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Nature-based Solutions (NBS) have been identified as a key element to effectively combat both climate change impact and biodiversity loss, while at the same time bringing socio-economic benefits. To be successful at the local level, NBS needs the involvement of the whole community. This is precisely where NBS education comes into play – bringing together students, parents, educators, families, local government, businesses and NBS practitioners through educational activities. Through education, NBS can be further mainstreamed as a collective, creative, transdisciplinary and efficient response to environmental and societal needs, equipping students with sustainability competences through engaging hands-on learning.

Despite the potential of NBS as a practical tool for teaching sustainability, its potential to support the Learning for Sustainability (LfS) agenda has not yet been fully realised. This article aims to present some of the ways that LfS can be supported through policy action that promotes and empowers Nature-based Solutions education. 

Learning about sustainability with nature 

The last decade has brought a much-needed addition to the European education systems – Learning for Sustainability (LfS). LfS sets forth to nurture learner understanding of how economic, social and natural systems interconnect, and help learners take individual and collective action for bettering these systems (European Commission 2022). At present, not a single EU country fails to include sustainability in their national curricula (Eurydice, 2024). LfS is also no longer treated only as an appendix to other study subjects – sustainability education in most EU countries reaches students through cross-cutting approaches: either integrated as themes across different subjects, as part of transversal competences, or a horizontal approach to teaching.  

LfS offers a route to reimagining what education can look like. It argues for a holistic take on education – offering visions for both learning environments on the one hand, and innovative pedagogies on the other, which can support personal, societal and environmental well-being of learners and their communities. Much research has come out showing the positive impacts of such an approach to learning, both for the learners, and society at large. (For example, see Goldberg et al (2018); Scottish Government (2020), or European Commission (2023)).

Good news aside, the way that goals set forth in high-level national curricula play out in practice has not been seamless. Educators and schools often report difficulties in delivering these expectations. Uptake and development of innovative pedagogies and a rethinking of how and where people learn require time, know-how and financing. It also requires model tools which help educators to effectively teach sustainability competences, and approaches that are exciting and engaging to learners young and old. 

Few approaches are better suited to address this need than Nature-based Solutions Education. But first, what are Nature-based Solutions (NBS)? The European Commission defines them as “innovations inspired and supported by nature, which are cost-effective, simultaneously provide environmental, social and economic benefits and help build resilience. They bring more, and more diverse, nature and natural features and processes into cities, landscapes and seascapes, through locally adapted, resource-efficient and systemic interventions. Nature-based solutions must benefit biodiversity and support the delivery of a range of ecosystem services.”

A wide scope of examples falls under the term NBS. In coastal areas, dune or mangrove restoration buffers local communities from coastal erosion while preserving endangered local species. In cities, transformation of vacant or underutilised urban land into community gardens brings fresh food, green space, biodiversity, and spaces for community gatherings. Rainwater drainage and collecting solutions can make cities resilient to both droughts and floods, while reducing the heat-island effect. In rural areas, agroforestry – integrating trees with crops or livestock – improves soil health, increases crop yields, and enhances biodiversity on farms, contributing both to the environment and economic resilience. These are just a few examples of NBS in different settings. 

Combine the vast benefits of increasing NBS uptake with the need for high-quality LfS, and you will get NBS education. Research shows NBS to be particularly well positioned to deliver competences necessary for a sustainable world. Bianchi et al. defines sustainability competences as ‘empowering learners to embody complex systems, in order to take or request action that restores and maintains ecosystem health and enhances justice, generating visions for sustainable futures’. To understand NBS, a learner must analyse the interconnectedness of the natural world, human activity, and economic systems. Learning to design and manage NBS requires not only highly technical skills, but such transversal abilities as collaboration and futures thinking.   

In other words, learning about and through NBS goes beyond traditional environmental studies by equipping learners with skills to actively create sustainable spaces. NBS projects involve hands-on activities like designing green roofs, creating biodiversity gardens, or restoring ecosystems—all practical tasks that allow students to work directly with nature while learning valuable technical skills. As such, NBS education expands how and where we learn – engaging closer with the broader community, as well as the issues that are most relevant locally. It can also be adapted throughout all education-levels, offering complexity in teaching as the learners progress.

