The eNaBlS project is a three-year Horizon Europe initiative promoting a nature-positive society by integrating Nature-Based Solutions and biodiversity into higher, technical, and vocational education across Europe
With this, we address the urgent challenges of biodiversity loss and climate, recognising the need for a paradigm shift in our society and education. To do this, eNaBlS aims to bring together universities, vocational education and training providers (TVET), professional organisations, policymakers, local communities, and civil society in a holistic, transdisciplinary effort.
Drawing on the quintuple helix innovation model, eNaBlS (Education and Nature-Based Solutions: Bending the Curve for Biodiversity) aims to establish a network of Living Labs in seven European countries. These Living Labs act as dynamic, multi-actor platforms where stakeholders co-create, pilot, and refine approaches to mainstreaming NBS and biodiversity concepts within higher education and TVET curricula as well as in local community initiatives.
The project incorporates the Whole Institution Approach, which treats universities and training institutions as both places of learning and living exemplars, by engaging students, staff, and local stakeholders in real-world sustainability challenges and solutions, thereby promoting organisational change alongside educational innovation.
Key objectives of eNaBlS include:
- Mapping current awareness, needs, and trends concerning biodiversity and NBS across educational and professional contexts.
- Developing and piloting new educational modules and capacity-building programs for TVET and higher education in multiple languages.
- Fostering inter-university and intersectoral collaboration, including the design of transdisciplinary curricula and mobility schemes.
- Engaging local communities, professional bodies, and marginalised groups in the co-creation and application of NBS, ensuring inclusive, relevant, and just transitions toward sustainability.
- Providing actionable guidelines and policy recommendations to support the adoption and scaling of NBS in education and society, aligned with the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and the European Green Deal.
Building on the concept of a transdisciplinary dialogue and informed by research, co-creation, stakeholder engagement, and extensive dissemination, eNaBlS aims to equip young people, educators, professionals, and communities with the knowledge and skills necessary for ecological resilience.
By embedding NBS in both formal and informal learning settings and fostering active, participatory citizenship, the project aspires to catalyse transformative societal change toward a nature-positive future.
We are conducting participatory workshops, curriculum development, fieldwork, public engagement events, and community-driven projects in our Living Labs and aim to become engines for real-world, transdisciplinary action and mutual learning.
The project has made significant headway in fostering collaboration across universities, TVET institutions, and society. Partners have started to develop and pilot new educational modules for TVET, co-designed by practitioners and educators in the Living Labs, and aligned with European sustainability competence frameworks. Workshops, summer schools, outreach events, and demonstration projects with students and local partners have translated theoretical concepts into practical applications in diverse contexts.
