On December 5th, the IDAlert project organised the webinar “Including Health Risks in Nature-Based Solutions (NBS).” This event brought together leading experts to address a critical and often-overlooked dimension of NBS: their potential impacts on public health, including unintended consequences like the emergence of infectious disease risks.
The webinar was moderated by Jan Semenza, a lead author of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report. Currently associated with Umeå University and Heidelberg University, Jan opened the session with thought-provoking examples of NBS projects, highlighting the social and ecological contexts needed to ensure their success while minimizing health risks.
The speakers offered diverse and engaging perspectives:
- Marina Treskova, Junior Group Leader of “Eco-Epidemiology” at Heidelberg University’s Planetary Health Hub, introduced the concept of NBS and provided an overview of their types, distribution, and impact across Europe. She highlighted their vital role in ecosystems and their benefits for climate change mitigation, while also addressing potential “dis-benefits” and health-related risks associated with these solutions.
- Marion Koopmans, Director of the Department of Viroscience at Erasmus Medical Center and Scientific Director for Emerging Infectious Diseases at the Netherlands Centre for One Health, examined how human pressures on ecosystems influence zoonotic disease emergence.
- Reina Sikkema, Assistant Professor of Virology at Erasmus Medical Center, showcased tools and methodologies for studying NBS in practice, focusing on a Rotterdam-based case study of mosquito-borne viruses in urban areas to highlight both the opportunities and challenges of implementing NBS effectively.
Watch the full session on YouTube here to gain valuable insights and learn how to make NBS safer and more effective for our communities!
