This course is an Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) coordinated by the University of the Basque Country and co-designed with Uppsala University (Sweden), University of Groningen (The Netherlands) and Comenius University (Slovakia) as an ENLIGHT European University Alliance initiative. The BIP is co-funded by the European Union and has a blended virtual/in-person format. In the virtual component, learners come together online to work collectively and simultaneously. For the in-person component, all students will meet in-person for one week of activities in Donostia-San Sebastian. Lecturers from the four universities will teach and guide students’ work virtually and in-person. The interdisciplinary challenge addressed in this BIP is proposed by relevant professionals at external institutions: BC3 (Basque Centre for Climate Change) and Tecnalia (A center for technological development). These experts will also join the teaching team to provide students with the necessary views from outside the academic community.

Content

The impacts of climate change on cities — including heatwaves, flooding, biodiversity loss and rising social vulnerability — demand innovative public responses that transcend traditional administrative and sectoral silos and mobilise the meaningful engagement of all sectors of society. Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) are increasingly recognised as effective strategies to address these challenges. According to the 5th United Nations Environment Assembly, NBS are actions “aimed at protecting, conserving, restoring, and sustainably managing natural or modified terrestrial, freshwater, coastal, and marine ecosystems, which address social, economic and environmental challenges effectively and adaptively, while simultaneously providing human well-being, ecosystem services, resilience and biodiversity benefits”.

Public spaces created or transformed through NBS can serve as critical sites for social interaction and community cohesion, enabling the development of social infrastructures that strengthen community networks and mutual support systems. This form of social capital is essential to building societies that are more resilient to extreme climate events, generating benefits that extend beyond the environmental sphere to include social wellbeing, democratic vitality and territorial equity.

However, real-world deployment of NBS is frequently limited by outdated governance structures characterised by insufficient intra- and inter-institutional coordination, insufficient engagement from the private sector and university and academic community, and minimal and non-substantive civic participation. Lack of equity is another potential limitation: the populations most affected by climate change are those already experiencing the highest levels of socioeconomic vulnerability, so solutions should also empower communities, reinforce support networks and improve living conditions.

Therefore, for NBS to be an effective tool for facing climate change and providing the benefits described in its definition, interdisciplinary bridges need to be constructed and put into work when designing and implementing new solutions, and shared visions need to be developed and shared among actors in political decision-making, institutions and companies, and the citizens.

This course provides introductory knowledge and skills to understand the challenges that cities and communities face in relation to climate change and what is needed for NBS to provide responses than can effectively contribute to more resilient and socially equitable cities.

Learning outcomes

• Understand and provide examples of the main threats that CC poses to cities and communities and how adaptation and mitigation measures can help undercoming those threats
• Demonstrate deep understanding of NBS and their potential real-life limitations
• Understand and integrate multidisciplinary knowledge needed for designing, implementing and evaluating NBS
• Critically analyse existing NBS and detect limitations and/or provide suggestions for improvement
• Work in interdisciplinary teams for proposing an NBS that could be developed in a real-life setting

Programme

Online during 6 weeks: 30 hours of virtual teaching (5 hours per week) + 45 hours of personal work. Topics:

• Introduction to the challenge and the course
• Introduction to adaptation and mitigation measures and the concept of Nature-based solutions (NBS)
• Integration of adaptation and NBS in urban desing & planning
• Ecosystem services and NBS in urban settings
• NBS: real-life examples I – tourism & green city
• NBS: real-life examples II – dutch water management
• NBS: real-life examples III – co-creation of NBS that improve social connection in outdoor spaces
• Limitations to effective implementation of NBS and the need of a Social Justice Lens
• Legitimacy of participation in NBS: multi-level governance and community values
• Enhancing NBS through innovative governance models
• Several teamwork sessions with a facilitator (for integrating disciplines & managing intercultural work environments)
• Virtual teaching

On-site week: 20 hours face-to-face + 15 visits + 15 hours personal work:

• Introduction to the work of the week; review and discussion of the progress of each project; detailed analysis of key info needed and who could provide it
• Visits to the setting of real-life NBS and analysis using the concepts and methods studied in the course
• Working on the projects with the assistance of the teachers and invited experts and presentation of the projects (last day)

Assessment

Grading system: 0-10 points.

Assessment method(s):

• Written project developed in groups (up to 5 points)
• Presentation and defence of the project (up to 3 points)
• Participation in debates and providing coherent feedback to other groups (up to 2 points)

Lecturers

University of the Basque Country:

• Olatz Irulegi- main contact for the BIP: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Ander Gortazar
• Laura Vozmediano
• Bryan Leferman

Uppsala University

• Aleksandra Halaim
• Narcis Bassols

University of Groningen

• Chris Zuidema
• Chris Diedericks

Comenius University Bratislava

• Juraj Buzalka
• Andrea Figulova

Basque Centre for Climate Change

• Estibaliz Sanz

Tecnalia

• Karmele Herranz

Course dates

On-site: 9 – 13 November 2026 in San Sebastian.

Online: 14 September – 6 November 2026. 2 days per week for 6 weeks, in the afternoon.

Students from the four ENLIGHT partner universities that are involved in the course are eligible to participate. Students will be selected at each of these universities separately. Students interested in the course need to apply via their home university. They should contact their faculty or programme to verify whether it can fit in their curriculum and to ensure academic recognition of the credits obtained. The home university will select the permitted number of students, inform the students as soon as possible, and then send these names to the host institution. Unsuccessful students will be placed on a waiting list and may get a place, if other universities do not use all their allocated places.

Please select your home university below and contact your ENLIGHT coordinator for further information on the application process or consult the linked information.

• University of the Basque Country: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Comenius University Bratislava: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• University of Groningen: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Uppsala University: Application instructions for students at Uppsala University.

Gabriel Ruiz - international affairs at the School of Architecture, University of the Basque Country: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Olatz Irulegi - teacher & main contact for the BIP course: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.