NbS Schools as Spaces for Learning, Knowledge Exchange and Co-Development in Climate Adaptation

Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are increasingly recognised as key strategies to address climate change adaptation while delivering biodiversity and social co-benefits. However, their implementation often remains fragmented, constrained by sectoral silos, limited stakeholder engagement, and insufficient capacities to manage ecological, social, and governance complexity. Beyond technical design, NbS require shared understanding, long-term cooperation, and co-development processes that bridge science, policy, and practice.

This contribution presents the NbS Summer School held in Milan (July 2025) as a practice-oriented learning and co-development experience through which elements of a bootcamp-based capacity development methodology for mission-driven investment planning, developed within NetworkNature, were piloted to support climate adaptation through education and stakeholder engagement. The School emerged from a cross-Task Force collaboration within the NetworkNature framework, integrating expertise on NbS data and assessment (TF1–TF2), co-creation and co-governance (TF6), and financing and business models (TF3), ensuring an integrated learning design. Organised in close connection with the NbS Italy HUB National Conference, and with financial support from Network Nature¹ as part of its broader strategy to build a European-wide community of practice, the School adopted an intensive bootcamp-format intentionally designed to integrate technical, social, governance, and financial dimensions while linking academic knowledge, professional practice, and governance perspectives.

Over three days, participants engaged in site visits, expert lectures, and hands-on workshops addressing urban heat, flooding, air pollution, ecosystem services assessment, financing mechanisms, and co-governance models. Field cases across the Milan metropolitan area illustrated real-world NbS challenges, highlighting lessons on maintenance, monitoring gaps, underestimated long-term costs, trade-offs between speed and co-design, and the importance of social acceptance and communication. Workshops complemented field experiences by introducing decision-support tools, co-creative assessment approaches, innovative communication formats, and financing strategies.

A key outcome was the recognition of education itself as an enabling NbS infrastructure, where co-creation precedes co-governance and stakeholders can experiment with alternative governance constellations in a low-risk environment. The NbS Italy HUB acted as a boundary organisation, fostering continuity between learning, networking, and national-scale knowledge exchange.

Building on the Milan experience, the contribution anticipates the next NbS School and investment planning bootcamp in Bari. Key lessons underline the importance of structured dissemination, continuity between learning and practice, and the role of practitioner hubs in sustaining communities of practice beyond single events. These insights inform the Bari edition and provide a transferable reference model for other national NbS Hubs seeking to strengthen capacity building, stakeholder engagement, and long-term NbS implementation pathways.

[1] This project has received funding from the European Union´s Research Executive agency, under grant No.101082213.