New Master’s course explores how nature can help solve sustainability challenges

If you travelled from the salt marshes of Zeeland to the rooftop gardens of Rotterdam, you might not guess they share something in common. But both hold examples of nature-based solutions—an approach that’s becoming increasingly important for tackling climate-related impacts like flooding, biodiversity loss, heat stress, water pollution and that is now at the centre of a brand new course offered at Utrecht University. 

Nature-based solutions use natural ecosystems or processes to address environmental and societal challenges. Instead of relying solely on built or engineered structures, nature-based solutions work with nature. As the effects of climate change become more visible, governments, NGOs, and communities across Europe and globally are turning to these approaches to increase society’s resilience. Classic examples include the use of mangrove forests to protect coastlines from storm surges and erosion, restoring wetlands to control flooding and improve water quality, using large grazing animals to maintain biodiversity in grasslands, and green roofs in cities to reduce the urban heat island effect and manage stormwater runoff.

You need insights from different perspectives to design and implement nature-based solutions.

For students pursuing careers in policy, planning, or consultancy, it is likely they will encounter nature-based solutions in their future work—making a solid grounding in the topic essential. From the 2025-26 academic year students on several sustainability-related Master’s programmes at the Graduate School of Geosciences are now able to follow Nature-positive Futures: Understanding and working with Nature-Based Solutions for Ecosystem Services, a course dedicated entirely to this important topic.

Bringing disciplines together

Designed by two assistant professors at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University’s interdisciplinary sustainability research institute, the course explores complex sustainability issues in rural, coastal and urban contexts and the nature-based solutions that can be used to tackle them. 

It has been intentionally set up for students with a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds, and approaches nature-based solutions through an interdisciplinary lens. “A student with a background in hydrology might understand well the natural science components, but just as important is the governance perspective, how you bring people together, make decisions, and measure how well it works,” says course co-coodinator Anna Duden, who has a background in ecology and the impacts and drivers of land use change. “You need insights from all these different perspectives to design and implement nature-based solutions”.

Bridging theory and practice

The course dives both into the theory behind nature-based solutions, including their governance, planning, finance and legal aspects, as well as the practical side. During an excursion to Zeeland, students learn about the “wisselpolder” – when a temporary opening is made to a dike so that estuary water can flow into the polder and deposit sediment. The sediment raises the land and makes it more fertile. A second field trip brings students to Rotterdam, where they explore nature-based solutions in an urban setting. These include water squares designed to store peak rainfall and prevent flooding, floating and rooftop parks and tidal parks in former harbours, as well as examples of wadi-based water management.

Students who have an affinity with this topic have the opportunity to deepen their knowledge during their Master thesis research.

“In addition to this, practitioners who work with nature-based solutions in various capacities give practical support to the theory,” says co-coordinator Martijn Kuller, who himself brings expertise in urban water management and the role nature-based solutions can play in climate adaptation in cities. “Students organise a debate amongst themselves around each practitioner’s expertise, also involving the practitioner”. This year’s experts were from organisations such as the Municipality of Nijmegen, a company working on financing nature-based solutions through carbon credits, as well as a Water Board and Deltares.  

“What’s really exciting is that because the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development is also leading cutting-edge research on this topic, students who have an affinity with this topic have the opportunity to deepen their knowledge during their Master thesis research”.

Important for all kinds of students

The course is slowly opening up to other study programmes at Utrecht University. “Students of business, finance, natural sciences, biology, health and governance who have an interest in sustainability issues really stand to benefit,” says Duden. “I immediately think of students with a robust background in ecology, but who miss knowledge on how these solutions should be tailored to the specific social context: what is success, and for whom?”

Kuller adds: “It’s important to note that many of what we call nature-based solutions are not new. We’ve been using them for centuries. We also take time to look at cases where Western expertise has tried to develop solutions that were maladapted to local contexts and communities, and the consequences this has had”.

This is the first course in the Netherlands focusing exclusively on nature-based solutions.

With the first edition of the course just completed, student responses have so far have been positive. Kuller and Duden are currently integrating feedback to build an even stronger experience the next time around. “As far as we know, this is the first course in the Netherlands focusing exclusively on nature-based solutions, which really sets it apart as a unique opportunity for our students,” says Duden. “We can’t wait to see the impact our students make”.