In the ecoplus Business Park in Wolkersdorf, Lab 2 explores how Nature-based Solutions (NbS) can make business locations more climate-resilient and sustainable. Industrial and commercial areas play a key role in reaching climate goals. Their planning offers huge potential for adaptation and innovation.
Adapting sites for a changing climate
The lab focuses on climate-smart site development and renewal of business zones. Using the example of the ecoplus Wolkersdorf Business Park, the team identifies the most severe local climate risks, such as heat, storms, and heavy rain, and assesses how green and blue infrastructure can reduce these impacts through a qualitative system analysis. Measures include green façades, tree rows and windbreak hedges, permeable surfaces, and biodiversity corridors that improve the microclimate while protecting both employees from health risks and infrastructure from damage.
Co-creation and collaboration
In workshops with over 30 experts from business, planning, ecology, and administration, participants discussed how to make business parks more resilient to the climate risks identified earlier. Based on existing good practices, it was clarified which nature-based measures are suitable and which legal instruments are available to municipalities to prescribe them in business areas. The process showed how joint planning can combine ecological benefits and economic value.
From analysis to action
Austrian Partners of the LAB 2. The lab is coordinated by ecoplus. The Business Agency of Lower Austria, together with GeoSphere Austria (GSA), and supported by Natur im Garten (Ecological Gardening, NiG), the Lower Austrian Agricultural District Authority (ABB), the Energy and Environment Agency of Lower Austria (eNu), KLAR! Mistelbach-Wolkersdorf and the Department of Environmental and Energy. Affairs at the Office of the Lower Austrian Government.
A participation-based climate risk analysis is underway to generally assess both physical and transition risks, ranging from heat stress and flooding to regulatory and market changes. In addition, a detailed analysis of labor productivity loss due to heat is being conducted. The findings will inform guidelines for climate-resilient business areas across Lower Austria.
A model for future industrial development
Lab 2 demonstrates how nature-based site design can transform industrial parks into healthier, cooler, and more resilient places to work. The Wolkersdorf Business Park acts as a test region and role model – inspiring a new generation of climate-smart business zones in Austria and beyond.