Evaluating the Impact of Nature-Based Solutions: A Handbook for Practitioners

The Handbook aims to provide decision-makers with a comprehensive NBS impact assessment framework, and a robust set of indicators and methodologies to assess impacts of nature-based solutions across 12 societal challenge areas: Climate Resilience; Water Management; Natural and Climate Hazards; Green Space Management; Biodiversity; Air Quality; Place Regeneration; Knowledge and Social Capacity Building for Sustainable Urban Transformation; Participatory Planning and Governance; Social Justice and Social Cohesion; Health and Well-being; New Economic Opportunities and Green Jobs. Indicators have been developed collaboratively by representatives of 17 individual EU-funded NBS projects and collaborating institutions such as the EEA and JRC, as part of the European Taskforce for NBS Impact Assessment, with the four-fold objective of: serving as a reference for relevant EU policies and activities; orient urban practitioners in developing robust impact evaluation frameworks for nature-based solutions at different scales; expand upon the pioneering work of the EKLIPSE framework by providing a comprehensive set of indicators and methodologies; and build the European evidence base regarding NBS impacts. They reflect the state of the art in current scientific research on impacts of nature-based solutions and valid and standardized methods of assessment, as well as the state of play in urban implementation of evaluation frameworks

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Sound Absorption Characteristics of Rebonded Polyurethane Foam

Polyurethane foam (PUF) is an exceptionally adaptable product that has a variety of applications-it can be found almost everywhere. Due to such high utilization, the amount of polyurethane foam waste generated each year is growing over time. Rebonding polyurethane foam waste is a suitable way to progress towards a circular economy. In this paper, the prospect of using rebonded polyurethane foam (RPUF) in noise control applications is examined. An experimental study was carried out on RPUFs with various thicknesses and densities. The sound absorption coefficients at normal incidence and air resistivity were measured. The five-parameter Johnson-Champoux-Allard (JCA) model was adopted for the simulation of the porous layer. The remaining unknown parameters of the JCA model were estimated by inverse acoustic characterization based on fitting the transfer matrix method (TMM) model of an unbounded porous layer with rigid backing to the experimentally obtained sound absorption coefficients. Furthermore, sound absorption coefficients were calculated for a wide range of sample thicknesses, as well as for different air gap thicknesses between the wall and the porous layer. For some of the considered RPUFs, a sound absorption coefficient above 0.8 was achieved over a wide frequency range

Hillslope processes: Mass wasting, slope stability and erosion

This chapter describes the dominant types of processes present on hillslopes where both gravity and running water are active. The impact of natural hillslope processes is important and is currently strongly influenced by human activity due to land use change and vegetation removal, and is becoming even greater due to climate change. Both the fundamentals of erosion and slope stability are discussed in this chapter with respect to processes, causes and impacts. To fully appreciate the role of vegetation in the remediation of adverse slope processes, the fundamentals of these slope processes are addressed. In the first part, the role of mass movements is discussed. The definitions used and physical principles underlying mass movements are explained and keys and diagnostic parameters are given to explain how to recognize certain types of mass movements in the field. The causes of mass movement are described, amongst which deforestation, adverse hydrological conditions or slope undercutting, are summarized. The main types of mass movements i.e. falls, slides and flows are then separately discussed, giving full details with regard to their causes, processes and consequences, as well as a first glimpse to the solutions to slope failure problems, which will be addressed in more detail elsewhere in the book. The second part addresses erosion processes. Accelerated erosion is considered as one of the greatest problems of land degradation as it removes the fertile topsoil at high rates. Mankind, who is removing the original vegetation for agricultural purposes, is causing this problem. Again the general principles behind soil erosion are illustrated, giving attention to the causes and the different soil erosion processes such as sheet erosion, rill and gully erosion, piping and tunnel erosion as well as tillage erosion