Advancing Nature-based Solutions requires collaboration, real-world experimentation, and cross-disciplinary effort. The NetworkNature Labs were designed to make exactly that happen.
Set up as a structured funding and co-creation mechanism, the Labs harness the collective expertise of the project’s Task Forces (TFs) to promote and facilitate the development of new activities, initiatives, tools, standards, guidelines, publications, and materials. Through an open call system designed to progressively shape and refine ideas into collaborative projects, NetworkNature has allocated a dedicated budget of 112.000 to finance eight Labs. Over the past year, these initiatives have been advancing a wide range of objectives — and today, while some are putting the finishing touches on their work, others have already delivered their results. All Lab activities will conclude by Autumn 2026.
So, what have they been up to?
The first results began to take shape in 2025. CNR – IRET brought together urban professionals in Milan for a Summer School centred on building practical capacity in NbS governance and funding, drawing on case studies and methods for upscaling. Around the same time, Groundwork London was advancing a different ambition: to support co-creation and co-governance in NbS projects through a Decision Support System. The Lab was centred on programming improvements, new features, and user feedback.
In the new year, three more Labs completed their activities. BURST Group responded to the need for reliable and rigorous media coverage of NbS initiatives. The work culminated with the development of an “NbS 101 Press Kit”. The tool – already tested in Hungary – is ready to be adapted and translated. Meanwhile, Blue Rivers Foundation drew on the Task Forces’ collective expertise to shape “EcoField Tracker”, a citizen science app currently under development that will allow users to map land-use changes, pollution, and habitat connectivity in rivers and streams. The support from NeworkNature focused on defining user needs and embedding a collaborative approach throughout. Finally, the Sustainable Innovation Institute has been harnessing the power of gamification to raise awareness of NbS benefits and encourage their uptake, developing, validating, and testing the NbS Fresco game, which will be launched later this year.
Three more Labs are still ongoing. The University of Coimbra is exploring how to co-create NbS in the context of informal settlements through a Lab dedicated to Action Research in Brazil. The Lab team is currently conducting diagnostic and design activities on the ground and will produce a technical report on innovative NbS in informal settlements due in autumn 2026. TH OWL University is taking stock of the broader NbS landscape, gathering insights on the bottlenecks, challenges, and successes in impact evaluation, with findings to be published in a policy brief this summer. Last but not least, the Euro-Mediterranean Centre on Climate Change is working to bridge NbS and the insurance world through visuals and illustrations. This Lab aims to facilitate dialogue between the insurance sector and the actors traditionally involved in NbS planning and implementation, shining a light on models that could incentivise investment in ecosystem restoration.
From capacity building and digital tools to citizen science, communications, and policy dialogue, the breadth of the Labs reflects the diversity of expertise within the NetworkNature ecosystems. As the remaining Labs move towards completion, NetworkNature will continue to share updates on their progress and outcomes.