Picture: ReDuna is a municipal project that aims to promote the ecological restoration and recovery of the dune system at the beaches of Almada Municipality, Portugal. By improving sand retention, the project increases dune resistance to erosion caused by wind and sea. The project invites volunteer action from the local community and offers the hands-on experience as a learning opportunity for young people to learn about NBS.

Integrating these methods through all education levels, as well as in formal and non-formal education settings, prepares students for jobs in emerging fields, such as agroecology, sustainable urban planning, and biodiversity conservation, while helping them develop essential problem-solving and collaboration skills. Studies have also shown that learning in green spaces positively impacts mental health, and outdoor activities foster inclusivity, offering diverse students a chance to connect with nature and each other.

Yet, despite these benefits, NBS education is not mainstream across Europe, often overshadowed by traditional academic subjects. Local and national policymakers have an opportunity to change that by supporting NBS education initiatives that make learning more interdisciplinary, inclusive, and aligned with environmental needs.

Policy recommendations to advance NBS Education

Organised in September 2024 and March 2025, the NBS Education Summits brought together stakeholders at the intersection of science, policy, education and NBS practice. Building on the work and experience of the NBS EduWORLD project, which aims to mainstream NBS education, the discussions at the Summits culminated in preliminary policy recommendations to bring NBS education to the forefront of educational systems more widely. Several key policy areas crucial to enabling learning with and through nature are:

• 1. Expanding green infrastructure in educational institutions

Not all learners have access to NBS in their area. Local governments can invest in green educational spaces by funding school green roofs, walls, and gardens, which can then double as living classrooms. By providing dedicated funding streams and resources for planners, policymakers can help schools create these learning spaces that integrate both education and ecology, offering additional benefits to school communities, such as climate resilience, better quality air, and spaces for gathering. In addition, municipalities can issue guidelines and offer technical support to ensure that these projects align with regional environmental goals, making green spaces a standard part of education infrastructure across communities.

• “Within the framework of the NBS EduWORLD project and the EnerCMed Interreg-EuroMed project, which combines sustainable energy and NBS benefits in deprived areas of Mediterranean cities, the Municipality of Genoa is supporting a local school in developing a school garden for educational purposes. The Municipality is also using this opportunity to better understand the needs of schools that wish to develop school gardens, and intends to create guidelines to support all local schools in this attempt. Additionally, as part of the development of the new green plan for the city, the dedicated working group of the Municipality has organised a series of meetings with schools of various levels to discuss the benefits of greenery and nature-based solutions with students and to gather their opinions and suggestions, particularly regarding the areas surrounding the schools and the spaces they frequent the most.”
  Dr. Elena Maranghi,
  Technical Officer at Municipality of Genoa

• 2. Support to educators

For NBS education to be effective, educators need the knowledge and resources to bring it to life. Currently, few formal opportunities for educator training are offered on a national-level in the EU (Mulvik et al., 2023). Funding for both pre-service and in-service teacher training on NBS theory and practices, along with interdisciplinary lesson materials, can ensure that educators are well-prepared to teach sustainability. The training should not be limited to content, but rather also offer knowledge on how to engage students through hands-on, place-based pedagogies, and how to deliver such sustainability competences as exploratory thinking or collective action. In other words, teachers should be prepared to not only teach on NBS in theory, but be ready to teach, for example, in a school garden, while integrating the learning process into the already existing curricula. Certification programmes or awards for educators and education institutions can work as positive reinforcement and promote good practice to others. 

• 3. Promoting partnerships and non-formal education

NBS education need not only rest on formal education shoulders. Municipalities can invest in capacities of other actors – community centres, NGO’s, museums, research centres, non-formal education schemes – to deliver NBS learning opportunities. These actors often have the benefit of more freedom to develop educational activities that do not need to conform to strict curricula expectations and may have access to additional resources that formal education institutions do not. For example, municipalities can organise educative visits to public NBS projects, or fund programmes that connect learners with museums and researchers through citizen science (e.g., through citizen contribution to biodiversity surveys and wild-life assessment in their local area). For more ideas and examples on partnerships browse the NBS EduWORLD project website.

