This open access book addresses the various disciplinary aspects of nature-based solutions in flood risk management on private land. In recent decades, water management has been moving towards nature-based solutions. These are assumed to be much more multi-purpose than traditional “grey infrastructures” and seem to be regarded as a panacea for many environmental issues. At the same time, such measures require more – and mostly privately owned – land and more diverse stakeholder involvement than traditional (grey) engineering approaches. They also present challenges related to different disciplines. Nature-based solutions for flood risk management not only require technical expertise, but also call for interdisciplinary insights from land-use planning, economics, property rights, sociology, landscape planning, ecology, hydrology, agriculture and other disciplines to address the challenges of implementing them. Ultimately, nature-based flood risk management is a multi-disciplinary endeavor. Featuring numerous case studies of nature-based flood risk management accompanied by commentaries, this book presents brief academic reflections from two different disciplinary perspectives that critically highlight which specific aspects are of significance, and as such, underscore the multi-disciplinary nature of the challenges faced.

"Extreme flood events stand amongst the most frequent, widespread, and devastating natural phenomena that threaten economic and social viability. Flood damage is largely dependent on both impact factors - such as water depth and area-of-inundation - and resistance factors, like flood warning and preparedness. In-land flood protection is approached through structural and non-structural measures under the wider objective of effective and efficient river management. Risk identification is vital in the design, planning, and implementation of flood-resistant action for both policymakers and individual stakeholders. This thesis employs a unique approach to global flood-risk by first estimating in-land flood exposure, which comprises only a single pillar of overall risk, followed by a critical analysis of current policy failings and recommendations to combat the growing concerns of future flood-risk amidst climate and environmental change. Estimating the populations, urban extents, and agricultural lands exposed to in-land flooding is a crucial first-step in characterizing overall risk and informing flood mitigation policy.First, this assessment quantifies the populations, urban extents, and agricultural lands exposed to in-land flooding across spatial and temporal scales using high-resolution flood extent data. An estimated 2.4 billion people may be exposed to in-land flooding on a global scale, representing 43 percent of the global urban population and 37 percent of the global rural population. Both globally and for regional case studies in Central and South America (collectively Latin America), Africa, and Asia, urban populations may face a larger relative threat to in-land flooding than their rural counterparts. This study also provides a first-estimation of the proportion of agriculture exposed to in-land flooding, which may be exacerbated by climate change, using crop and pastureland data. An estimated 20 percent of the world's cropland occupies floodplains, and these patterns shift for each of the regional analyses. Based on a derived flood sensitivity metric, countries such as Colombia and coastal cities in Africa could face higher flood-risk in the future. This thesis serves as an important addition to the risk assessment field and offers, in a separate chapter, a unique policy perspective to situate the results within the broader context of disaster risk reduction." --

In 2020 a survey and concept note on agriculture and flood risk management in the EU was developed by the European Commission and shared with the Common Implementation Strategy's Working Group on Floods. Twenty two replies were received. The aim of this work was to summarise the current situation in Member States (MS) in relation to agriculture and floods and to strengthen the coordination between agriculture and floods authorities with particular view of the development of CAP Strategic Plans (CAP SPs) and second Flood Risk Management Plans (FRMPs). A report was developed based on these replies as well as the available literature. The report has five main topics: Strengthening the role and importance given to agriculture in the Flood Risk Management Plans; Strengthening the role and importance given to flood risk management in the CAP Strategic Plans; Supporting shifts in perception, understanding and capacity; Encourage knowledge production/sharing to support uptake of flood risk management measures; Improving coordination between agriculture and flood risk management authorities. The MS survey responses show that flood risk on agricultural land occurs almost everywhere but that agricultural lands are not sufficiently protected, nor is agricultural land contributing noticeably to flood prevention downstream. Although EU funds are used in around half of the MS surveyed these funds are not used to the full potential. The survey responses and the available literature highlight the importance of the connections between flood risk management and agriculture and despite this the available knowledge on the impact of floods on agriculture or the mitigation of flooding with the support of agriculture is fragmented and limited. It can be concluded that there is a need to improve the coordination between agriculture and flood risk management authorities and improve the advice on flood risk management that is available to farm advisors and farmers.