On 22 September 2026, Jessica Lillquist and Katrin Merfeld attended the ‘Bringing Urban Rivers Back to Life Conference’ at Bar Beton in Utrecht, the Netherlands. The conference was organized by the Pathways to Sustainability program at Utrecht University, bringing together researchers, practitioners, planners, policy makers and artists to explore what it truly means to bring urban rivers back to life. Together, Jessica and Katrin facilitated a Seed Session entitled, From Invisible to Visible: Capturing and Communicating Perceptions of Nature-Based Solutions for Water Management.

This session connected the ClimEx-PE project with another EU funded project, AREBEST, which also focuses on nature-based solutions in different contexts around Europe. Through the session we joined our efforts with Utrecht University colleague, Kyra Gmoser-Daskalakis, to generate new opportunities for stakeholder engagement, enhancing diverse contributions to the planning and governance of nature-based solutions. The theme of the session was ‘Communicating for Nature-based Solutions’, aimed at identifying perceived visible and invisible benefits of nature-based solutions among diverse stakeholders to develop effective communication strategies. After brief project presentations, participants engaged in an interactive workshop applying a mental modelling exercise to help inform and design potential communication strategies focused on urban river management.