Nature-Based Flood Protection

Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of flooding, leading governments to invest in nature-based solutions that aim to enhance climate resilience while generating ecological and social co-benefits. Projects such as the Grensmaas river restoration initiative combine flood protection with ecological restoration and landscape transformation. Yet important questions remain about who benefits from these interventions and who bears their costs. Do nature-based solutions reduce vulnerability equally across communities, or do some households benefit more than others? How do households adapt to changing flood risks, and what socioeconomic trade-offs emerge from large-scale environmental restoration? This project examines the distributional consequences of nature-based flood management, with a focus on household adaptation, flood resilience, and the socioeconomic winners and losers associated with nature-based solutions. This project is funded by the NWO grant 17596.