About this Glossary
This glossary brings together key terms and concepts central to the NF project. It is a living document, that will be updated as the project evolves and our collective understanding deepens.
Help us grow it! If you encounter a term that is missing, or feel an existing definition could be improved, we welcome your contribution. Just fill out the form at the bottom of this page. Suggestions are reviewed by the project team before being added.
Nature Futures Glossary
| Term | Abbreviation | Area | Definition | Source |
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| Active Learning | Education & Pedagogy | Active learning is an instructional approach that engages students in the learning process through meaningful activities, requiring them to "do things and think about the things they are doing". It shifts the focus from passive listening to active participation (such as problem-solving, discussion, and reflection) to deepen understanding and build critical thinking skills. | Bonwell, C. C., & Eison, J. A. (1991). Active learning: Creating excitement in the classroom. | |
| ADDIE Model | Education & Pedagogy | Widely used framework of instructional design; stands for Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation. | https://www.digitallearninginstitute.com/blog/the-digital-learning-design-process-addie-model-for-instructional-design | |
| Biodiversity | Sustainability & Environment | Biological diversity means the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems. The term ‘biodiversity’ is a simple contraction of ‘biological diversity’, and at first sight the concept is simple too: biodiversity is the sum total of all biotic variation from the level of genes to ecosystems. | Convention Biological Diversity: https://www.cbd.int/convention/articles/default.shtml?a=cbd-02& Getting the measure of biodiversity: https://www.nature.com/articles/35012221 |
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| Carbon Neutrality | Sustainability & Environment | Carbon neutrality means having a balance between emitting carbon and absorbing carbon from the atmosphere in carbon sinks. Removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and then storing it is known as carbon sequestration. In order to achieve net zero emissions, all worldwide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will have to be counterbalanced by carbon sequestration. Carbon sink is any system that absorbs more carbon than it emits. The main natural carbon sinks are soil, forests and oceans. | European Parliament https://www.europarl.europa.eu/topics/en/article/20190926STO62270/what-is-carbon-neutrality-and-how-can-it-be-achieved-by-2050 Also see IPCC definition and FAQ 1.3 on the difference between carbon neutrality and net-zero emissions: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg3/about/frequently-asked-questions/ |
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| Citizen Science | CS | Society & Community Engagement | The active involvement of citizens and communities in scientific research, data collection, and environmental monitoring. | Irwin, A. (2002). Citizen Science: A Study of People, Expertise and Sustainable Development (0 edn). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203202395 |
| Climate Adaptation | Sustainability & Environment | Adaptation refers to adjustments in ecological, social or economic systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli and their effects. It refers to changes in processes, practices and structures to moderate potential damages or to benefit from opportunities associated with climate change. In simple terms, countries and communities need to develop adaptation solutions and implement actions to respond to current and future climate change impacts. | United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC): https://unfccc.int/topics/adaptation-and-resilience/the-big-picture/introduction |
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| Climate Resilience | Sustainability & Environment | Climate resilience is the ability of communities, ecosystems, and infrastructure to anticipate, absorb, accommodate, or recover from the hazardous effects of climate change in a timely and efficient manner. | United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC): https://unfccc.int/topics/adaptation-and-resilience/the-big-picture/introduction |
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| Digital Learning Environment | DLE | Technology & Digital Tools | A learning ecosystem in which teaching, learning, and the development of competence are fostered in classroom-based, online or blended settings. It is composed of a human component, a technological component, and the interrelations between the two. | Barana, A. and Marchisio, M. (2021) Analyzing Interactions in Automatic Formative Assessment Activities for Mathematics in Digital Learning Environments. Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU 2021)- Volume 1, pages 497-504 ISBN: 978-989-758-502-9. DOI: 10.5220/0010474004970504 |
| Dynamic System Model | Technology & Digital Tools | A dynamic model is a model that describes how a system changes in time. In some cases, time is the only independent variable, and in others, there are additional variables such as those of spatial frames. Even though the concept of creating a dynamic model, capturing the dynamics of a system, is ubiquitous, the topic tends to be splintered across numerous disciplines, from mathematical modeling and computer simulation to more qualitative models for software design and science. Moreover, models have a variety of representations from the traditional notations of mathematics to diagrammatic, and even immersive representations. | Fishwick, P. A. (Ed.). (2007). Handbook of dynamic system modeling. CRC Press. | |
