Process

The participants were divided into three groups and had two guided one-hour discussions – one on the challenges in capturing the economic benefits of nature-based solutions and one on new opportunities for cross-sector research and program collaboration to address the challenges. 

ASLA, UMD EFC, and LAF provided overviews of their past analyses and acknowledged that not all benefits of nature-based solutions can be quantified and monetized. 

They introduced benefit categories – from those that are more readily quantified or monetized to those that are challenging to evaluate. Some benefits of nature-based solutions are relatively easy to estimate in economic terms because they offer physical quantities to measure (gallons saved) and have standardized accounting options (e.g., reused and recycled materials quantification and reporting). 

Benefits that are challenging to measure because of lack of physical quantities, data, or standardized metrics also result in them being undervalued. These difficult-to-measure and therefore undervalued benefits were the initial  proposed focus of further research and collaboration. From the perspective of ASLA, UMD EFC, and LAF, these benefits could include: 

• Habitat creation
• Preservation and restoration
• Health & well-being
• Temperature & urban heat island
• Flood protection

They also asked participants to provide broad input into the 35 co-benefit categories of LAF’s Landscape Performance Series.

In the breakout group discussions on challenges, the groups were asked the following questions: 

• When making the economic case for projects, what are the easiest benefits for you to identify and describe? 
• When making the economic case for projects, what are the biggest obstacles and gaps for you?
• How do you think economic considerations affect what nature-based solutions are planned and designed?  

In the breakout group discussion on cross-sector opportunities, they were asked the following questions:  

• Given our understanding of the obstacles and gaps, what new cross-sector research and program collaborations are needed to get to a fuller economic case for nature-based solutions? 
• What kinds of cross-sector collaborations are most effective at yielding new opportunities?
• What is the #1 priority cross-sector collaboration for you?

The sessions were recorded via Zoom and transcribed with Panopto. Two of three breakout groups were recorded. Facilitator and participant notes were used for the unrecorded breakout group. Participants were anonymized and then first draft summaries of the discussions were developed with the assistance of AI. Participant quotes have been edited for length and clarity.