• “Policymakers usually do policy from their offices. What is sometimes missing is the connection with the people, and their local needs, problems and challenges. When you travel the whole circle of the stakeholder engagement process, you can understand the root of the problem, what the impacts to students, to NGOs, and local public authorities could be, and how to make them happen. In our case, we had two options on how to conduct research on NBS in the local community – either emailing questionnaires or going to schools to interview students in person. We chose the latter - it took a long time and many resources, but it was worth it - we understood exactly what we needed to do.”
  Anatolie Risina,
  National Project Coordinator for Verde e Moldova

Picture: Open lecture at a university, and school visit and workshop on Nature-based Solutions organised by the NGO Verde e Moldova. The project focuses on the Lower Prut Biosphere Reserve in Moldova, bringing together experts in education, biodiversity, climate change, NBS innovators and professionals, and Civil Society actors to unlock a stream of opportunities to network, share NBS knowledge and undertake the concrete implementation of NBS. All 14 schools around the area have been involved in the project.

• 4. Localised NBS Education programmes for diverse ecosystems

Each community has unique environmental challenges, whether they are urban, rural, or coastal. NBS education should reflect these differences, tailoring educational materials to local ecosystems and specific regional challenges. For instance, coastal communities might focus on marine ecosystem restoration, while urban schools could learn about green infrastructure. Regional governments can foster this customisation by sponsoring and launching pilot projects that develop locally focused learning methods and resources, and then supporting knowledge exchanges that allow educators to share best practices tailored to their local ecosystems. One way to do this would be through school twinning programmes. Broadening the scope of cooperation, schools can already use the online eTwinning platform to partner and learn from schools all across Europe.

• 5. Competitions for student and community-led NBS projects

Competitions can be a powerful way to engage learners directly with NBS. Municipalities or education ministries could launch annual contests in partnership with local organisations and NGOs for education institutions across all education levels (e.g., for biodiversity gardens or pollinator habitats). Winning projects could receive funding for implementation, allowing students to see their ideas realised on campuses. These projects can then act as model sites, inspiring other institutions to replicate successful initiatives. Financing competitions targeting community-led NBS project proposals should have educational opportunities as one of the award criteria. This may offer additional benefits to NBS projects – higher community engagement and sense of ownership, and willingness to contribute to NBS maintenance.

• “In one of our projects we are working with 5 primary schools selected through a competition. They had to apply with ideas on what NBS they would like to see in their school backyard, and how they would use it in the curricula. Although the municipality is not involved in this project, we bring various partners from private companies and foundations to help fund these small-scale interventions in schools. We then introduce NBS to both educators and students by taking them outside and envisioning how they can use their outdoor spaces. In one workshop, we worked with 50 children aged 7-9 and played a game we have developed called Wild Belgrade – it uses cards with different wild animals that live in our city, and teaches kids about the role of nature in Belgrade.”
  Ana Simic,
  Centre for Experiments in Urban Studies, Belgrade

• 6. NBS Education in vocational training and lifelong learning programmes

To address the growing skill shortages in the green economy, NBS education should be integrated into vocational and lifelong learning programmes. National governments can promote reskilling programmes that offer training in fields like sustainable forestry, green construction, and ecological restoration and also in fields where it’s less apparent that NBS is beneficial (e.g., tourism, health and education). Policymakers can incentivise employers to co-fund these programmes and collaborate with educators on program design, creating a direct pathway from education to employment, tapping into employer preference for practical skills.

For NBS education to take root, policymakers must treat NBS not only as an educational tool but as a long-term investment in sustainable development. With dedicated support, students could become green innovators helping to create resilient communities and a healthier environment.

We invite you to follow the NBS EduWORLD project for further information on how policymakers can make a difference. Read the Policy recommendations inspired by NBS EduWORLD here.

Eleonora Lekavičiūtė, Senior Researcher at the Public Policy and Management Institute (PPMI, now part of Verian Group)