Education

Training for Current and Future Leaders in Nature-Based Solutions

NPAC's education and training programs work both within and beyond the classroom to directly equip our workforce to solve real-world environmental challenges. Working across levels, from undergraduates to on-the-ground practitioners, the center takes an interdisciplinary approach and engages experts across sectors in the co-design of curricula, workshops, and training experiences that build skills in collaboration, decision science, and the creation of nature-based solutions. This includes developing innovative coursework for university students, hands-on training for conservation and resource management professionals, and applied learning experiences grounded in NPAC's own work with communities and partners. 

By linking rigorous, evidence-based pedagogy with direct engagement in real solutions, the center prepares a generation of environmental leaders ready to work with communities to translate science into action. NPAC helps learners develop tools to monitor outcomes, adapt strategies, and work effectively across disciplines and sectors. Through this integrated and experiential approach, education becomes practice rather than simply preparation for it. 

Core Research Areas

  • Experiential Education

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    We design learning experiences that engage students and emerging leaders directly with the work of creating nature-based solutions. From immersive field courses to community-based projects to on-the-ground field-days and workshops, our experiential programs are built in partnership with employers, municipalities, and conservation organizations to ensure learners develop real skills in real contexts. This hands-on approach accelerates students development as Nature-based Solution Practitioners. 

  • Curriculum Development

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    We develop courses, programs, and learning pathways within higher education that prepare students to address the interlinked challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, and human well-being. Drawing on evidence-based practices in inclusive pedagogy and transdisciplinary collaboration, our curricula equip undergraduates, graduate students, and postdocs with the tools to co-create, evaluate, and implement nature-based solutions across diverse communities and contexts. 

  • Professional Learning

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    We co-design and deliver workshops and learning experiences for practitioners, resource managers, and organizational leaders working on the front lines of environmental challenges. Our professional learning programs building on experts’ knowledge and experience to help organizations enhance capacity in decision science, stakeholder collaboration, and solution co-creation, translating cutting-edge research into actionable skills that participants can apply immediately in their work. 

  • Educational Evaluation

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    We assess the effectiveness of educational activities, training programs, and public campaigns designed to advance understanding and adoption of nature-based solutions. This includes evaluating changes in knowledge, motivation, and practice across contexts - from individual workshops to multi-year initiatives - so that educational efforts continuously improve and generate the greatest possible impact. 

Featured Project

Evaluating the Power of Partnerships: A Retrospective Study of the Cool Boulder Climate Campaign 

Cool Boulder, a municipal climate campaign focused on supporting capacity for climate action, both depends on and supports strong networks of community partners that each act in different ways to achieve collective action across the city. NPAC researchers are conducting in-depth interviews with partner organizations that have engaged with Cool Boulder, the City of Boulder's community climate action initiative, to better understand how this network functions. The study examines what motivates organizations to join campaigns like Cool Boulder, what benefits they gain through the network, and what new collaborations, landscape changes, and community actions have resulted from their engagement. By capturing retrospective accounts from partners across sectors, the research will builds a picture of how municipal campaigns might build capacity for climate action beyond what any single organization could achieve alone. Findings will inform the ongoing development of Cool Boulder while generating broader lessons about how cities can design partnership-based campaigns that are effective, equitable, and built to last. 

Visit Cool Boulder's Website

Featured Project

Collaborating Across Contexts: How Conservation Scientists Develop the Skills Global Challenges Demand 

Solving the world's most pressing environmental problems requires scientists who can work across disciplines, sectors, and cultures. Yet, most professional training leaves this critical skill set largely unaddressed. NPAC researchers are seeking funding for partnerships to study how scientists actually develop these skills during professional practice. The proposed work will examine how collaborative learning unfolds across a diverse professional teams of academics, practitioners, and community members and will examine how professional development and educational design can promote more equitable participation when teams span cultural and sectoral lines. If funded, findings will strengthen professional learning programs and feed directly into new graduate and undergraduate coursework at CU Boulder, extending lessons from current cutting-edge conservation practice into the next generation of sustainability leaders.