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Pooling expertise on ecological restoration to maximize positive effects for nature and people (TEAM#UP)

The TEAM#UP project aims to pool and expand existing extensive knowledge in the field of ecological restoration in order to establish four international, interconnected Centers of Vocational Excellence (CoVEs) for green professions:
(1) Multifunctional and sustainable land use in conventional agricultural systems (Saxony-Anhalt, Germany),
(2) Renaturation of old infrastructure and ecological compensation for infrastructure measures (eastern and northern Norway),
(3) Renaturation in urban and rural landscapes (Central Bohemia, Czech Republic),
(4) Forest renaturation and disaster risk management (Valencia region, Spain).

Through collaboration between vocational schools, universities, research institutions, and industry partners, cutting-edge knowledge and skills in the field of ecological restoration are being made available for various areas of application. As part of the project, a multilingual platform with open educational resources is being developed. Among other things, participants in the CoVEs learn how to create and maintain species-rich flowering areas and how to document them using virtual reality technologies so that they can be used regardless of the season.

Ecological restoration is becoming increasingly relevant across Europe in light of the growing demand for skilled workers in green professions and the planned European law on restoration. However, many European countries currently lack specific vocational training programs in agriculture, forestry, and landscaping that provide the knowledge needed to implement ecological restoration measures. The TEAM#UP project aims to close this gap and teach green skills that give graduates of green professions a competitive advantage in the job market and open up new fields of work.

The TEAM#UP project builds on the one-year predecessor project “TRAIN#ER – Ecological Renaturation in Professional Practice.” In this project, the knowledge requirements in the field of ecological renaturation for relevant professional groups were determined through online surveys and focus group interviews. You can find more information about the project and its results on the TRAIN#ER project website.

Excursion to a demonstration area of a renaturalized field margin strip (R. Geue)
Site preparation for the restoration of a species-rich field margin strip (M. Necker)

Project priorities

Education, knowledge transfer

Project region

Germany (Saxony-Anhalt), Norway (Eastern and Northern Norway), Czech Republic (Central Bohemia), Spain (Valencia Region)

Further project details

  • Group photo with the project partners in June 2023 (V. Grünhage)
    Field tour of the demonstration areas around the Strenzfeld campus (V. Grünhage)

    The advisory board of the TEAM#UP project begins its work to advance training and practice in ecosystem restoration

    The TEAM#UP project met with its advisory board for the first time on February 14. The board consists of experts with a wide range of specialist knowledge in the field of ecological renaturation from the areas of agriculture, forestry, urban greening, and infrastructure measures from various environmental protection and educational organizations. They will advise us throughout the project and, like us, are convinced that our project can take a major step forward in transferring knowledge on the topic of ecological renaturation.

    More detailed information is available in the press release.

    The TEAM#UP project has published its first newsletter

    As part of a European team, we want to work with our project partners from Czechia, Norway, and Spain to integrate topics related to ecological renaturation more strongly into green vocational training programs in order to better prepare today’s trainees for the challenges of the coming years.

    For further details, please take a look at our newsletter. We will keep you up to date!

    Kick-off meeting at Anhalt University of Applied Sciences

    A few days after the project launch, the project partners from Norway, Czechia, Spain, and Germany met at the Green Campus Bernburg-Strenzfeld of Anhalt University of Applied Sciences on June 22 and 23. In addition to getting to know each other, the partners discussed the overall project schedule and divided into small groups to specify the work to be done in the individual work packages. Of course, a tour of the demonstration areas around the campus was also a must.