SAfeguard BIodiversity and improve Climate Adaptation in catchment areas under pressure: tools and Solutions (SABICAS). Identification of barriers and drivers to NbS project implementation and realization of a GIS project as base for an interactive map with communication purposes

Abstract

The confluence between the Gausa river and the main river Gudbrandsdalslågen (Norway) is experiencing flooding events on a yearly basis. Flood mitigation measures have been constructed but are threatening the biodiversity of floodplains’ ecosystems. To avoid this kind of inconveniences, alternative strategies such as nature-based solutions, aiming to assess environmental, social and economic challenges by mimicking nature, are being explored. However, the concept remains unknown to the public and local people tend to doubt about its efficacity. The present master thesis describes nature-based solutions and aims to summarizes barriers that could prevent the implementation of NbS projects as well as communication-related drivers and strategies that could enable it. The second objective is the quantification and visualisation of the changes in land use that happened in the delta of the Gausa through time (1947-2019) by analysing aerial images in QGIS in order to communicate efficiently with project partners, stakeholders and broader audience. The end product is a mapping project meant to be used as communication tool. This work has been produced in the framework of SABICAS, a project funded by the Norwegian Research Council (https://www.sabicas.no/).