During the last 20 years, environmental crisis and its impact on our local and global society has set the issue of sustainability as one of the main aspects to be considered in all of European Union’s strategies and policies. In order for the EU to reach the 2030 sustainable goals, it is of utmost importance that Nature-based Solutions (NBS) are embedded in all levels of the educational system and the society as a whole through comprehensive transdisciplinary dialogues that protect biodiversity.
In this context, the Horizon Europe project ‘Education and Nature-Based Solutions: enable society to bend the curve for biodiversity’ (eNaBlS) focuses on developing a baseline for Higher Education (HE) and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutes. The aim is to facilitate communication and collaboration, towards sustainability. But before we delve into the project’s structure and purpose let us take a look at what Nature-based Solutions (NBS) stands for in this context.
What is Nature-based Solutions?
Nature-based Solutions account for sustainable methods that promote and protect biodiversity and the environment in all settings, both rural and urban. More specifically, we now use the following definition by the European Commission (2015):
“Nature-based solutions (NBS) are inspired and supported by nature, they are cost-effective, simultaneously provide environmental, social and economic benefits and help build resilience. Such solutions bring more, and more diverse, nature and natural features and processes into cities, landscapes and seascapes, through locally adapted, resource-efficient and systemic interventions. NBS must benefit biodiversity and support the delivery of a range of ecosystem services”.
This definition of NBS allows us to embrace inclusive and sustainable solutions throughout HE and TVET by working closely together in the eNaBlS project. First stop of this collaboration are the Living Labs.
eNaBlS Living Labs
In the eNaBlS’s context, NBS will be promoted through 7 Living Labs (Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Greece, Lithuania and the Netherlands). By weaving a network of collaboration across the quintuple helix (Academia, Government, Society, Industry, Environment), Living Labs will function as an inclusive environment for the exchange of diverse voices and perspectives. Ultimately, this process will fuel the project with the input necessary to mainstream biodiversity and NBS in HE and TVET.
On an academic level, eNaBlS’s aims to transform HE institutes into their own Living Labs, adopting a Whole Institution Approach (WIA) and ultimately promoting a paradigm shift in education towards sustainability competencies.
In the wider social frame, eNaBlS initiative, aligned with the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030 and the EU climate adaptation strategy, endeavours to tackle critical environmental challenges, through the most influential sector of our society, education.
IDEA’s role in the eNaBlS project
IDEA’s role will be the development of training modules for TVET and Lifelong Learning with an emphasis on securing an inclusive learning environment. IDEA also will play a key role in the design and implementation of the eNaBlS Living Labs.
More information about the project: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101135035 and eNaBlS Project Website
Follow for more updates on eNaBlS social media channels: LinkedIn, X, Facebook.
*Download the project brochure here
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Project: Education and Nature-Based Solutions: enable society to bend the curve for biodiversity (eNaBlS)
Contacts: Dora Psoma
Client: Horizon Europe – Global Challenges – Research & Innovation Action (RIA)
Duration: 01/2024-12/2026
#Nature-based Solutions #education #LivingLabs #Sustainability #transdisciplinary
#biodiversity #vocational training
