ENABLS at a glance

Also available with subtitles:

ENABLS sets the basis of networking and collaboration to promote transdisciplinary dialogue and further embed Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) concepts and approaches within universities and vocational schools, the professional sphere and society at large.

ENABLS envisions the creation of Living Labs to epitomise an integrative approach that includes all “voices” and leaves no one behind. Collecting a variety of input and welcoming a plurality of values and knowledge, the goal is to mainstream biodiversity and NBS in higher education and vocational training centres by developing and upscaling new form of
teaching, learning and capacity-building that

are more relational, systems-oriented and applied. Multi-actor collaboration and a Whole Institution Approach - universities become their own Living Labs - are at the core of the ENABLS approach which advocates for working together across silos, sectors and epistemologies.

The ENABLS ultimate objective is to tackle, more generally, the urgent sustainability challenges through the necessary transformative change of communities, business models and lifestyles, and, specifically, put biodiversity and climate on the path to recovery, addressing the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030 and the EU climate adaptation strategy.

Nature-Based Solutions (NBS)
“Nature-Based Solutions leverage nature and the power of healthy ecosystems to protect people, optimise infrastructure and safeguard a stable and biodiverse future.”
- International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) -

“Solutions that are inspired and supported by nature, which are cost-effective, simultaneously provide environmental, social and economic benefits and help build resilience. Such solutions bring more, and more diverse, nature and natural features and processes into cities, landscapes and seascapes, through locally adapted, resource-efficient and systemic interventions.”
- European Commission -

What we expect

Educational material
and teacher training guides

Considering that society needs to be provided with the necessary skills if we wish to green our economy, ENABLS aspires to familiarise VET students and professionals engaged in Lifelong Learning with NBS principles and relevant innovative socio-technical solutions. To this end, two modules will be designed with curriculum content and educational materials both in English and the Living Labs’ official languages (German, Dutch, Finnish, Lithuanian, Greek, Czech). They will be accompanied by teacher training guides to facilitate TVET providers engage in NBS teaching.

Going beyond the 50+ universities directly or indirectly represented in the consortium, ENABLS will interconnect university alliances and lead an inclusive transdisciplinary dialogue on holistic university curricula and the development of a Whole Institution Approach to address sustainability-related issues such as the advancement of NBS in society. Collaboration schemes will be explored, leading to the development of strategic priorities and operational objectives for upcoming years.

Suggestions for
NBS integration in
university curricula

ENABLS
online platform

To ensure the long-term impact of its results, ENABLS will make its online platform available to all interested stakeholders as a common consultation space. Accessible through the project website, the ENABLS online platform will feature pertinent information collected by the consortium as well as its own results, namely its NBS TVET & skills development modules, suggestions for NBS integration in university curricula, and all material produced. The platform will be enriched throughout the project with input provided by the Living Labs and their various stakeholders co-creation and implementation activities.