Stories of Success: Claudia Sánchez Escudero
Read how Claudia Sánchez Escudero, an architect from Spain, is designing and implementing environmental projects in her line of work
Tell us a little about yourself!
I am an architect and a NBS Project Manager at NBSCLIMATE, a social enterprise based in Spain. Here, I support the mapping, design, upscaling, monitoring and maximisation of nature-based solutions (NbS) projects, primarily using the IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions.
Since childhood, I have loved nature and been aware of the problems it faces, so I wanted my path to contribute to improving things for plants, animals, and for us! Finally, I chose architecture as a profession, as I love designing spaces and then I learned about urban ecology, Nature-based Solutions, green infrastructures, and so on — in short, how to make urban areas greener, contribute to climate change adaptation and mitigation, while making cities more beautiful, healthy, safe, liveable and enjoyable.
All these inspired me to keep moving forward by imagining how urban spaces, no matter their size, could be transformed and improved.
As a participant of both Urban Nature and NbS courses of the IUCN Academy, how did you find that these two courses complement each other?
When I first completed the IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions course, I understood the extent of dimensions that an NbS should cover. Although I already had some foundational knowledge about NbS, I realised later the link between scale, trade-offs and economic sustainability.
Some of the NbS criteria or targets may be difficult to fully develop in urban areas due to the characteristics of some places; however, cities, no matter their size, have great potential to implement changes and include Nature-based Solutions in their master plans, ideally in a horizontal manner. This is where the Measuring and Monitoring Urban Nature course complements this idea: although it did not focus on NbS, it does set the scope on urban areas.
The convergence of these two ideas – Nature-based Solutions and understanding urban sustainability-related challenges – provides an opportunity to fully realise the potential of Nature-based Solutions in urban areas.
Why do people who design Nature-based Solutions require knowledge and skills on measuring and monitoring urban nature and vice versa?
Before any kind of intervention, it is important to know how to measure and monitor urban nature and to understand the current state of biodiversity, how is the air quality? Are there any factors affecting the local nature? What are the consumption drivers? To properly identify challenges and their impact on people and ecosystems, a baseline is required. Only when this information is clear will it be possible to deploy a Nature-based Solution that fully addresses the existing challenges and maximises the provision of multiple benefits.
Could you describe a specific project, initiative or change that you have implemented based on knowledge acquired during the course?
@NBSCLIMATE is a partner to an ongoing PRIMA funded project called NATMed. Our role within NATMed is to guide the existing case studies, which are implementing water-related solutions – Full Water Cycle NbS – in five regions across the Mediterranean (Spain, Greece, Italy, Turkey and Algeria).
We assess the project interventions against the IUCN Global Standard for NbS and provide advice, identify good practices, challenges and make recommendations for areas of improvement for an increased impact and enhanced long-term sustainability. You can learn more at https://natmed-project.eu/
How has your success influenced your team, organisation or community?
Part of the NBSCLIMATE team is certified in the IUCN Global Standard for NbS. This enables us to independently lead different projects, maximising our efficiency and allowing us to advise on a wide range of NbS projects in urban and rural areas, thanks also to the multidisciplinary team. These projects focus on various topics, including water-related issues, marine aspects and initiatives linked to tourism and viticulture, for example.
At a company level, the IUCN Academy certificates that we hold have allowed us to establish ourselves as a green social enterprise, offering services in the growing – and necessary – field of Nature-based Solutions, ensuring they unlock their full potential and working towards their mainstreaming.