| Ecosystem Services | Sustainability & Environment | The benefits that humans derive from natural ecosystems, including provisioning services (food, water), regulating services (climate regulation, flood control), cultural services (recreation, education), and supporting services (nutrient cycling, soil formation). | Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005. Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Synthesis. Island Press, Washington, DC. https://www.millenniumassessment.org/documents/document.356.aspx.pdf | |
| ENABLS Project | Projects & Initiatives | ENABLS is a three-year project funded by EU Horizon Europe, which aims to "to promote transdisciplinary dialogue and further embed Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) concepts and approaches within universities and vocational schools, the professional sphere and society at large." | https://enabls.eu Additional resource: the OPPLA platform, "a global knowledge platform bringing together the latest research on natural capital, ecosystem services and nature-based solutions", https://oppla.eu |
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| EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030 | Policy & Governance | The EU’s Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 is a comprehensive plan to protect nature and reverse the degradation of ecosystems. It is a key component of the European Green Deal. The strategy aims to put Europe's biodiversity on a path to recovery by 2030, and contains specific actions and commitments. | https://environment.ec.europa.eu/strategy/biodiversity-strategy-2030_en | |
| European Education Area | EEA | Policy & Governance | The European Education Area fosters collaboration among European Union Member States to build more resilient and inclusive national education and training systems. | https://education.ec.europa.eu/about-eea |
| European Green Deal | Policy & Governance | The European Green Deal is a comprehensive roadmap for transforming the European Union into a fair, prosperous, and climate-neutral continent by 2050. Launched in 2019, it responds to citizens’ urgent call, especially from young people, for climate action. It sets out a plan to transform Europe’s economy, energy, transport, and industries for a more sustainable future. | https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_en | |
| Green Infrastructure | Sustainability & Environment | A strategically planned network of natural and semi-natural areas with other environmental features, designed and managed to deliver a wide range of ecosystem services, while also enhancing biodiversity. | https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/nature-and-biodiversity/green-infrastructure_en | |
| Green Transition | Sustainability & Environment | A process towards a new development model that ensures environmentally sustainable and fairer societies. It is a necessity to address the human-induced climate change emergency, environmental degradation (water, land, forests, atmosphere) as well as the loss of biodiversity. The policies to tackle climate change must also build resilience and mitigate inequality and unfairness in our societies, which is why green transition strategies include a policy mix aimed at effective climate action and a just and fair transition into a thriving and clean economy, leaving nobody behind. | European Training Foundation. Skilling for the green transition: https://www.etf.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2022-11/Edited%20green%20transition%20policy%20brief_EN.pdf | |
| Higher Education Institutions | HEIs | Policy & Governance | Any institution providing higher education and recognised by the relevant national authority as belonging to the higher education system. | https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX%3A32008D1298 |
| Institutional Strategy | Policy & Governance | Institutional strategy in higher education is the university’s proactive, collective capacity to steer itself, make selective choices about priorities and niches, align managerial and academic units, and sustain organizational change over time. | Clark, B. R. (1998). Creating entrepreneurial universities: Organizational pathways of transformation. Oxford: Pergamon Press / IAU Press. ISBN 9780080433547. https://books.google.com.co/books/about/Creating_Entrepreneurial_Universities.html?id=_BPkSQAACAAJ&redir_esc=y | |
| Interdisciplinary Collaboration | Education & Pedagogy | Interdisciplinary collaboration is the cooperative process where individuals from diverse academic, professional, or specialized backgrounds integrate their unique skills, perspectives, and methodologies to achieve common goals, solve complex problems, or create innovations that cannot be achieved by one field alone. It moves beyond traditional, siloed working methods to foster shared knowledge, effective communication, and integrated, comprehensive solutions. | Morton, L. W., Eigenbrode, S. D., & Martin, T. A. (2015). Architectures of adaptive integration in large collaborative projects. Ecology and Society, 20(4). https://www.jstor.org/stable/26270306 | |
