About

The project aims to explore how nature-based solutions can contribute to the societal change needed to address the ongoing biodiversity and climate crisis. Partners of COEVOLVERS are working on co-designing fair nature-based solution (NBS) governance techniques, models, and practices.

The NBS approach of the project is embedded in both the human domain of the technosphere (such as urban systems) and the biosphere (such as the corresponding urban ecosystems). NBS combines human elements with natural components and processes. This results in synergetic effects and hence can be considered coevolutionary, both for the human-made environment and for nature - like an urban green space designed to create affordances for humans conducive to well-being that also sustains and enriches ecosystem diversity for non-human life. For COEVOLVERS, NBS design and implementation call for a coevolutionary understanding of how NBS emerges, formalises, and changes. The ultimate goal of the project is to provide an understanding of the genesis and establishment of fairer NBS, especially from the perspective of the most vulnerable humans and non-humans. For this reason, the project addresses people suffering from loneliness, mental health issues, educational poverty, a lack of green-space affordances, climate change, economic isolation due to their cross-boundary situation, and city dwellers in post-industrial suburbs, as well as non-humans suffering from urbanization or other aspects of the ecological crisis. Furthermore, the project partners believe that NBS should create a reciprocal relationship between humans and nature.

Project overview

Natural Resources Institute Finland - coordinator Visit site
  • Juha Hiedanpää (consortium leader) Juha.Hiedanpaa@luke.fi
  • Katriina Soini katriina.soini@luke.fi
  • Laura Kitti laura.kitti@luke.fi
  • Markku Maula markku.maula@luke.fi
  • Himansu Mishra himansu.mishra@luke.fi
  • Mia Pihlajamäki mia.pihlajamaki@luke.fi
  • Michael Kull michael.kull@luke.fi
  • Ann Ojala ann.ojala@luke.fi
University of Erfurt (Germany) Visit site
  • Carsten Herrmann-Pillath carsten.herrmann-pillath@uni-erfurt.de
  • Simo Sarkki simo.sarkki@oulu.fi
University of Cagliari (Italy) Visit site
  • Ferdinando Fornara ffornara@unica.it
  • Roberta Fadda robfadda@unica.it
  • Oriana Mosca oriana.mosca@unica.it
  • Sara Manca saramanca@unica.it
Institute of Forest Ecology Slovak Academy of Sciences (Slovakia) Visit site
  • Tatiana Kluvánková tana@cetip.sk
  • Stanislava Brnkaľáková brnkalakova@ife.sk
  • Tomáš Szabo thomas22.szabo@gmail.com
  • Dominik Horváth horvathdominik.hd@gmail.com
James Hutton Institute
(United Kingdom)
Visit site
  • Leanne Townsend leanne.townsend@hutton.ac.uk
  • Claire Hardy claire.hardy@hutton.ac.uk
Environmental Social Science Research Group Nonprofit Ltd. (Hungary) Visit site
  • György Pataki pataki.gyorgy@essrg.hu
  • Éva Bánsági bansagi.eva@essrg.hu
  • Mariann Kovács kovacs.mariann@essrg.hu
  • Orsolya Lazányi lazanyi.orsolya@essrg.hu
University of Tartu (Estonia) Visit site
  • Timo Maran timo.maran@ut.ee
  • Nelly Maekivi nelly.maekivi@ut.ee
  • Lona Pall lona.pall@gmail.com
Forest Science and Technology Centre of Catalonia (Spain) Visit site
  • Elena Górriz elena.gorriz@ctfc.cat
CETIP Network (Czech Republic) Visit site
  • Martin Spacek admin@cetip.sk
  • Jiří Louda louda@ieep.cz
City of Turku (Finland) Visit site
  • Miika Meretoja miika.meretoja@turku.fi
  • Kia Andell kia.andell@turku.fi
Magház Association (Hungary) Visit site
  • Gabriella Farkas gab.maghaz@gmail.com
  • Krisztina Szilágyi maghaz.coevolvers@gmail.com
  • Hunor Török maghaz.coevolvers@gmail.com
Luca Frankó Doctor of Psychology Info
Christopher Raymond Professor, Ecosystems and Environment Research Programme Info
Mária Kozová Professor Info
Marco Jansen Professor at the School of Sustainability, Director of the Center for Behavior, Institutions, and the Environment Arizona State University Info
Ugo Tojč Director and senior project manager at the Island Development Agency

Overseas Cousins

We collaborate with three Overseas Cousins. We are co-learning and co-creating by exchanging practical experiences and theoretical approaches to NBS design and implementation.