Side event details
Both landscape and seascape restoration can address complex interconnected challenges, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and soil degradation and address wetland issues in a more coherent and integrated way. Landscape regeneration has multiple benefits including promoting healthy ecosystems, which are imperative for rebuilding society’s resilience and buffering people against the impacts of climate change.
The 4 Returns framework (also known as Integrated Landscape Management Framework) is a practical, holistic and systemic model that works to restore nature, finance and social capitals. It has been tested in several landscapes and its key value added is the restoration of hope and inspiration to communities and stakeholders within a degraded landscape where wetlands are present and in danger. As a language tool, the 4 Returns simplifies jargon and complexity stemming from sectoral and disciplinary silos. The time frame is ambitious with a minimum of 20 years based on landscape partnership processes, consisting of five key elements that emphasise collaborative and inclusive work:
Landscape Partnership – developing a robust and stable coalition of organizations in the landscape from across sectors and communities
- Shared Understanding – building a common understanding of the state of the landscape, trends and forecasts, and one another’s interests
- Vision and Planning – forging a long-term vision, strategy, evaluation protocols and spatially targeted action plans
- Taking Action – coordinating efforts, developing and financing an integrated landscape investment portfolio and tracking and communicating implementation
- Learning and Impact – measuring landscape impacts, capturing lessons learned and using them to adjust the landscape strategy and action plan.
Part of the outcomes of the framework are natural returns. The protection and restoration of degraded land and waters to produce healthy ecosystems can secure clean water, enable food security, and reduce the impact of floods and droughts. The key components to achieve this include integrated management at the landscape level and long-term planning and action. The framework will utilise existing best practices.
As part of multi-partner led collaboration with organisations and networks in Europe (Commonland, Wetlands International, IUCN, Landscape Finance Lab, SERE) we will launch a set of recommendations for how landscape restoration based on the 4 Returns Framework can help achieve multiple EU Green Deal goals and represent an example for other countries. The current EGD faces diverse challenges, lack of integration across policy areas, mismatched ambitions, varying priorities, and uneven progress. The framework aims to encourage interdisciplinary and intersectoral work with a practical and integrated process, which will translate into tangible benefits for wetlands, and as such, on biodiversity, climate, water availability, and local communities.
This event will showcase the 4 Returns Framework and how it can help achieve the objectives of the European Green Deal. The event will take the form of a facilitated panel event with interactive exchange from the audience. Various stakeholders within the landscape and seascape systems will share their experiences and a pathway forward will conclude the event.