This week, Lemvig is for a while the green center of Europe. At the harbor, in the iconic Klimatorium, 60 researchers, experts and decision-makers from across the continent are gathering to share experiences on how nature itself can show the way to a more climate-resilient society.
The European experts are participating in the mid-term conference of the NBRACER project, a collaboration between eight regions and 29 partners across Europe. The goal is ambitious but simple: to develop and disseminate nature-based solutions that can make society better equipped to face climate change.
“NBRACER is about bringing all perspectives together – the technical, the social and the economic – and showing how they complement each other. This is where the project shows its strength,” says Than-Tam Le, Director of Impact and Performance at EIT Climate-KIC, Europe’s leading organisation for green innovation.
Nature’s solutions at a third of the price
Klimatorium plays a central role in the NBRACER project. In Denmark, they are working on nature-based solutions for handling wastewater – a challenge that is growing in line with the increasing pressure of the climate on the sewage system.
Traditionally, the solution has been expensive concrete pools and pipes. But experiences from the Klimatorium Living Lab show that nature can accomplish the same task for a third of the price – and at the same time strengthen biodiversity.
“We show in practice how collaboration and innovation can create solutions that are both economically sustainable and strengthen nature’s own systems,” says Charlotte Rosenkilde, project manager at Klimatorium.
Nature must return as a climate partner
As Than-Tam Le EIT from Climate-KIC explains, the experiences from Lemvig and the rest of Europe show that in the European green transition we must ensure the return of nature as a climate partner:
“When we talk about climate change, we cannot separate climate, biodiversity and people. Nature-based solutions are about listening to nature and learning from it – not as an alternative, but as a necessary part of the answer,” says Than-Tam Le.
From wetlands to wind turbines
The conference in Lemvig is not just a meeting in conference rooms. The participants have been on field visits to the West Jutland landscape, where nature’s solutions can be seen and felt: From the constructed wetland in Fjaltring, across Lemvig Sødal, to pilot projects in the Klimatorium Living Lab, where green innovation and nature conservation go hand in hand.
The visit route also included visits to the region’s other green lighthouses – the world’s largest wind turbine in Thyborøn, the Power-to-X facility in Ramme and the coastal destination Bovbjerg Lighthouse – symbols of how the West Jutland landscape has become a living laboratory for future climate innovation.
Lemvig as Europe’s green learning space
When the participants gather today for the last day of the conference, they will soon travel home to their respective regions – with new ideas, collaborations and inspiration from West Jutland.
Because in Lemvig, the vision of building the society of the future on nature’s terms is not only discussed – it is tested.
Facts about NBRACERS
NBRACER is a four-year European project that aims to demonstrate how nature-based solutions (NBS) can strengthen society’s resilience to climate change – from coast to countryside and city. The project brings together 29 partners from eight European regions in the Atlantic biogeographic zone, including Klimatorium and Aalborg University in Denmark.
The project works with three types of landscapes – coastal, urban and rural – where local and regional actors together develop and test solutions that are based on nature’s own processes. The goal is to create concrete, place-specific solutions that can be scaled and adapted to other regions in Europe.
The work covers everything from wetlands and coastal protection to urban climate adaptation and sustainable agriculture. The project also develops tools and methods that can help municipalities, businesses and decision-makers assess the impact of nature-based solutions – both environmentally and economically.
Read more at https://nbracer.eu
Contact person
Charlotte Rosenkilde – Project Manager at NBRACER – Klimatorium
Telephone: 5185 1896 – E-mail: chro@klimatorium.dk
Press release by Klimatorium : https://klimatorium.dk/naturen-viser-vejen/?lang=en-GB
