From 29 September to 1 October 2026, the NURISH consortium gathered in Iso-Syöte, Finland, for its third General Assembly, marking an important milestone as the project completed its first year of activities. Hosted by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, the three-day meeting brought together project partners to review progress, exchange experiences and coordinate the next steps towards strengthening climate resilience in rural communities across Europe.
The meeting took place in Ranua & Pudasjärvi, the region of Resilience Hub 3 (RH3), where NURISH is exploring innovative approaches to lake restoration, sustainable resource management and circular bioeconomy. Beyond the technical discussions, the gathering provided an opportunity to strengthen collaboration among partners and connect the project’s scientific and technological developments with real challenges on the ground.
From planning to action: a new phase for NURISH
After twelve months of collaborative work, NURISH has reached a significant milestone with the completion of its initial design and planning activities. These have laid the foundations for the project’s implementation through the analysis of regional characteristics, stakeholder mapping, climate risk assessments, identification of capacity-building needs and definition of the technical requirements for digital tools.
An important achievement during this first year has also been the organisation of Stakeholder Workshops across the Resilience Hubs and Nodes. These workshops have provided the first opportunity to engage directly with regional stakeholders, understand their priorities and challenges, and identify opportunities for collaboration. The insights gathered will help ensure that future activities respond to the specific environmental, social and economic needs of each rural community.
Building on these results, the consortium is now preparing for the next stage of the project, in which the development and implementation of innovative Nature-based Solutions (NbS) will take centre stage.
Across the four Resilience Hubs in Greece, Cyprus, Finland and the United Kingdom, partners are advancing towards the demonstration of locally adapted solutions addressing challenges such as water scarcity, flooding, ecosystem degradation and sustainable resource management. This represents a crucial step in NURISH’s ambition to move from research and planning to practical solutions that can be tested, monitored and eventually replicated in other European rural regions.
In parallel, the development of NURISH’s digital tools is gaining momentum. These technologies will support environmental monitoring, climate risk analysis, knowledge exchange and evidence-based decision-making, helping local authorities and communities better understand and respond to climate challenges.
Preparing capacity-building activities for rural communities
Another central topic of the meeting was the preparation of the project’s capacity-building programme, with training activities scheduled for the coming months and throughout 2027.
The training modules will address key topics such as climate adaptation planning, resilience pathways, sustainability and circularity, access to funding opportunities and nature-based entrepreneurship. Their objective is to equip local authorities, businesses and other regional stakeholders with the knowledge and practical skills needed to develop and implement effective climate adaptation strategies.
During the General Assembly, partners participated in an interactive poster session to review the training modules and discuss how their content could be adapted to the different needs and contexts of the Resilience Hubs and Nodes.
This collaborative exercise provided an opportunity to exchange feedback, identify potential improvements and strengthen the practical relevance of the training materials before their delivery to regional stakeholders.
The consortium also discussed the next steps for assessing the project’s environmental, social and economic impacts. These assessments will be essential to understand the effectiveness of the demonstrated solutions, evaluate their wider benefits and generate evidence to support their future application in other rural territories.
Discovering Nature-based Solutions in action in Finland
One of the highlights of the General Assembly was the opportunity to discover first-hand the work being developed in Resilience Hub 3, located in Ranua and Pudasjärvi.
The Finnish pilot brings together VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, the Municipality of Ranua, Pudasjärven Kehitys Oy and Pohjois-Suomen Biokaasu Oy, combining scientific expertise, local knowledge and technological innovation to explore how lake restoration can contribute to both ecosystem recovery and the development of the local circular bioeconomy.
During the technical visits, partners explored one of the lakes involved in the restoration activities, where the project is investigating the removal of accumulated sediments and organic material to improve aquatic ecosystem conditions. The visit provided insights into the fieldwork, including sediment extraction and sampling activities aimed at understanding the characteristics of the material and its potential for further use.
The consortium also visited the biogas facility operated by Pohjois-Suomen Biokaasu Oy, where partners learned more about the production of renewable energy from organic materials. Within NURISH, the Finnish team is exploring the potential to use biomass and sediments extracted during lake restoration as feedstock for biogas production, connecting ecosystem restoration with circular resource management and renewable energy for transport.
These visits illustrated the innovative approach behind the Finnish Resilience Hub: turning an environmental challenge into an opportunity to restore ecosystems, recover resources and strengthen the local bioeconomy.
Looking ahead to another year of progress
As NURISH enters its second year, the consortium is moving forward with renewed momentum. The foundations established during the first twelve months are now paving the way for a particularly important period, with the development of innovative solutions, the launch of capacity-building activities, the advancement of digital tools and the preparation of impact assessments.
The third General Assembly reaffirmed the partners’ shared commitment to working closely with rural communities and transforming research and innovation into practical, locally relevant climate adaptation solutions.
