Integrating Nature-Based Solutions into Higher Education towards exploiting the transformative potential of Social Economy for a green and inclusive future

We applied for this project to address the critical gap between the environmental potential of Social Economy Entities (SEEs) and the limited role of environmental education in SE- related university curricula. While SEEs are increasingly recognized as key players in the green transition, their capacity remains underutilized—mainly due to a lack of training and practical educational frameworks. Existing programs focus on theoretical aspects of sustainability, offering few opportunities for experiential learning. Our project responds to this by developing SEgoesGreen—an innovative educational programme that integrates Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) and eco-citizenship into SE studies. The aim is to move from “learning about” sustainability to “learning for” climate action. We seek to empower SE students with green skills, creativity, and initiative, and to support educators with resources and training to deliver transformative, action-oriented environmental education. Through this, we aim to build a new generation of environmentally engaged social entrepreneurs. The project also supports systemic change by aligning higher education with EU climate and sustainability goals.

Through the SEgoesGreen project, we aimed to bridge the gap between Social Economy (SE) education and the urgent need for action-oriented environmental learning. Our main goal was to embed Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) into SE-related higher education programmes, using them as a powerful pedagogical tool to engage both students and educators in addressing climate change and environmental challenges. We wanted to support university educators by developing a comprehensive blended training programme—including an educator’s manual, a MOOC platform, and a Hackathon Seminar—that would introduce innovative, experiential, and eco-citizenship-based teaching practices. Simultaneously, we aimed to empower students by offering them a future-oriented Green SE curriculum that fosters green skills, creativity, and active citizenship through real-world, challenge-based learning. Finally, we sought to create a replicable and scalable model for integrating NBS into SE education and promote its uptake EU-wide through policy recommendations and ready-to-use training materials - ensuring long-term impact beyond the project’s lifetime.

WP1: project management activities WP2: - Partner kick off meeting - Research design activities - Mapping and desk resaerch - Partner online meeting - Development of case studies for NBS case studies - Analysis and synthesis of findings to realize a study “Integrating NBS in SE studies” - Consultation workshops on feedback on the study - Translation of final study - Scientific publication WP3: - Partner Meeting in Greece - Desk research / Online survey for synthesis report - Focus Groups to realize Focus groups analysis report - Analysis of results and design of the training programme - Partner Online meeting - 4 modules of the NBS educators’ manual development - LTTA (Heckathon) in Poland - MOOC development and testing -Finetuning and translation of training programme WP4: -Partner meeting in Poland -Research activities - Content development - Partners training - Testing phase Aand B - Evaluation - Partner meeting in Portugal - Finetuning &translation of the curriculum WP5: - Development of dissemination strategy - Branding development - Website design and content development - Social media campaigns and dissemination activities - Newsletters & press releases - Policy recommendations - 5 Multiplier events - Final Conference

WP2: -State of the art report in eco-citizenship practices in SE related studies - State of the art report in eco-citizenship practices in SE related studies - Methodology for conducting case studies - NBS case studies - Study entitled as “Integrating NBS in SE studies”. - Scientific paper published WP3: -Desk research and survey results synthesis report -Focus groups analysis report -4 modules of the NBS educators’ manual - MOOC - Custom-designed courses on the science, educational practice, and finance and infrastructure issues related to NBS. WP4: -training modules of the curriculum -Results from delivery of the training modules to students - testing A phase -Results from organization of a 14-days bootcamp in each partner university - testing B phase -Green Curriculum WP5: -website www.segoesgreen.eu -social media project profiles and campaigne - 6 Newsletters and 2 press releases per partner - Policy recommendations report - 5 Multiplier events and 1 final conference - Dissemination plan -Visual identity