NBS Academy Trains The Trainers: Planting The Seed Of Nature-Based Solutions Into Teacher Education

The vision of NBS Academy is to set up an international Community of Practice on NBS education for both teachers and teacher training providers and to activate the collective creativity of its members towards creating, testing and validating innovative, highly accessible and transferable ITE and CPD programmes on NBS education.

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are defined by the European Commission as “Solutions that are inspired and supported by nature and ecosystem services to solve human challenges to achieve sustainability. NBS are cost-effective and simultaneously provide environmental, social, and economic benefits and help build resilience by bringing more, and more diverse, nature and natural features and processes into cities, landscapes, and seascapes.”

So, if you are a teacher trainer who want to help prepare the next generation of green teachers, or even a pre- or in-service teacher wishing to train yourself or upskills your colleagues with NBS, then the NBS Academy has everything you need.

>>>Explore the Educational Framework for Promoting Learning Through NBS:

The Framework supports trainers motivated to integrate NBS in school education through Initial Teacher Education (ITE) and Continuing Professional Development (CPD). Aimed at teacher trainers across Europe, it offers research-based knowledge, skills, and pedagogical tools to promote environmental education and critical thinking for a sustainable future. The framework emphasizes learning beyond traditional classrooms, encouraging the use of diverse spaces for teaching.

>>> Dive into the NBS Academy Courses for ITE and CPD:

The NBS Academy Summer School created two courses that offer content and materials needed for integrating NBS directly into training programs. These distinct courses, one for Initial Teacher Education (ITE) and one for Teachers’ Continuous Professional Development (CPD) programs, were co-developed through Living Labs across Europe (Greece, Bulgaria, Austria, Germany, Sweden, and Cyprus).

>>> Find inspiration for NBS training programmes in the Train the Trainer Toolkit:

This report describes training tools and the design of a “Train the Trainer” Bootcamp in the field of NBS teacher education, by connecting them with relevant NBS cases and learning scenarios. The report can be used as inspiration for anyone interested in creating NBS training programmes.