Urban Nature-Based Solutions through a Human Rights Lens

Nature‑based solutions – working with natural processes to tackle challenges like climate change while supporting both ecosystems and communities – are increasingly used in cities worldwide. Green spaces, water management systems, and other nature‑inspired approaches are expected not only to improve the environment, but also to benefit the people who live there. 

These Nature‑based solutions are not neutral. Every decision about where to build, what to prioritise, and whose needs to meet leads to gains and losses. In urban settings, where many interests collide, these tensions quickly become visible. 

What happens when human rights are brought into the equation? Can a human rights–based approach help clarify who is responsible, ensure that different voices are heard, and make the consequences of these decisions more transparent? And can it help distinguish between trade‑offs that are acceptable – and those that are not? 

To find out, the ASG brings together researchers from fields such as urban design, human geography, water engineering, environmental and human rights law, ecology, and environmental science. Together, they explore how human rights can be built into the planning, implementation, and long‑term management of nature‑based solutions in cities. 

Instead of seeing nature‑based solutions as purely technical fixes, this ASG will treat them as social and political processes – shaped by rights, responsibilities, and accountability. 

The Advanced Study Group will:

• Bring different disciplines into dialogue to explore how legal, social, and ecological perspectives can be combined
• Examine gaps in current research, particularly around equality, participation, and how costs and benefits are distributed
• Develop a framework for integrating human rights into urban nature‑based solutions across their full lifecycle