An Examination of Nature-based Solutions for Coastal Adaptation in Southern Sweden

Abstract: While grey infrastructure, such as sea walls, have been the traditional method of mitigating coastal hazards there has been an increasing interest in adapting using natural processes, known as Nature-based Solutions (NbS). As with most places in the world, southern Sweden is facing an increase in coastal hazards due to climate change related sea level rise. There is a need to understand the utility of NbS for coastal adaptation in areas such as southern Sweden. To this end, an adapted systematic review of relevant academic literature was conducted along with interviews with key stakeholders for the southern Swedish town of Halmstad. A variety of themes about NbS emerged from the literature. This included: capacity for risk reduction, time and space scale considerations, flexibility provided by self-adapting and self-repairing capacities, common regulating, cultural, and provisioning ecosystem services, public perceptions, connection to equity, direct and indirect costs, design consideration, and the most common challenges NbS face. Similarly, themes emerged from the interviews about the Swedish context. These included: ecosystem services applicable to Halmstad, Swedish perspectives of NbS, costs, data gap challenges, and the Swedish regulatory framework for coastal adaptation. Within these topics, ran the theme that all these characteristics have context specific qualities. There are many challenges in the implementation of NbS. Significantly, they are best implemented using a holistic approach, which is difficult to achieve. Overall, NbS are well worth pursuing, as they offer multiple benefits and flexibility as adaptation measures.