The H2020 project PHUSICOS organized a “According to nature” webinar, which is an International Webinar on Nature-Based Risk Mitigation focusing on learning about Nature Based Solutions in mountain areas. The webinar started 7 September 2020 and will last 10 days. The organizing TUM Chair for Strategic Landscape Planning and Management headed by Prof. Stephan Pauleit, offers the virtual program as a reaction to the current COVID-19 situation to replace the planed Summer School with many site visits and stakeholder meetings at both the Isar and the Pyrenees case sites. Even if many of the participants may prefer to meet in person and discover in real-life implementation site, the digital format enable them to join the program without expensive travel cost. A side effect is that this webinar format saved at least 40 tons of CO2 emissions caused by travel. The webinar is composed of online lectures, group discussions, digital workshop and self-study on implementation site.
The moderators Dr. Aude Zingraff-Hamed, Dr. Gerd Lupp and Martina van Lierop warmly welcomed the twenty participants, namely Master students, PhD candidates and young professionals from around the world. They are participating in the online course with lectures, group discussions and workshop formats. Despite the lack of in-person meetings and site visits, the participants of the webinar perceive it as a very positive offer as it allows participating also with work obligations or no available budget for travel. Starting with a get-to-know on the first day to share thoughts, experiences from the project PHUSICOS and experiences of the participants from all over the world, in the following days, participants will elaborate on NBS key elements and benefits of NBSs, NBS governance, potential barriers of implementation and ways to overcome them.