Policies and regulatory frameworks for urban and riverine nature restoration.

The paper examines the evolution of policies concerning urban and riverine biodiversity at the global, European and national scales, with particular attention to the Italian context. At the international level, the Rio Conference (1992) marked the beginning of a process which, through the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), progressively integrated urban and riverine dimensions into conservation and restoration strategies. Subsequently, the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 and the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (2022) reinforced the role of cities and river areas as priority spaces within multilevel governance. In parallel, the European Union developed an increasingly binding body of legislation: from the Habitats and Birds Directives to the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and the Nature Restoration Regulation (2024), which introduces quantitative targets and reporting obligations also for urban ecosystems. In Italy, the regulatory trajectory reveals a gradual shift from sectoral approaches, centred on protected areas (Law 394/1991), towards integrated instruments for urban planning and management, such as Law 10/2013 on urban green spaces, the Minimum Environmental Criteria for public green areas, the National Biodiversity Strategy 2030, and, most recently, the National Climate Change Adaptation Plan. Nonetheless, significant challenges remain, including institutional fragmentation, weak integration between environmental, urban and climate policies, and the lack of effective monitoring tools. The study highlights how cities and surface watercourses are not merely sites of environmental impacts, but also spaces of opportunity for the implementation of nature-based solutions (NbS), capable of enhancing climate resilience, quality of life and social cohesion. The paper underscores the need to strengthen multilevel governance and participatory processes, promoting place-based approaches capable of adapting global and European objectives to local specificities. Urban and riverine nature constitutes a fundamental infrastructure for the ecological transition, yet the shift from ambitious goals to concrete action requires greater regulatory, institutional and design integration.