Written by: Lian Kasper, WUR

ᴇNᴀBʟS’ Dutch Living Lab co-hosts the symposium ‘More Nature Deeper Education: It Takes a Whole School’.

On 8^th April 2025, partner Wageningen University (WUR), and more specifically ᴇNᴀBʟS’ Dutch Living Lab, hosted the symposium More Nature Deeper Education together with its main partner NatureCollege Foundation. The event brought together educational experts, teachers, students, societal partners and citizens to explore the role of nature in education for a sustainable future.

The focus of the ᴇNᴀBʟS’ Dutch Living Lab is on exploring education that enhances Nature-Based Thinking as a skill that underlies any Nature-Based Solution (NBS). In practice, NBS are not just technical solutions but nature-based or nature-inclusive approaches to societal issues. They require a more nature-based mindset fostering new relationships with nature, reimagining governance and including active participation of communities.

On 8th April, following a Whole School Approach, more than 150 teachers of all types of educational backgrounds, students, educational experts and policy makers gathered from all over the Netherlands to explore the fundamental role nature could play in education for sustainability, and how this can be translated into educational interventions in specific educational settings. The More Nature Deeper Education symposium saw a rich mix of talks, interactions and experiences showcasing nature-inclusive learning methods. Traveler Arita Baaijens shared wisdom on indigenous ways of educating children, and the learning that tends to get lost in indoor classrooms, in modern schools. In conversation with WUR special chair ‘Human-nature relationships in the Anthropocene’ Maria Tengö, it was explored how science is slowly becoming aware of the role nature could play in education for sustainability.

Several speakers then introduced initiatives that make nature-based education concrete and tangible, sharing the impact of nature-based learning methods on students (by Evita Laheij and Yoram de Vos), showcasing interventions in high school and primary education (presented by respectively Ella Vingerling and Vincent v.d. Veen), as well as exploring what teachers need to know in order to teach nature-inclusively: Louise v.d. Stok (ᴇNᴀBʟS), Lian Kasper (ᴇNᴀBʟS) and Francesca Leucci (WUR teacher) presenting lessons from ᴇNᴀBʟS’ Dutch Living Lab and Teacher Training in Nature-inclusive Teaching. In the afternoon, a wide array of practical and dialogue sessions for all types of education was interchanged with a Deep Time walk through the history of life on earth (by artist Erik Woltmeijer). This impressive walk led to reflections on the close interrelatedness of all life, on the impact of human beings on earth, and on the choices we wish to make collectively and as individuals going forward. Specifically and in closing, the participants looked at the transitions education would benefit from to best serve the coming generations of learners at WUR and beyond.

ᴇNᴀBʟS’ Dutch Living Lab partnered in the organisation of this symposium with three of its partners: NatureCollege Foundation, the Collectief Natuurinclusief (domain Education), and ReGeNL.