Two large European Commission H2020 programmes, the Innovation Action project Connecting Nature (https://connectingnature.eu/) and SMURBS project (http://smurbs.eu/) funded under the ERA-NET Cofund Action Programme ERA-PLANET (http://www.era-planet.eu/), join forces to bridge nature-based solutions (NBS) with the concept of smart cities (SC) over a common goal, to scale up urban resilience through support of informed policy making, innovation and best governance practices. The capital of Armenia, Yerevan, will serve as the bonding city between the two projects. Yerevan, where a number of NBS is already applied and further more are scheduled, will join SMURBS network of pilot smart cities and followers, to exchange best practices (and potentially replicate) on the use of smart technologies for the monitoring of vital information for tackling urban resilience, with  emphasis on the domains of air quality and urban growth. We strongly anticipate that this collaboration will stimulate innovative synergies and will contribute to building the knowledge base for the uptake of high technologies and exploitation of Earth observations respecting, maintaining and reinforcing the natural character of our cities.