NURISH participated in the 19th IWA International Conference on Wetland Systems for Water Pollution Control (ICWS2026), held from 13 to 17 September 2026 in Chania, Greece, bringing its approach to Nature-based Solutions (NbS) to the international wetland community.

Project partner IRIDRA contributed to the scientific programme with different experiences and research on NbS for water management. Among them, Anacleto Rizzo presented the PhytoVoltaic concept being developed within NURISH, which integrates constructed wetlands and solar energy, exploring how NbS can combine water treatment with renewable energy.

Sharing the reality behind NbS implementation

NURISH was also presented during the workshop “What a Mess! The Reality of NbS Implementation in Horizon Europe Projects”, alongside alongside CARDIMED, SEACURE, VERNE and HOUSEFUL.

The session moved away from traditional success stories to focus on the practical challenges, unexpected situations and lessons that emerge when NbS are implemented in real contexts. Fabio Masi (IRIDRA) shared experiences from NURISH, while the other participating projects contributed their own lessons from demonstration activities.

The discussion was complemented by Prof. Niki Frantzeskaki from Utrecht University, who applied her governance traps framework to identify common patterns across the experiences presented. A FishBowl discussion then allowed participants to openly exchange views on recurring challenges involving communities, contractors, clients, funders and other actors.

The session highlighted that innovation is rarely a linear process and that trial and error, adaptation and learning from challenges are essential to improving the implementation of Nature-based Solutions.

The positive response from the ICWS2026 community even led to the proposal of making “What a Mess!” a recurring format at future editions of the conference.