Nature restoration can deliver wide-ranging environmental and societal benefits — but understanding these benefits, alongside costs, trade-offs and distributional effects, is essential for informed decision-making.
NatuRISE is a Horizon Europe research and innovation project exploring how the benefits, costs and wider socio-economic impacts of nature restoration can be better understood and integrated into decision-making.
The project brings together expertise in nature restoration, socio-economic assessment, ecosystem services, modelling, valuation, policy analysis and stakeholder engagement to develop evidence, methods and decision-support approaches for restoration.
Months — 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2030
Consortium partners
Work packages
Case studies
Horizon Europe — Research and Innovation Action
No. 101291407
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Nature Restoration Impact Assessment for Socioeconomic and Ecological Benefits
NatuRISE aims to strengthen the evidence, methods and analytical capacity needed to support nature restoration decisions that account for environmental, economic and societal dimensions.
A multidisciplinary consortium with complementary expertise in research, modelling, policy, stakeholder engagement, digital tools and communication.
12 interconnected work packages, moving from stakeholder needs and evidence to assessment, decision support and uptake.
Stakeholder perspectives are integrated throughout NatuRISE to help ensure that the research and results are relevant, credible and useful in real-world decision-making.
NatuRISE responds to the need for better evidence and decision-support for implementing nature restoration.
The project has a central ambition: to strengthen the ability of policymakers, public authorities, practitioners and researchers to understand and compare the wider consequences of restoration choices.
Its objectives address the development of:
NatuRISE is organised into interconnected work packages that collectively deliver the project’s objectives. Rather than presenting the project structure only as an organisational chart, we show how the different components contribute to the overall intervention logic:
NatuRISE progresses from building the evidence base to developing methods, assessing restoration impacts and translating findings into decision-support and policy-relevant knowledge. The stages are interconnected and evolve through stakeholder input and validation.
Evidence→Data→Indicators. Existing knowledge, data and indicators on the benefits, costs and wider impacts of nature restoration are brought together and expanded.
Methods→Models→Valuation.
Models, valuation approaches and analytical methods are developed and refined to capture monetary and non-monetary impacts across different scales.
Assessment→Benefits & costs→Distribution.
EU-wide and case-study assessments explore how restoration measures may affect ecosystems, economies, territories and different groups of people.
Evidence→Integration→Decision support.
Evidence, models and valuation approaches are brought together in an integrated decision-support platform and explored with stakeholders.
Findings→Recommendations→Uptake.
Research findings are translated into policy-relevant evidence, recommendations and practical resources.
Open results→Reuse→Longer-term impact.
Datasets, publications, methodologies, tools and other knowledge resources are made accessible beyond the project.
NatuRISE brings together organisations with complementary expertise needed to address the complex environmental, economic and societal dimensions of nature restoration. The consortium contributes expertise in areas such as:
| # | Result | Result family | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| D1.1 | D1.1 — Stakeholder engagement plan WP1 · Submission due: 2027-04-30 | — | Expected |
| D1.2 | D1.2 — Stakeholder analysis report 1 WP1 · Submission due: 2028-01-31 | — | Expected |
| D2.1 | D2.1 — Stakeholder analysis report 2 WP2 · Submission due: 2029-08-31 | — | Expected |
| D2.2 | D2.2 — Business Requirements report WP2 · Submission due: 2028-06-30 | — | Expected |
| D2.3 | D2.3 — Design prototype WP2 · Submission due: 2028-08-31 | — | Expected |
| D3.1 | D3.1 — Stakeholder analysis report 3 WP3 · Submission due: 2030-08-31 | — | Expected |
| D4.1 | D4.1 — Restoration targets and effectiveness WP4 · Submission due: 2028-01-31 | — | Expected |
| D4.2 | D4.2 — Database on nature restoration WP4 · Submission due: 2028-01-31 | — | Expected |
| D4.3 | D4.3 — Report on plural valuation WP4 · Submission due: 2027-11-30 | — | Expected |
| D5.1 | D5.1 — Database on costs and benefits WP5 · Submission due: 2028-01-31 | — | Expected |
| D5.2 | D5.2 — Database on regulating ES WP5 · Submission due: 2028-01-31 | — | Expected |
| D6.1 | D6.1 — Report on cultural ES WP6 · Submission due: 2028-08-31 | — | Expected |
| D6.2 | D6.2 — Enhanced sectoral models WP6 · Submission due: 2029-04-30 | — | Expected |
| D6.3 | D6.3 — Enhanced economy-wide models WP6 · Submission due: 2029-02-28 | — | Expected |
| D6.4 | D6.4 — Enhanced local-level models WP6 · Submission due: 2029-04-30 | — | Expected |
| D7.1 | D7.1 — Baseline scenario modelling protocol WP7 · Submission due: 2028-09-30 | — | Expected |
| D7.2 | D7.2 — EU wide socio-economic assessment WP7 · Submission due: 2030-02-28 | — | Expected |
| D7.3 | D7.3 — Local socio-economic assessment WP7 · Submission due: 2030-02-28 | — | Expected |
| D7.4 | D7.4 — Territorial and distributional impacts WP7 · Submission due: 2030-04-30 | — | Expected |
| D8.1 | D8.1 — Modelling and decision-support guidance for policy makers WP8 · Submission due: 2030-05-31 | — | Expected |
| D8.2 | D8.2 — NatuRISE policy briefs WP8 · Submission due: 2030-05-31 | — | Expected |
| D8.3 | D8.3 — Decision support tool WP8 · Submission due: 2030-02-28 | — | Expected |
| D9.1 | D9.1 — C&D&I Strategy and Plan WP9 · Submission due: 2027-02-28 | — | Expected |
| D9.2 | D9.2 — Interim Report I. on C&D&I WP9 · Submission due: 2028-01-31 | — | Expected |
| D10.1 | D10.1 — Interim Report II. on C&D&I WP10 · Submission due: 2029-07-31 | — | Expected |
| D10.2 | D10.2 — Draft Exploitation Plan WP10 · Submission due: 2029-07-31 | — | Expected |
| D11.1 | D11.1 — Final Report on C&D&I WP11 · Submission due: 2030-08-31 | — | Expected |
| D11.2 | D11.2 — Final Exploitation Plan WP11 · Submission due: 2030-08-31 | — | Expected |
| D12.1 | D12.1 — Project management Plan WP12 · Submission due: 2027-02-28 | — | Expected |
| D12.2 | D12.2 — Data Management Plan WP12 · Submission due: 2026-12-31 | — | Expected |
| D12.3 | D12.3 — Ethical issues WP12 · Submission due: 2027-01-31 | — | Expected |
| D12.4 | D12.4 — Updated DMP WP12 · Submission due: 2028-02-29 | — | Expected |
| D12.5 | D12.5 — Final DMP WP12 · Submission due: 2030-08-31 | — | Expected |
The list of publications will be available here.
NatuRISE benefits from external expertise and perspectives through its advisory structures. The Advisory Board provides an opportunity to bring knowledge, experience and perspectives from beyond the consortium into the project’s development.
NatuRISE aims to make its research and outputs as accessible, transparent and reusable as possible, in line with Horizon Europe open science requirements and responsible research practices. Where appropriate, this will include open-access publications, FAIR data, transparent documentation, reusable methodologies, accessible tools, and clear information on assumptions, methods and data sources.
To our view Open Science is not just about making publications available, but about enabling others to understand, verify, reuse and build on NatuRISE knowledge.
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