News

At the 12th European Urban Resilience Forum (EURESFO) in Rotterdam, NBS EduWORLD co-hosted a participatory session focused on accelerating the use of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for climate resilience through education and capacity building. The EURESFO, which brought together nearly 400 participants from 141 cities across 37 countries for this edition, is recognised as a major platform for advancing action on urban adaptation.

The session highlighted the growing recognition of NbS as multifunctional tools for resilience, while acknowledging that mainstreaming them into policies and practice still requires substantial investment in knowledge, skills, and cooperation across sectors.

Speakers from education, research, municipalities and professional associations shared hands-on examples from across Europe:

• In Paris, the Du Breuil School of Horticulture and Landscaping is training gardeners and landscapers to adapt cities to climate change – while also tackling a vocational crisis in green jobs.
• The City of Wrocław showcased a systemic approach to embedding NbS in urban planning and investment strategies, supported by data tools and interdepartmental coordination.
• The Centre for Experiments in Urban Studies (Belgrade, Serbia) described how living labs and co-creation with youth and communities build trust and deepen understanding of NbS.
• The upcoming NbS School for Practitioners organised by the Italy NbS Hub in Milan (July 2025) was announced, aiming to bring together planners, researchers, and local authorities to co-design real-world solutions.

As part of its long-term impact, NBS EduWORLD presented a set of policy recommendations, to be released this summer. They draw on project insights and stakeholder engagement to support the integration of NbS in education and training systems – from schools and universities to vocational and professional development. “Very few people are educated in systemic thinking; resilience skills need to be learned,” noted Eleonora Lekavičiūtė (PPMI), who led the drafting of the recommendations. “NbS education is very well positioned to transform education.”

NBS EduWORLD’s contributions at EURESFO 2025 helped reinforce a clear message: building capacity for NbS is essential to shaping resilient, inclusive cities – and it starts with learning.