Call for Special Issue papers: Mainstreaming Nature-Based Solutions: Experiences, dilemmas, and reflections
Nature-based solutions (NBS) are gaining momentum globally, supported by a growing knowledge base and increasing demand for sustainable alternatives in environmental management. Despite this acknowledgement, NBS continue to face significant barriers in practice and draws increasing attention in literature. The underlying concerns highlight misconceptions and adherence to outdated infrastructural paradigms that often influence simplified understandings of NBS and result in their replicated implementation disregard of site specificity and thus, at times, maladaptation, which hinders broader adoption of NBS.
Implementing NBS typically involves large-scale landscape transformations that require substantial space and coordination. These transitions can generate conflicting interests among stakeholders and frequently lack broad societal support. In most cases, there are no established governance structures to guide their development. As a result, NBS projects are often limited to pilot or stand-alone initiatives from which lessons are learned, without successful translations to consistent frameworks for their initiation, implementation, long-term management, financing, governance, or scaling.
While the concept of mainstreaming is acknowledged in literature, its application to NBS practice remains fragmented and underdeveloped. This demonstrates that there is room for discussions and debates and exchanging of experiences and struggles relevant to NBS mainstreaming, especially when NBS is regarded as a practice to address the urgency of intensifying environmental, social, and economic pressures.
This Special Issue aims to capture and synthesize various insights and efforts of NBS mainstreaming from both academia and practice - bridging the gap between the theoretical foundations of mainstreaming and existing NBS experiences - to broaden the discussions and debate. By doing so, we seek to develop a more actionable understanding of what NBS does and for whom, and what its mainstreaming entails, how it can be achieved at scale, and present a way forward for practice and academia to jointly engage with NBS mainstreaming.
We welcome a wide range of contributions, including but not limited to:
- Research articles exploring governance, ecological, socio-cultural, economic, or technical dimensions of NBS that support and evaluate their integration into mainstream policy and practice.
- Reflections from practice or education on the past and current status, challenges, or opportunities for NBS mainstreaming in specific regions, sectors, or communities.
- Methodological contributions that bridge theory and practice to offer tangible approaches for mainstreaming NBS.
The framing of this Special Issue is grounded in experiences from coastal and riverine management in North-West Europe and the North Sea region, we strongly encourage submissions from other geographic regions, scales, and contexts to foster a rich, comparative perspective.
Prospective authors are invited to express their interest by contacting one of the Guest Editors - in cc to the journal - ahead of the submission deadline. We look forward to your contribution in shaping the discourse of NBS, moving from experimentation to meaningful impact.
Timeline
Deadline abstract submission: Friday 7 November 2025
Decision on abstracts: December 2025
Final manuscript submission: May 2026 (completed manuscripts will be published upon acceptance)
Guest Editors: Geert J.M. van der Meulen, Bas W. Borsje, Vana Tsimopoulou, and Ralph M.J. Schielen
Editorial contact points for the issue at IJWG: Shahnoor Hasan, Jeroen Warner.
Guest Editors
Dr.ir. Geert J.M. van der Meulen
The Netherlands Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, DG Rijkswaterstaat
Geert.vander.Meulen@RWS.nl
Interests: Nature-based solutions, Multidisciplinary design, Water sensitivity, Urban design
Dr.ir. Bas W. Borsje
University of Twente
B.W.Borsje@UTwente.nl
Interests: Nature-based coastal protection, Bio-geomorphology, Building with nature, Numerical modelling
Dr.ir. Vana Tsimopoulou
HZ University of Applied Sciences
V.Tsimopoulou@HZ.nl
Interests: Asset management, Flood risk management, Hydraulic engineering
Dr. Ralph M.J. Schielen
The Netherlands Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, DG Rijkswaterstaat; Delft University of Technology
Ralph.Schielen@RWS.nl
Interests: River management, Hydraulics, Morphology, Nature-based solutions, Tipping points
