IDEA at the eNaBlS Greek Living Lab 5/6/2025

On Thursday June 5, IDEA team celebrated World Environment Day by participating in the Greek Living Lab in the framework of the Horizon eNaBlS project.

The event was organized by the Institute of Bio-Economy and Agro-Technology of the Centre for Research and Technology (CERTH) in collaboration with the Technical Chamber of Greece. The Living Lab was held at the auditorium of the Technical Chamber of Greece (49 M. Alexandrou Street).

The aim of the Living Lab was to highlight the importance of Nature-based Solutions (NBS) for enhancing the resilience and sustainability of cities, and to encourage the participation of stakeholders in the design of the urban landscape.

Keynote speeches:

“Nature-based solutions for the circular city of the future: Examples and Applications”, Dr. Alexandros Stefanakis, University of Crete, Greece
“eNaBlS-ACT: Pilot application for the integration of nature-based solutions (NBS) in urban planning” Dr. Kyriaki Devlioti, Postdoctoral Researcher, iBO/CERTH
“AI and Urban Resilience: Design and integration of the eNaBlS-ACT proposals in the city of Thessaloniki”, Smaro Katsaggelou, PhD candidate, Florida Atlantic University

As part of the presentation of the eNaBlS project, IDEA team introduced the participants to the NBS Competence Framework that is being developed in collaboration with 3s Research & Consulting, a partner in the eNaBlS project.

Specifically, during IDEA’s presentation entitled “Towards a (new) competency framework for the integration of NBS in Vocational Education and Training”, Tilemachos Kotronis (Assistant Project Manager) and Elisavet Petridi (MSc in Climate Studies, Intern at IDEA) highlighted the following four (4) of the twelve (12) NBS competencies that are tested in the eNaBlS NBS Competency Framework:

Promoting nature
Critical thinking
Futures literacy
Collective action

The Greek Living Lab was a great opportunity not only to present the four (4) NBS competencies but also for them to be tested by the audience. For this reason, at the end of all presentations, a self-assessment questionnaire tailored to the four (4) competencies mentioned was distributed to the participants.

During networking, IDEA team and specifically Anastasia Siamplidou and Ioli Mpimpilaki designed a set of educational activities in the foyer of the Technical Chamber of Greece. The interaction with the audience followed interactive educational games that focused on the NBS competencies tested in the eNaBlS project.