If you are not registered yet: click on ‘sign up’ underneath the ‘Sign in’ button to create an account.

The blue search bar offers to search for and filter Nature-based Solutions. Type your keywords in the search field or select filters for a specific Nature-based Solution Type or Hazard. Click on the two arrows to see more filter options (Policy Level, Ecosystem, Nature-based Solutions Approach and Type). Select your choice and press the search button. The results will be shown on the map and listed underneath the map.

Hazard: hydrometeorological hazards (e.g., flood & drought).

Global Challenge: the SDG targets the NBS is tackling (e.g., water management).

Policy Level: the level where policies influence the implementation (e.g., local or global).

Ecosystem: local landscapes (e.g., forest).

NBS Approach: the degree of intervention in nature (e.g., conservation, management).

NBS Type: The actual NBS that was chosen to be implemented (e.g., green roof).

Click on one Nature-based Solution from the list or from the map and the detailed view (see below) will open on the right side of the interface. From the detailed view, you can access the information source, find similar Nature-based Solutions/policies/data, add your own Nature-based Solution, or explore the environment of the Nature-based Solution in the interactive map. By clicking on the print button, you can download the Nature-based Solution information.

You can either scroll through the stories or jump directly to one chapter by selecting it from the Table of Content. You can also switch between stories by selecting another country.

Simply select one story that interests you and scroll down. To go back to see all stories click on ‘Back to stories’.

Help other citizens to get started with their own NBS projects by sharing your experiences on success, challenges, and drawbacks.

Add your story by filling in the questionnaire and uploading images. Click on ‘add your story’ to submit it.

From this box, you can organize your maps. You can make maps invisible, add maps from our catalogue or add your own map. Click on the arrow and hold it for moving maps above or below another map. Click on the tool wheel to get more management options and information on the map.

By clicking on the tool wheel, you get more information and tools for managing one map. Here, you can change the transparency of a map to see two overlaying maps at a time, you can remove maps, you can get more information on the map and see the legend.

To get information about a point of your interest (e.g., to know what the exact population number in the area of a Nature-based Solution is), click on the map icon on the top right corner of the map and then click on the map (the place that interests you).

After selecting a point, a window will pop up presenting the number of the population.

To print the map you created in this interface, use the upper button on the right side.

The map global hydrological soil groups describes the characteristics of the soil to take in water (from rainfall). For instance, urban areas with surfaces like roads are able to let water into the soil. If the water cannot infiltrate into the soil it will flow on e.g., the road to lower areas. This process is called surface runoff. On this map you can see which areas are good for infiltrating water and which not.

The flood hazard map presents area that are potentially affected by rivers exceeding their banks. The map you added presents the potential flood water depth for a flooding event that may happens once in 10 years (= RP10y).

The result list is underneath the map. Each result provides a brief description of the content of the policy, offers the link to metadata (e.g., date of preparation, or which countries it is applicable for). Also, you can download the original document from here and get suggestions for similar policies, related data, and Nature-based Solutions.

Register

You can register by clicking on ‘Sign up’ on the bottom left corner of the interface and the Sign up window will open. To register, enter a displayed name, an email address and a desired password.

Log in

The ‘Log in’ button is available at the bottom left corner. For logging in, you need your email address and your password.

Explore already collected Nature-based Solutions on the map. The ‘Map’ view is the initial view. Zoom in, click on one Nature-based Solution and learn more about it. Each Nature-based Solution is marked with a grey location icon. By clicking on one icon, an information window will pop-up. Click on the information window to see more information. It can be closed by clicking somewhere on the map.

In the ‘Data’ view, you can scroll through the list of Nature-based Solutions. By clicking on one Nature-based Solution, a detailed view will open on the right side.

You can sort and/or filter Nature-based Solutions from the top. Different kind of sorting options and filters can help you to find a Nature-based Solution for your needs. You can sort by date and filter by location, date, source of information, and more.

Add a Nature-based Solution to increase the number of good practice examples for disaster risk reduction. Click on the yellow + button to add one. You will be redirected to the form to be filled in.

Nature-based Solution entries can be edited in the ‘Data’ view. Go to the data view and select the Nature-based Solution that needs editing. By clicking ‘edit’ in the menu on the right side of the window, a new window opens showing the values previously inserted in each field. Any attribute can be changed. In the data view it is also possible to delete or archive posts.

Create a collection

Collections provide means to organize Nature-based Solutions that interest you. You can manually add Nature-based Solutions to different collections. You can simply add a Nature-based Solutions to a collection by clicking on the button (three dots) in the top-right corner of the Nature-based Solution window and a menu will open. By clicking on ‘Add to collection’, a Nature-based Solution is added to the collection.

API

Data about Nature-based Solutions can be managed in a computerized manner by using Application Programming Interface (API). This allows easier integration of larger number of Nature-based Solutions in third-party software for further processing.

Register

You can register by clicking on ‘Register’ in the top menu. Registration is necessary to upload, store, organize, and share data. After registration you will be allocated to your organization (which can take a few hours). This allows to share datasets within your organization. To create a user ID, the following information will be asked for:

Username: a username can contain only letters, numbers, - and _ characters. For example, “operandumuser” or “operandum_user123”;

Full name: to be displayed on the user profile;

Email address: this will not be visible to other users;

Password: the same password has to be entered in both boxes (password and confirm).

Login

The login can be reached from the top menu. Enter your username and password to login.

Uploaded Datasets can be browsed in different ways:

Browse all: by clicking on ‘Datasets’ all publicly available data will be listed. After logging in, also data of your organization will be listed.

Search datasets by free text search.

Browse by groups: main groups are listed on the bottom of the website and can be also accessed from the top menu.

Browse by organizations: by clicking on Organizations on the top menu all organizations will be listed. By clicking on one of them, all openly accessible datasets will be listed.

Filter datasets: In the dataset menu, it is possible to filter datasets by location (from the map), organizations, groups, tags, format, licenses, others (based on available metadata).

Data can be added via the ‘Datasets’ page by clicking on ‘Add Dataset’. Adding datasets encompasses filling all relevant metadata information which are based on European legislations and principles.

To add your data:

1. Log in;

2. complete the list of metadata;

3. click on save dataset and add data;

4. add the actual dataset by clicking the button add data and either upload a file or provide the link to the dataset; and

5. save.

You can edit the dataset that you or a member of your organization have created. In order to edit existing datasets:

1. select the dataset;

2. click on the ‘Manage’ button, which is placed above the dataset title;

3. then the ‘Edit dataset’ view is displayed where you can edit any metadata field or you can manage (add, delete) files within the dataset; and

4. save your edits.

The Data Catalogue provides a possibility to manage datasets in a computerized manner by using built in API (Application Programming Interface). This allows to add larger number of datasets in an easier manner and also new workflows can be developed on top of the Data Catalogue API.