate new knowledge to guide pollinator conservation, inform landscape management, and help build more resilient ecosystems in the face of climate change.
This is a Danish-Chinese collaboration exploring how nature-based solutions can be used to restore freshwater ecosystems, improve biodiversity and strengthen the ecosystem services provided by rivers, lakes, reservoirs and wetlands.
The project brings together researchers and practitioners from Denmark and China to develop a shared understanding of freshwater nature-based solutions and, importantly, to move from ecological knowledge to practical implementation. The collaboration examines how approaches to freshwater restoration can be adapted to different environmental and societal contexts, and how successful solutions can be implemented more widely. The project will identify and prioritise suitable nature-based solutions and develop concrete action plans for their implementation.
The work of C-NBS focuses on the Baoxing catchment in Sichuan, a highly biodiverse river system connected to Giant Panda National Park. Here, the project explores how nature-based solutions can strengthen river and catchment ecosystems while addressing pressures from hydropower, infrastructure, mining, wastewater and agricultural runoff.
The project brings together Clean – Denmark's Water and Environment Cluster, Aarhus University Department of Ecoscience, DHI China, RCEES (Chinese Academy of Sciences) and SCAES in Sichuan, with additional support from Innovation Centre Denmark Shanghai. It is supported by the Global Innovation Network Programme (GINP) under the Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science.
C-NBS is contributing to the Strategic Sector Cooperation on Water between Kenya and Denmark, working with Kenyan and Danish partners to explore how nature-based solutions can contribute to improved water quality, healthier freshwater ecosystems and more resilient water management.
We currently focus on the Nairobi River system, which is heavily affected by untreated sewage, solid waste and plastic pollution, as well as pressures from rapid urban development. Flooding and degradation of riparian areas create additional risks for both people and ecosystems. We work together with the Danish Environmental Protection Agency (DEPA) and the Royal Danish Embassy in Kenya to support the Nairobi Rivers Commission in its efforts to rehabilitate the river system, with a particular focus on how nature-based solutions can play a greater role in river and catchment restoration.
The collaboration explores how restoration of riparian areas, wetlands and other NBS can complement measures to reduce pollution and improve water management. The aim is to bring ecological knowledge into the planning of river rehabilitation and identify solutions that can simultaneously support water quality, biodiversity, flood resilience and the recovery of healthy urban river ecosystems.
The wider collaboration also addresses groundwater management and protection. This includes strengthening knowledge of groundwater resources and pollution sources and exploring how nature-based solutions can contribute to protecting and recharging aquifers. C-NBS has contributed to knowledge exchange with local authorities and Water Resource Users Associations (WRUAs), including activities in Laikipia, where local stakeholders are directly involved in water-resource management.
The work forms part of SSC Water Kenya Phase I (2025–2027), a Strategic Sector Cooperation between the Kenyan Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation, the Danish Environmental Protection Agency and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with C-NBS at Aarhus University contributing expertise in nature-based solutions.
WARBLER is a 36-month Horizon Europe Twinning project, launching in late 2026, that aims to strengthen the capacity of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW) as a European centre of excellence in climate-resilient ecosystem restoration.
The project focuses on Nature-based Solutions, restoration and rewetting of wetlands and peatlands, water retention, and integrated water–soil management under a changing climate. Through knowledge exchange, joint research methodologies, training and networking, WARBLER will strengthen expertise in areas including hydrological modelling, ecosystem-service monitoring and the design and evaluation of Nature-based Solutions. The project also aims to build stronger links between research, policy and practical water management and to increase SGGW's participation in European research collaboration.
WARBLER is coordinated by the Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW in Poland, together with BOKU University in Austria, Aarhus University, State Water Holding Polish Waters (Wody Polskie) and Sustainable Innovations Europe in Spain. C-NBS contributes expertise in the design and monitoring of Nature-based Solutions and ecosystem restoration. The project is funded through the Horizon Europe Twinning programme.
CENNA is a six-year Horizon Europe project establishing a new Centre of Excellence for smart environmental monitoring and Nature-based Solutions in Montenegro.
The project brings together ecological research, new monitoring technologies and environmental data science to support more effective management and restoration of protected areas facing pressures from climate change, pollution and habitat degradation.
CENNA will use Skadar Lake and Durmitor National Park in Montenegro as living laboratories for developing and testing new approaches to biodiversity and ecosystem monitoring and NBS. Research will combine field observations and advanced environmental monitoring with predictive modelling and restoration approaches, including solutions for improving water quality, ecosystem resilience and the management of freshwater, wetland and mountain ecosystems. Aarhus University and C-NBS will contribute expertise in evidence-based NBS design and evaluation, biodiversity monitoring, greenhouse-gas monitoring and ecosystem restoration. C-NBS will also contribute to knowledge exchange and capacity building, helping to translate research findings into practical approaches for protected-area management.
CENNA is coordinated by the University of Montenegro, in partnership with Aarhus University, the University of Antwerp, the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation of Montenegro, and the National Parks of Montenegro. It is funded through the Horizon Europe Teaming for Excellence programme and runs from November 2026 to October 2032.
The project examines the governance frameworks that can enable or constrain the implementation of nature-based solutions.
Jóna Ólavsdóttir’s PhD project focuses on the implementation and upscaling of nature-based solutions in Danish municipalities. The project examines the governance frameworks that can enable or constrain the implementation of nature-based solutions. Using the Assens model as a starting point, Jóna explores whether the model can be applied as an implementation strategy in other municipalities, thereby supporting the wider adoption of nature-based solutions as part of Denmark’s Green Tripartite Agreement. The research aims to generate knowledge on how nature-based solutions can be implemented and scaled up to become an integral part of future sustainable development.
