An SDG-based framework for assessing urban stormwater management systems

Nature-Based Solutions for stormwater management on top of handling water should, ideally, deliver a multitude of other services to society; they are often seen used as a lever for transforming cities in a more livable, green, resilient and sustainable direction, and these measures should be acknowledged as part of the services delivered.

In this study we assess the services that Nature-Based Solutions for stormwater management deliver with reference to targets and indicators from the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals; we also develop local, project level indicators that inform and are informed by the more broad Sustainable Development Goals indicators.

We demonstrate through Danish cases ranging from lot to city scale that the proposed framework can help inform decision-makers about the sustainability of Nature-Based Solutions for stormwater management. Despite difficulties in matching local indicators to SDG indicators, this first attempt at an assessment framework provides insight on which services of a project help to work towards the Sustainable Development Goals and, if used in the planning phase, could facilitate the design of projects that work focused and informed towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.