Cities and urbanized regions worldwide are exposed to extreme weather events and rising seas. They are at risk because their infrastructure often is in disrepair, no longer appropriate for more intense or frequent extreme events, or unable to keep up with rapid urban population growth. Traditional engineered infrastructure, such as stormwater drainage systems or sea walls, is usually designed for only one purpose and seldom can adapt to changing conditions. Solutions that are based on nature—preserving protective ecosystems, incorporating ecological elements or even mimicking nature in built infrastructure, offer flexibility in the face of changing conditions and provide multiple benefits to society, often at relatively low cost.

The Nature-based solutions for Urban Resilience in the Anthropocene (NATURA) project links 26 networks in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, North and Latin America, and globally to enhance connectivity among the world's scholars and practitioners and improve the prospects for global urban sustainability.

As an important part of knowledge sharing, researchers and practitioners will work together on applications of nature-based solutions (NBS) in a wide range of social, ecological, and technological contexts addressing five gaps:

• Synergistic benefits of bundles of NBS for urban resilience
• Role of socialcultural (S) context in NBS outcomes
• Role of ecologicalbiophysical (E) context in NBS outcomes
• Role of technologicalinfrastructural (T) context in NBS outcomes
• Role of SET interactions in NBS outcomes

Through all-hands meetings, thematic working groups, regional nodes, and synthesis writing workshops, NATURA will accomplish the goals of synthesis and data sharing, and network coordination. Early-career researchers and practitioners will be sponsored by NATURA to pay five-week visits to network partners. Further, NATURA will train postdoctoral scholars and graduate students through learning exchanges to networks around the globe. Through collaboration with partners, international students will be invited to participate in these exchanges, hosted by US networks.