On 25–26 February 2025, Biodiversa+ held a foresight workshop in Oslo, hosted by the Research Council of Norway and co-organised with UNEP-WCMC. The event brought together 30 experts from across disciplines to explore the interplay between Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and transformative change (TC), and to identify future research and innovation (R&I) priorities for achieving sustainability goals.
The workshop built on our report on the “State of evidence on how Nature-based Solutions promote Transformative Change” and aimed to inform both the midterm update of Biodiversa+’s Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) and the EU’s long-term biodiversity research strategy.
Over two half-days, participants engaged in a series of structured exercises, including a horizon scan of social, technological, economic, environmental, political, and values-based trends (STEEPV). They analysed the potential of NbS to drive system-wide shifts in key environments: urban areas, agricultural landscapes, mountain ecosystems, and coastal regions. A standout feature of the workshop was the “Images of the Future” exercise, where participants imagined how today’s trends might shape the future of NbS and transformative change by 2050. Scenarios ranged from hopeful visions of nature-positive economies and new governance models to more critical reflections on equity, risk, and the role of civil society.
The discussions culminated in a forward-looking session to define research needs and recommendations for funders. Key takeaways included:
- The need for a standardised framework to assess and measure NbS and TC.
- Greater attention to governance models supporting a nature-positive economy.
- More research on resilience, risk, and disaster preparedness, particularly in relation to biodiversity and climate.
- The importance of long-term funding to ensure continuity and impact of biodiversity research.
- A call to strengthen the link between research, policy, and society, ensuring co-creation and inclusiveness.
As Biodiversa+ continues its work through flagship programmes and research calls such as BiodivNbS and BiodivTransform, the insights from the Oslo workshop will help shape how we support transformative, just, and nature-positive futures across Europe.
