Addressing climate resilience requires transformative change towards a just transition of our societies. Through Transformation Labs (TLs), this project integrates local knowledge from stakeholders across eight diverse demonstration sites to co-create Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) to address climate change hazards. Our TLs are actively set up in Greece, Romania, Latvia, Gran Canaria, Flanders, France, Iceland, and Italy.
This transformation process is framed under a co-creation framework organised into five phases. Together, these TLs phases lead to integrated change within local communities and scale - a pathway to a more climate-resilient society.
Currently, we are closing the first phase being the Diagnosis Phase. This phase focuses on working with stakeholders to validate the area’s climate-related hazards, explore potential NBS options and potential NBS associated and identify the main purpose of co-creation. Essentially, we have begun engaging with stakeholders to build a shared understanding of what are the local priorities when it comes to NBS implementation to mitigate climate-related hazards.
During Phase 1, the eight sites will focus on hosting a workshop (WS1. Diagnosis). The key outcomes from this process are the validation of the key hazards and challenges faced by the participants when trying to implement NBS. And the definition of co-creation actions that will help guide the direction of each TL.
So far, five TLs have already completed their first workshops (others are underway to implement them), and we’ve gathered some useful insights:
- In Iceland (East Fjords) stakeholders selected the most urgent climate hazards that NATALIE can focus on, with regards to coastal management ..
- In Latvia (Zemgale region), the discussions resulted in a consensus process of determining where the NBS selected (constructed wetlands) should be located.
- In Greece (Lelantine plain, Evia island), the workshop allowed for the identification of additional relevant stakeholders that had not been considered initially, as well as deeper understanding on how the prescribed burnings should be scheduled jointly.
- In Spain (Maspalomas, Gran Canaria), showed a community of stakeholders highly committed and willing to continue working on solutions that can enhance the natural areas of the region and improve climate resilience, the workshops led to very concrete proposals for joint action.
- In Belgium (South Limburg in Flanders), interactions on hazards, challenges and solutions allowed the Belgian team to better understand what was at stake for the local community.
Besides the direct outcomes, these workshops have also demonstrated serendipity—with unexpected benefits emerging, such as the development of relationships that can support long-term cooperation.
Co-creation is taking place even beyond NATALIE, showing the great power of knowledge sharing.
However, it’s important to recognize that this process is not that straightforward. Each phase, particularly those involving workshops, requires a lot of flexibility, planning and coordination (both, internal and external). Choosing the right time for workshops is critical to ensure good attendance and active participation from stakeholders. This means that timelines and availability need to be considered at every step, something we have learned from this first phase.
The resulted co-creation ideas extracted in this Phase will lead into Phase 2. Design & Visioning, which will involve developing a collective vision for the demo sites and developing the action plan for those co-creation ideas to be implemented within NATALIE (if feasible).
In the coming months, UTH and WE&B will finalize collecting the results of Phase 1 on the eight NATALIE case studies, while continuing the preparation of Phase 2. Stay tuned for more updates!
