Poznań City Hall: Building the basics for understanding and assessing NbS in the city

March 23, 2026 | Blogs

Recently, the City of Poznań hosted a workshop testing Invest4Nature’s NbS Decision Support Service (DSS) Toolbox for staff involved in urban development projects. The event was organised by the Invest4Nature team at Poznan City Hall’s Project Coordination and Urban Regeneration Office.

the City of Poznań hosted a Decision Support (DSS) Toolbox testing workshop for staff involved in urban development projects. The event took place as part of the Invest4Nature Project (I4N) and was organised by the Poznań I4N team from the Project Coordination and Urban Regeneration Office – Unit of Interdisciplinary Projects.

While the main objective was to test the NbS DSS Toolbox and gather feedback through a dedicated questionnaire, the workshop also served several additional purposes. Participants were introduced to the upcoming activities planned for the final six months of the project and gained insight into the goals of Invest4Nature. Particular attention was given to Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and the valuation of ecosystem services, both of which are becoming increasingly important in modern urban planning.

Why Decision-Support Tools Matter

The workshop highlighted the growing importance of decision-support tools in planning and managing blue-green infrastructure. During the opening remarks, Deputy Director Agnieszka Górczewska emphasised that calculating the benefits of NbS and valuing ecosystem services will soon become essential tasks for local authorities. These approaches will support better planning, monitoring, and decision-making processes in urban development.

Learning to Use the DSS Toolbox

The workshop combined presentations with hands-on exercises. Participants were first introduced to the Invest4Nature project, the concept of ecosystem service valuation, and the DSS Toolbox itself. An instructional video guided users through the platform and explained its key features.

During the practical session, participants worked directly with the tool and analysed a green-façade case study from Portugal based on literature data.

The cost–benefit analysis demonstrated which conditions such solutions become economically viable and which parameters most influence their performance. This exercise illustrated how decision-support tools can help municipalities make more informed and transparent planning decisions.

Workshop Insights: Where the DSS Toolbox Could Support City Projects

During the final session, participants discussed how decision-support tools like the DSS Toolbox could assist their daily work with NbS. Several potential applications were identified across different stages of urban projects.

In the analysis and design phase, the tool could help assess the effectiveness of NbS interventions, identify suitable solutions for specific projects, and support the optimisation of green zones in combination with mobility infrastructure.

During the decision-making phase, it could assist with budget planning, selecting NbS that best match local conditions and project objectives, and determining the appropriate scale of greenery, such as tree alleys, parks, or other green infrastructure elements.

Participants also noted its potential value in project preparation and compliance, particularly when preparing justification sections for EU funding applications or drafting tender documentation.

In later stages, the DSS Toolbox could support monitoring and governance, enabling systematic data collection and helping present the economic, environmental, and social benefits of NbS projects. It could also strengthen communication with decision-makers, investors, municipal units, and neighborhood councils by providing clear evidence of the value of green investments.

Challenges and Next Steps

While the workshop highlighted the strong potential of the DSS Toolbox, participants also recognized that its full use would require further development within the City Hall. Poznań will need stronger expertise in assessing Nature-based Solutions, as well as more systematic data collection and management. Reliable financial and environmental data are essential for conducting accurate cost–benefit analyses and understanding the long-term value of NbS interventions. Key questions therefore remain: how can financial data for NbS projects be collected effectively, how can their benefits be properly quantified, and how should relevant databases be created and managed? Addressing these challenges step by step will help Poznań move closer to integrating NbS assessment tools into everyday municipal processes and support more sustainable urban planning.

Main Takeaways

The workshop demonstrated that NbS assessment should become a standard component of urban project planning.

Author: Małgorzata Bronikowska and Poznań I4N Team
Poznań City Hall, Project Coordination and Urban Regeneration Office