“Foresight Workshop on Nature-based Solutions and Transformative Change: Exploring Future Research Horizons”
Published: December 2025 | DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.18801769
In February 2025, Biodiversa+ organised a foresight workshop in Oslo to explore the relationship between Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and transformative change. The workshop gathered around 30 participants from diverse disciplines and professional backgrounds to reflect on emerging trends, uncertainties and research frontiers shaping this nexus towards 2050. This report summarises the workshop process, key insights and research priorities.
What did the workshop explore?
Using horizon scanning and participatory foresight methods, participants examined:
- Major social, technological, economic, environmental, political and value-related trends
- Uncertainties and “wild cards” shaping the future of NbS and transformation
- The role of governance, finance, justice and behaviour as enabling or constraining levers
- Context-specific challenges in urban areas, agricultural landscapes, mountain ecosystems and coastal regions
Participants also developed “images of the future” to explore how successful integration of NbS and transformative change could look by 2050.
Main takeaways
- NbS alone are not transformative: they can contribute to systemic change only when embedded in broader governance reform, economic transition and societal shifts.
- Governance, finance and justice matter: scaling NbS requires rethinking incentives, subsidy systems, stewardship models and the distribution of costs and benefits.
- Indicators and long-term learning are essential: clear frameworks and locally relevant indicators are needed to assess how NbS contribute to transformative pathways over time.
- A socio-ecological approach is key: transdisciplinary research, place-based perspectives and attention to values and equity are crucial to designing effective pathways.
The workshop outcomes contribute to Biodiversa+’s Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda and help articulate research priorities across its flagship programmes. They also provide context for ongoing activities under the BiodivNBS and BiodivTransform calls.
