2. How to use the online handbook

The Nordic NBS policy handbook provides general advice on how to create effective policies and use different policy instruments for mainstreaming nature-based solutions (NBS). The handbook is hosted online, at www.nbspolicy.org. This TemaNord report contains a compilation of its main content.

2.1 About this report

The text that is presented in this report is also included in the online handbook. A list of the additional advice and examples included in the online handbook is provided in Chapter 9, with links to further details.

The structure for this TemaNord report about the policy handbook is as follows:

What are NBS and policies? An introduction to the concept of NBS and what is meant by policies and policy instruments in this book (chapter 3).
Ways to support policy development for NBS. An introduction to different types of policies for NBS and background knowledge on what are the important factors that make such policies work (chapter 4).
Main gaps and opportunities for NBS. An overview of gaps and barriers to implementing NBS and what drivers and enablers that exist based on stakeholder consultations (chapter 5).
International targets and obligations relevant for NBS. An overview of key international targets and obligations and how policies supporting NBS can contribute to achieving them (chapter 6).
The Nordic policy landscape. General overview of the state of policy development for NBS in the Nordics and a brief explanation of the context in each country, including some key national policies related to NBS (chapter 7).

Introductions to the handbook categories. A brief summary and introduction for each of the main categories used in the handbook: eight different societal challenges, four different categories of policy instruments and three different governance levels (chapter 8).
Cross-cutting policy advice. General advice and suggestions for policy development to support NBS that can be applied across different societal challenges, policy types and governance levels (chapter 9.1).
List of specific policy advice. A list of the specific advice and examples of effective NBS policies across the Nordic region provided in the online handbook (chapter 9.2).
Key takeaways. A summary of general findings and content in the handbook on how typical gaps can be addressed and where to identify enablers for mainstreaming of NBS in the Nordics through policies (chapter 10).
Appendix. Contains background information, including an introduction to the A-DVICE project and methodology for creating the handbook (chapter 12).

2.2 Navigating the online handbook

To make it easier to navigate, the online handbook is structured according to different dimensions and categories, including governance levels, societal challenges and type of policy instruments, which the user of the handbook can select based on their interest.

Decisions affecting the use and implementation of NBS can be made in a range of different policy domains and on different governance levels. Some topics addressed in the handbook are common to most policies supporting NBS, such as stakeholder engagement, organisation, and financing mechanisms. Others may be more relevant for a specific sector or governance level.

Users of the online handbook can search for different topics and filter the content according to what tags and categories they find most useful. The advice in the online handbook is tagged with different categories that users can use to filter and search for relevant information. Table 1 contains an overview of all the tags used in the handbook.

Table 1. Categories used to navigate in the online handbook. More information about the different categories can be found in chapter 12 on methodology the appendix.

Societal challenge	Nature type	NBS action	Policy type	Governance level	Country
Biodiversity enhancement	Agriculture and cultural landscapes	Issue-specific ecosystem approaches	Administrative practices and strategies	Local level	Denmark
Climate change adaptation and mitigation	Coastal and marine landscapes	Sustainable management and use of ecosystems	Economic instruments	National level	Faroe Islands
Disaster risk and preparedness	Forests	Protection of ecosystems	Information, guidance and other voluntary measures	Regional level	Finland
Economic and social development	Mountains	Restoration of ecosystems	Laws and regulations		Greenland
Food security	Rivers, streams and lakes				Iceland
Human health and wellbeing	Urban environments				Norway
Social justice and capacity building	Wetlands and peatlands				Sweden
Water management					Åland

The advice included in the online NBS policy handbook follows this hierarchy:

Cross-cutting advice: Some advice is more general and can apply to most sectors, ecosystems and societal challenges.
Advice for specific issues: Some advice is more specific and usually concerns specific challenges, governance levels, sectors or types of policy instruments.
Examples on how it can be addressed: Examples of NBS policies in the Nordic countries are provided to illustrate the advice and potential solutions. For each set of advice, there may be several examples from different Nordic countries.

For more details on how to implement NBS in practice, the handbook also links to the GuideNBS handbook (available at nbsguide.org) which has been developed in parallel with the NBS policy handbook.

Important notes for the users of the handbook:

Application of best practices should always consider what might be possible given the unique social, ecological, and administrative contexts. The handbook provides suggestions and examples, but their transferability might depend on the unique circumstances of the different countries. NBS and policies supporting them should always be designed with the local context in mind.
Policies change continuously, and the handbook does not aim to cover all policy fields, nor provide a complete overview of all existing NBS policies in all Nordic countries. It rather aims to give concrete suggestions and inputs by highlighting good practices and examples to learn from. We also acknowledge that depending on the time of publication and access, there will be new developments and information that may not be included.