URBAN: Urban Resilience Building and Nature: Innovating Urban Planning for Resiliency with Nature-based Solutions and Climate Risk Models in Thailand

Thailand is among the countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The project strengthens the social, economic and environmental resilience of urban areas by introducing and scaling nature-based solutions (NbS). Adaptation measures include wetland restoration and management, improved urban ecosystem management, forest and mangrove restoration, the development of green spaces and urban protected areas, as well as sustainable land use planning. Concretely, the project implements cost-effective and replicable adaptation measures across up to six pilot sites in two provinces, The developed interventions can be scaled and applied in other regions of Thailand.

Project data

Countries: Thailand
IKI funding: 7,000,000.00 €
Duration: 08/2022 till 10/2028
Status: open
Implementing organisation: International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) - Asia Regional Office (ARO) - Thailand
Political Partner: Department of Water Resources (DWR), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) - Thailand
Implementing Partner: Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) - Thailand

Regional Community Forestry Training Center for Asia and the Pacific (RECOFTC)

Thailand Environment Institute Foundation (TEI)

Urban Design and Development Center (UddC) - Thailand

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State of implementation/results

Surat Thani and Chiang Rai were selected as pilot provinces for project implementation based on a site research and analysis.
In 2023, three capacity building events on Nature-based Solutions (NbS), Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA), urban planning and other related issues on adaptation and urban resilience were organised for government partners at the national policy level in Bangkok in order to enhance understanding of relevant topics and to prepare the participants for their role in the PSC. In total, over 150 participants attended the trainings.
At the provincial level, the project partners conducted four training events for relevant project stakeholders to strengthen understanding of effects of climate change in urban wetlands, NbS and EbA as well as the urban agenda in the 21st century. In total, 125 participants attended the trainings.
RECOFTC conducted a preliminary landscape survey and assessment to consider potential NbS measures in the pilot provinces, resulting in four potential sub-districts in Chiang Rai, (more than 14,000 hectares), and seven potential sub-districts in Surat Thani, (more than 21,000 hectares).
Urban Resilience Provincial Forums engaged more than 300 participants in December 2024, promoting NbS for urban resilience. Discussions emphasised integrating green and blue infrastructure, increasing awareness of climate risks, and fostering co-design efforts among government, academia, CSOs, and local communities.
In February 2025, municipal authorities approved the NbS demonstration that had been selected trough stakeholder consultations in August 2024: In Chiang Rai Province, the restoration of 36 hectares through public park development and riparian restoration. In Surat Thani Province, the restoration of 11 hectares of floodplain integrating recreation with municipal facilities to manage stormwater, mitigate cascading impacts, and boost urban biodiversity, as well as eight hectares ofcritical remnant freshwater wetland threatened by urbanisation.
The project is working with the consulting firm Alluvium to apply the Urban InVEST tool to assess the effects of nature-based solutions (NbS) on urban ecosystem services. The analysis for two provinces was completed by 31 October. By March 2026, six NbS demonstration sites were finalised in Chiag Rai and Surat Thani inclding policy measure: the demonstration sites represent several ecosystems, proposed measures include riparian forest restoration, wetlands and floodplains restoration and management for natural water retention, rain gardens and Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS), removal of drainage bottlenecks and invasive species management to support urban ecosystem resilience.
Provincial forums were organised in Chiang Rai and Surat Thani in December 2025 to present climate risk findings and discuss climate resilience challenges and NbS options with local stakeholders, researchers and city authorities. More than 350 participants attended the two events.
Meanwhile, RECOFTC is consolidating data from approximately 22 potential sites.
Project funds for urgent NbS site implementation were unblocked in January 2026 and IUCN and RECOFTC are accelerating the final NbS design process to initiate implementation at priority demonstration sites by June 2026.
In 2025, ADPC reviewed flood hazards, developed climate data maps, and improved climate modeling in collaboration with Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) and the Department of Climate Change and Environment (DCCE). With the project’s support, CMIP6 Global Climate Models (GCMs) were selected for Thailand, and hydrological data was collected for flood modelling in Chiang Rai and Surat Thani.
ADPC is progressing on schedule with the Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (CRVA). By March 2026 ADPC identified climate projection scenarios for Thailand, covering floods, droughts, landslides and sea-level rise. In April, a training session was held to introduce baseline data. A visualisation tool compiling these results is under development and expected in 2026.
The Thailand Environment Institute (TEI) has completed the Wetland Study and the first draft of the Wetlands Management Plan. Stakeholder consultations were conducted and revisions are ongoing. Some initial measures are already being implemented on the ground.
In April 2025, the National Steering Committee initiated the first policy consultations for the project, with a focus on capacity building from 2026 onwards.-- In June, the Urban Resilience Forum brought together 207 participants and served as a platform for policy and practice exchange from the pilot regions.