On the second week of February 2026, during the project's final month, JUSTNature proudly held its Final Event in Belgium, with an International Conference in Brussels and site visits in the city of Leuven. It was not only an occasion for celebration, but also an opportunity to review the project's achievements, discuss challenges and takeaways from the co-creation journey, and consolidate pathways for replication, ensuring the project's legacy remains strong and relevant.
JUSTNature held its Final Event in February 2026, with a Final Conference in Brussels and site visits in the city of Leuven.
The Final Conference kicked off in a full room on the morning of February 10 in Brussels, with a welcome speech by Project Officer Georgios Charalampous (EC), who celebrated the project's impact, and emphasised the importance of scaling up its results. He was followed by Dr. Jessica Balest (Eurac Research), JUSTNature coordinator, with an opening speech about the project's overall journey and our work advancing ecological justice through collaborative innovation.
The morning had two keynote speakers: Prof. Dr. Sonia Gantioler, former JUSTNature coordinator, discussed the JUSTNature journey "from vision to impact", presenting some of the guiding principles behind the project. Social, environmental and climate justice were at the core of her address, as they were at the core of JUSTNature. Prof. Farzana Gandhi offered insights on community engagement in NbS implementation, pointing out that different audiences require diversified outreach tools, and posing the question: how can we better institutionalise the role of communities?
A panel session followed. Here, keynote speakers Gantioler and Gandhi were joined by Munich JUSTNature coordinator Alice Reil (City of Munich), Elisa Maschmeier, local partner of the City of Munich, and Magdalena Janzic (Prospex Institute). The session, moderated by Edward Duca (University of Malta), focused on co-governance challenges and the effective engagement of underserved communities. Speakers shared insights from their perspectives, creating an engaging exchange on the co-creation of NbS between city representatives, researchers and practitioners.
The morning programme wrapped up with two parallel sessions. On one hand, the interactive presentation of the Nature-Building Community boardgame, led by Viktor Bukovszki (ABUD). On the other one, the collection of talks Co-Governance, Justice and Nature-based Solutions: Stories from Europe and Beyond, which counted with three presentations and a roundtable, moderated by Martina van Lierop (Technical University of Munich). The presenters discussed:
- the JUSTNature project and the Leuven Centraal intervention, by Beatriz Kauark Fontes (Technical University of Munich) and Nele Janssen (Stad Leuven);
- the Naturescapes project and a community-led mangrove restoration in Cartagena, Colombia, by Philipp Montenegro;
- the TRANS-lighthouses project, sharing experiences engaging voiceless groups, by Gerd Lupp.
Photos by Elza Lőw
In the afternoon, JUSTNature CiPeL representatives shared insights from their experience. First, they addressed the audience by outlining the main developments in their cities. Then, the conference attendees had the chance to walk around the CiPeL booths and talk to the representatives directly, asking questions about the NbS deployment in their contexts. Accompanying posters were displayed next to each booth, provided a description of the interventions, an overview of the local context and pictures of the pilot sites and activation events.
The afternoon keynote, Dr. Simone Sandholz, presented on Urban Futures and Sustainability, drawing from the Transformative Urban Coalitions project and participatory work in Argentina.
Sandholz then joined the debate panel Local to EU: A Debate on Scaling JUST Nature-based Solutions, alongside Urbano Tocci, Mira Conci, Ronan Frizzell (Inlecom Systems) and Viktor Bukovszki (ABUD). The speakers discussed how JUSTNature's local innovations can inform EU policy and support the wider uptake of just NbS. Audience opinions were integrated through an interactive scheme with colored papers for hands-up voting.
The day wrapped up with a final speech by Dr. Jessica Balest, who reflected on JUSTNature's legacy and the future of just NbS across Europe.
Photos by Elza Lőw
February 11 featured site visits in Leuven. Participants could choose from four walking and cycling tours to explore the neighbouring city, one of JUSTNature CiPeLs, visiting some of its green interventions and demonstration sites. Guided by local experts, participants discussed operational challenges, community engagement strategies, and conditions enabling replication and scaling within EU frameworks.
// Photo credits: photos 1 to 4 by Philipp Montenegro, photos 5 to 7 by Mariana Binder, photos 8 & 9 by Leuven 2030, photo 10 by Edward Duca. //
In the afternoon, the JUSTNature consortium held the last Joint Project Meeting, where discussions focused on building on the project's experience and brainstorming ideas for future collaboration. We are proud of our achievements and look forward to maintaining this momentum of collaboration!
