From 3-5 July, the project kick-off meeting was held in Bologna (Italy).
During this meeting, representatives of all 26 project partners came together for the introduction of the project and its work packages, deliverables and tasks. The aim of the meeting was for partners and affiliated projects and organisations, as well as the general public, to get an overview of OPERANDUM’s activities and goals.
All Open-Air laboratories (OALs), both EU and non-EU, were shortly presented by the respective coordinators and a discussion was held on finding synergies between the different OALs. Project coordinators of other projects and organisations in the field of nature-based solutions, such as IUCN, and H2020 PHUSICOS and NAIAD, were present at the OPERANDUM meeting in order to make connections and start working together on similar activities.
As a part of the meeting was also open for the public, a keynote lecture was given by Dr. Michael W. Beck from the Nature Conservancy on the topic of The Science, Policy and Practice of Nature Based Solutions for Climate Change.