Awareness for nature based solutions is spreading. NetworkNature is proud to take these lessons learned to the classroom - schools, higher education, and professional training are often the places where people’s thinking, understanding, and perceptions are transformed, leading to long term change. NetworkNature has been working closely with the European Schoolnet and REGREEN to provide educational resources and educational opportunities to the next generation of nature based solutions pioneers.
Creating educational experiences that make pupils and students wonder, inquire, and create curiosity and love for nature are essential for restoring the future of our planet. To this aim, NetworkNature has gathered key resources on NbS education. Below are just a few examples:
Greenopolis
A product of the REGREEN project, a team of education specalists (Marta Netza, Rasmus Grønbech, Stine Casparij Kondrup, Marie Yvonne Rasmussen Dahlfelt, and Carl Otto Moesgård Jørgensen ) created, Greenopolis, a virtual experience which guides learners to explore sustainable development, climate challenges and nature based solutions. The educational game platform introduces young minds to topics such as biodiversity, ecosystems, urban development, noise pollution, and air pollution. Greenopolis contains exersices and activities that aim to bring children ages 8-12 outside to use their creativity skills to observe and be present in nature.
NbS learning scenarios
Building on scientific evidence and on experiences from NbS demonstration projects in cities, this educational pilot study exploited recent research results to develop innovative educational programmes and resources to raise awareness on nature-based solutions (NbS) and their benefits among children, young people and their families.
Regreen
Regreen has made available a number of informative NbS factsheets, including one factsheet on an NbS school project in Santhia (Italy). In close collaboration with the Ministry of Education, the project was funded for developing the vertical gardens by the municipality of Santhià, in Collodi Primary school with close collaboration of the Ministry of Education. Through this project, pupils could learn about the concept of sustainable development, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the importance of urban greening for citizens living in cities as well as the meaning of nature-based solutions.
School Garden, Street Garden
This case study involves a school in Constantina (Spain) where students used existing green spaces to conduct environmental education and improve green cycling paths in the area. Green areas are increasingly scarce in cities and in schools and, in some cities, there are many abandoned green spaces and parks. These could become places of environmental education, biodiversity, healthy recreation for people, improving the ecosystems of cities.
To learn more about the collaborative work on NbS and education, be sure to tune into the upcoming session IUCN & NetworkNature EU session at The Nature of Cities Festival : ‘Restoring the planet through nature education for the leaders of the future'
29 March 16:00 – 17:30 on the integration of nature in education.
Register for the NbS and education session.
Read more about the programme.