Case studies

Case studies

How does the work look in real-world contexts?

Nature restoration takes place in specific landscapes, communities and ecosystems. The opportunities, constraints and impacts of restoration can therefore look very different from one place to another.

NatuRISE works with four real-world case studies across agriculture, forestry and freshwater ecosystems. These case studies connect the project’s scientific work with the people and places where restoration decisions are made. They provide contexts in which NatuRISE will co-create questions, apply and test methods, explore restoration options and translate complex evidence into decision-relevant insights.

From models and evidence to real places and real decisions.

Four case studies, four contexts

Gelderse Poort

Exploring the socio-economic implications of freshwater ecosystem restoration and the interactions between ecological objectives, land use and wider economic impacts.

  • Key stakeholders: Rijkswaterstaat and relevant regional and local actors
  • NatuRISE focus: ecosystem restoration, land use, ecosystem services, socio-economic impacts
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Greece

Exploring restoration choices in a context where agricultural production, ecosystem condition and local socio-economic priorities need to be considered together.

  • Key stakeholders: Greek sub-national authorities and local stakeholders
  • NatuRISE focus: agricultural impacts, restoration measures, farm-level effects and territorial outcomes
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Ljubljansko Barje

Exploring how wetland and grassland restoration interacts with land management, local livelihoods and the different benefits and costs experienced by stakeholders.

  • Key stakeholders: Krajinski park Ljubljansko barje (KPLB) and relevant local actors
  • NatuRISE focus: wetland and grassland restoration, carbon, distributional impacts, land management
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Central Hungary

Exploring the socio-economic, cultural and recreational dimensions of forest restoration and the trade-offs between different ecosystem services and land-use objectives.

  • Key stakeholders: WWF-Hungary and relevant local and regional actors
  • NatuRISE focus: cultural and recreational values, restoration trade-offs and stak
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What happens in a case study?

1

Understand the context

We work with stakeholders to understand the local restoration challenge, existing policies, priorities and constraints.

2

Identify the decision questions

Together, we explore what stakeholders need to know to make better-informed restoration decisions.

3

Co-create the assessment

Relevant measures, indicators, valuation approaches and assessment questions are developed and refined with stakeholders.

4

Apply the evidence and models

NatuRISE methods and models are applied to the case-study context to explore potential environmental, economic and social effects.

5

Explore options

Stakeholders can examine alternative restoration choices, benefits, costs, trade-offs and distributional effects.

6

Learn and improve

Experience from the case studies feeds back into the project’s methods and decision-support tools, helping make them more relevant and transferable.

How the case studies are indexed

Find a case study — the dimensions along which case-study evidence can be found in the Results Hub

By location

Netherlands · Greece · Slovenia · Hungary

By ecosystem
Freshwater · Agriculture · Forests

By stakeholder

Public authorities · Farmers and land managers · Forestry stakeholders · NGOs and civil society · Policy makers
By topic
Restoration benefits and costs · Ecosystem services · Land use · Biodiversity · Climate resilience · Health and wellbeing · Cultural and recreational values · Distributional impacts · Decision support
Search case-study evidence in the Results Hub
Expected

What will the case studies deliver?

Across the four cases, NatuRISE aims to generate:

  • context-specific assessments of restoration benefits and costs;
  • insights into territorial and distributional effects;
  • stakeholder-informed assessment approaches;
  • lessons on how scientific evidence can support real restoration decisions.
  • evidence on ecosystem services and wider socio-economic impacts;
  • comparisons of restoration options;
  • demonstrations of the NatuRISE decision-support tool;

From local experience to wider learning

Case studies as learning environments

The case studies are not isolated demonstrations. They will allow NatuRISE to test how different methods and models work when confronted with real-world decision contexts, data limitations, stakeholder priorities and implementation constraints. This creates a two-way learning process across:

Research → Case studies

Scientific methods and models are applied to real restoration questions.

Case studies → Research

Stakeholder knowledge and practical experience help refine the methods, assumptions and outputs.

Case studies → Wider use

Lessons from the four contexts will contribute to approaches that can be applied beyond the original locations.

Do you have experience from a similar restoration context?

Share your perspective with us