Interdisciplinary approach

The introduction of new financing instruments in the NBS infrastructure requires parallel scientific breakthroughs in different disciplines. Our research will develop five multidisciplinary lines of research, ensuring a holistic and critical approach to developing new business models. We develop an inter- and transdisciplinary understanding of NBS alternative funding through close interaction between experts, practitioners and researchers from different disciplines.

Alternative financing instruments also require a different way of dealing with economic feasibility assessments. We therefore apply a dynamic approach, via the so-called real option theory, which explicitly takes into account the costs and benefits of uncertainty (such as legal uncertainty), to evaluate how each of these instruments influences the decision to invest in NBS . In addition, we explicitly recognize the relevance of non-monetary features by applying discrete choice experiments to quantify which other features of the NBS and financial instruments are most crucial for stakeholders to become an NBS financier.

Traditional models of public funding contain strong public accountability mechanisms. When responsibilities in projects are shared between public organisations, private companies and citizen initiatives, accountability relationships can become more diffuse. InnoFiNS will investigate how accountability can be organized and how trust can be guaranteed between citizens, governments and private players in this hybrid governance form.

A stable legal framework is a requirement to attract new investors. For the innovative financing instruments, in particular those via 'Initial Coin Offerings', this framework is often insufficiently clear. We will assess the current legal context of the instruments and analyze the extent to which we can improve the legal framework for these instruments, taking into account the specificities of NBS projects, in order to identify potential legal barriers and ensure legal certainty in using those instruments as financing methods for NBS.

Nature-based solutions are often characterized by also contributing to social challenges. However, there is also the risk that private financing will create new negative social problems: does it contribute to gentrification, does access to public infrastructure become conditional, etc. The anticipated positive and negative impact of the various financing instruments are mapped within Innofins.

Traditional methods of planning and design are characterized by a strong separation between plan making and plan execution, with a steering role for the government. Alternative financing methods require a more flexible approach based on co-creation, involving a large number of stakeholders and potential (private) investors throughout the planning and implementation process and the two processes becoming more intertwined.