Innovation Lab 5 - NATURANCE

Flood risk management

Boosting flood resilience in Italy through controlled flooding, community insurance and nature-based solutions.

Go back to Innovation Labs

Summary

This Innovation Lab covers the integration of controlled flooding, a novel community insurance scheme, and NbS for flood risk management in Northern Italy. The Lab assesses the operational, regulatory, and financial feasibility of the scheme and its commercial appeal to insurers within the complex Italian flood management framework. Key stakeholders engaged include regional water boards, insurers, public administrations, and regulatory bodies, as well as international climate adaptation experts.

Audiences

Environmental experts

Insurance professionals

NbS promoters and developers

Authorities

Outcomes

The Innovation Lab facilitated cross-sectoral collaboration and helped break down institutional silos, providing a foundation for more integrated flood risk management strategies;

It proposed actionable pathways to refine governance arrangements and financial mechanisms, and advocate for policy changes enabling controlled flooding and NbS implementation;

For water boards and flood risk managers, the lab has shown how insurance can help mitigate the financial risk associated with controlled flooding;

It also highlighted the potential for a new role water boards can perform in the future: no longer exclusively managers of water resources, but managers of the territory and the ecosystem services this provides.

Additional Materials

Concept note: Boosting flood resilience through controlled flooding, community insurance and nature-based solutions;

Presentation: Boosting flood resilience in Italy through controlled flooding, community insurance and nature-based solutions (February 2025);

Come unire le forze per riduzione del rischio alluvionale e l’implementazione di NbS [Italian] (February 2025).

Policy and finance brief: Risk transfer and reduction through Nature-based Solutions.

Policy and finance brief: Assessing flood risk in the context of Nature-based Solutions.

Stay connected