The program has engaged public administration professionals in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, focusing on nature-based solutions (NBS) to meet future challenges embodied by the UN SDGs.
Strengthening participants’ transformative leadership skills for innovation and sustainable urban governance in these regions has been at the core of the program. By strengthening individual participants’ knowledge, the program is expected to have long-term effects at intra- and inter-organizational and societal levels.
An important part of the year-long online program is the onsite Sweden week, including study visits, workshops, creative interaction, social events and team building. Experiencing first-hand how Swedish cities are integrating NBS in their urban environments has been a much-appreciated feature of the program, which has been combined with sessions to reflect on the future, on learnings and on the environment in which participants operate.
In total, the program has engaged 125 participants and resulted in 37 NBS projects which are connected to real-world local implementation contexts and involve multi-stakeholder collaboration across different levels and actors. Through national alumni networks that the program has built over time, participants can continue their learning processes, maintain their knowledge and capacity and exchange experiences.
The program evaluations demonstrate that the program has strengthened the participants’ knowledge, tools, and ability to drive innovation and change by working on NBS projects within their organizations.
Read more about the program, its outputs, and how it has benefited both program participants, the IIIEE and Lund University here.
