Inside and outside: educational innovation with nature-based solutions
Citizens and experts have identified better awareness of the opportunities, benefits, and limitations of nature-based solutions (NBS) as one of the main factors that could facilitate the transition to more sustainable cities and territories, and help build physical and mental resilience. Examples of NBS include green roofs and green walls that cool down cities in the summer; parks that may contribute to air purification and provide leisure and exercise opportunities to citizens; green corridors connecting natural areas; urban food gardens, etc.
NBS build on nature and ecosystems to deliver social, ecological, and economic benefits, increasing biodiversity and contributing to climate change adaptation and mitigation. Their large educational potential remains quite unexplored, whilst innovative programmes and resources around NBS for children and families have only recently started to appear in formal and informal education. Building on scientific evidence and experiences from NBS projects in cities and involving teachers in different countries, an educational pilot study in 2020 exploited research results to develop educational programmes and resources, raising awareness on NBS and their benefits in primary and secondary schools[[www.scientix.eu/pilots/nbs-project.]].
The scope of the present topic is to upscale that pilot, broaden its geographical and educational reach, and increase its impact. The successful proposal should set up a multidisciplinary, pan-European network of education professionals, researchers, public authorities, multipliers and civil society to integrate and help create awareness and mainstream NBS-related EU research and innovation into primary and secondary schools, vocational training and higher education centres (e.g. architecture and engineering), influencers, mass media and other multipliers.
The successful proposal should develop learning scenarios, formal and informal education activities and training programmes for teachers to mainstream biodiversity and NBS in education at all levels, in a broad range of disciplines (not exclusively STEM), adaptable, freely available in all European languages, to be used inside and outside (remote learning, classroom, in/with nature, outdoors).
Actions should build on the results of the pilot project and the growing corpus of EU-funded project results, networks and initiatives to develop innovative, open-access educational programmes and materials to raise awareness on NBS and their social, economic and environmental benefits among children, young people and their families in an interdisciplinary, problem-based learning approach. They should combine the use of ICT (e.g. games, apps, etc), remote learning, audio-visual productions and social media with real-life experiences in nature and local NBS, such as educational green roofs and urban gardens. All programmes and materials should be tested in a network of pilots and should convey a call for action for students to engage with local stakeholders (e.g. involving celebrities as NBS 'ambassadors', where appropriate) and reflect on the different ethical, economic, environmental and social aspects related to NBS, including gender aspects. Responsible research and innovation (RRI) guidelines and tools should be applied. The work that the JRC may have developed on a competence framework for sustainability during the lifetime of the project should also be taken into account.
Relationships should be considered between educational programmes, together with practitioners and policy-makers (e.g. linking up living-lab models and embedding demonstration approaches and NBS projects in conjunction with local schools, universities and colleges).
Proposals should ensure that all evidence, information and project outputs will be openly accessible through the Oppla (the EU repository for NBS) and Scientix (the community for science education) portals[[https://oppla.eu/ and www.scientix.eu, respectively.]].
Applicants should create synergies with projects under the same topic and other relevant ongoing or up-coming projects, notably the Horizon 2020 NBS project portfolio and its task forces; ‘HORIZON-CL6-2021-BIODIV-01-05: The economics of nature-based solutions: cost-benefit analysis, market development and funding’; ‘HORIZON-CL6-2022-BIODIV-01-03: Network for nature: multi-stakeholder dialogue platform to promote nature-based solutions’; ‘HORIZON-CL6-2022-COMMUNITIES-01-05: Assessing the socio-politics of nature-based solutions for more inclusive and resilient communities’; ‘HORIZON-CL6-2022-COMMUNITIES-02-02-two-stage: Developing nature-based therapy for health and well-being’. To this end, proposals should include dedicated tasks and appropriate resources for coordination measures, foresee joint activities and joint deliverables.
Social innovation is recommended when the solution is at the socio-technical interface and requires social change, new social practices, social ownership or market uptake.
This topic should involve the effective contribution of SSH disciplines.