| Nature-Based Solutions | NbS | Sustainability & Environment | 1. Solutions that are inspired and supported by nature, which are cost-effective, simultaneously provide environmental, social and economic benefits and help build resilience. Such solutions bring more, and more diverse, nature and natural features and processes into cities, landscapes and seascapes, through locally adapted, resource-efficient and systemic interventions. 2. Nature-based Solutions address societal challenges through actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural and modified ecosystems, benefiting people and nature at the same time. They target major challenges like climate change, disaster risk reduction, food and water security, biodiversity loss and human health, and are critical to sustainable development. | 1. European Commission: https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/research-area/environment/nature-based-solutions_en 2. IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature. (2020). IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions: A user-friendly framework for the verification, design and scaling up of NbS: first edition (1st edn). IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.CH.2020.08.en |
| Open Educational Resources | OEC | Education & Pedagogy | Open educational resources are teaching, learning, and research materials that are intentionally created and licensed to be free for the end user to own, share, and in most cases, modify. | Unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000373755/PDF/373755eng.pdf.multi#page=3. (n.d.). Retrieved 8 February 2026, from https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000373755/PDF/373755eng.pdf.multi.page=3 |
| Problem-Based Learning | PBL | Education & Pedagogy | A student-centered pedagogical approach where learning is organized around authentic, real-world problems. Students work collaboratively to identify, formulate, and solve problems, often in cooperation with external stakeholders. | Barrows, H. S., & Tamblyn, R. M. (1980). Problem-Based Learning: An Approach to Medical Education. Springer Publishing Company. |
| Social Cohesion | Society & Community Engagement | According to the OECD, a cohesive society works towards the well-being of all its members, fights exclusion and marginalisation, creates a sense of belonging, promotes trust, and offers its members the opportunity of upward social mobility. The concept measures social cohesion through three different, but equally important dimensions: social inclusion, social capital, and social mobility. | https://www.socialcohesion.info/concepts/concept/oecd | |
| Sustainability Governance | Policy & Governance | Although there is no clear definition of sustainability governance, it is possible to agree that it is decision-making of a local participatory type with the aim of building a sustainable regional society. Sustainability governance is not governance of the top-down type under the leadership of an administration. Nor is it "management". Rather it is a bottom-up style of decision-making that involves various participating citizens and stake-holders. | Kurata, N. (2013). The concept of sustainability governance. Sustainability Science Series, 284. | |
| Systemic Thinking (also: Systems Thinking) | Education & Pedagogy | An approach to understanding complex problems by examining relationships and interactions between different elements of a system, rather than focusing on individual components in isolation. | Richmond, B. (1993). Systems thinking: Critical thinking skills for the 1990s and beyond. System Dynamics Review, 9(2), 113–133. https://doi.org/10.1002/sdr.4260090203 | |
| Technology-Enhanced Learning | TEL | Technology & Digital Tools | The term Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) was coined in the context of working groups initiated by the European Commission in 2000. It is now broadly used to designate “a field of research aiming at improving learning by integrating current technologies and designing innovative ones” (Bourdeau & Balacheff, 2014). According to Kirkwood and Price, the term has been used since around 2005 to describe a research focus concentrating on the impact of technology on learning (Kirkwood & Price, 2014). While TEL is a standing term in European research, sometimes its related expressions are preferred internationally, such as Educational Technology, Digital Education, and Learning Engineering. | Bourdeau, J., & Balacheff, N. (2014). Technology-Enhanced Learning: From Thesaurus and Dictionary to Ontology. Technological and Social Environments for Interactive Learning, 1–33. Kirkwood, A., & Price, L. (2014). Technology-enhanced learning and teaching in higher education: what is ‘enhanced’ and how do we know? A critical literature review. Learning, Media and Technology, 39(1), 6–36. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2013.770404 Website: https://ea-tel.eu/detel-book/chapter/tel-core/tel-overview/ |
| Third Mission | Policy & Governance | Modern universities are expected to be guided by three missions: teaching (first mission), research (second mission) and outreach (contribution to society at large). The latter is commonly known as the "third mission". It is a multifaceted endeavour but includes knowledge transfer and innovation (the "entrepreneurial university") as well as community involvement with non-academic external stakeholders. | Eg. Compagnucci and Spigarelli (2020) The Third Mission of the university: A systematic literature review on potentials and constraints, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 161, 120284, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120284 |
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