[article] Monitoring nature-based solutions: Why and How?

Image 1. Mangrove seedlings in fishing village affected by super typhoon Odette, Cebu

I'm delighted to share a publication that I had the privilege of co-authoring: a new Perspective in Nature Sustainability on how and why we should monitor nature-based solutions.

As nature-based solutions become increasingly central to climate adaptation, disaster resilience, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable development, how we monitor them matters. Our paper argues that monitoring should go beyond compliance and reporting. Instead, it should be a continuous process of learning—one that brings together scientific evidence, local knowledge, and community participation to improve policy and practice over time.

The publication grew primarily out of our 2023 workshop hosted by the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Asian School of the Environment and many conversations and collaborations before and after that gathering. It was a privilege to contribute alongside an outstanding interdisciplinary group of researchers and practitioners.

For me, this work resonates with questions that have long shaped my research on disaster resilience and participatory design: How can monitoring become a collaborative process rather than a technical exercise? How do we generate evidence that is genuinely useful to communities, practitioners, and policymakers? And how can evaluation support more just and adaptive futures?

Thanks to Erich Wolff and Perrine Hamel of NTU/Utrecht U for the opportunity, and all co-authors for the collaboration.

The article is available to read for free here:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-026-01885-w.epdf... 

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