Urban drainage & biodiversity promotion: Exploiting synergies ¶

Where and how can modern rainwater infrastructure and biodiversity promotion best be combined? 

Increasing urbanization, climate adaptation pressures, and the implementation of ecological infrastructure offer new opportunities for integrating biodiversity-promoting water structures into settlement areas. In Switzerland, there are strong efforts to plan sustainable cities according to the “sponge city principle,” where rainwater is considered a valuable resource and should not be drained away unused. Retained rainwater can be used to create valuable blue-green infrastructure in urban areas, which not only contributes to safe drainage but also offers synergies with biodiversity promotion.  

This working group identifies synergies between biodiversity promotion and the planning and implementation of rainwater infrastructure in urban areas. The aim is to collect and process relevant knowledge from research and practice in order to make nature-based rainwater infrastructures more visible and widely applicable as multifunctional solutions in urban areas. 

The working group will start in January 2026.