By María Francisca Tapia, PhD – Senior Research Consultant, ABUD
In the western Hungarian city of Szombathely, a grey and underused schoolyard is being reimagined—not just as a green space, but as a Nature-based Solution (NbS) that brings students, educators, municipal staff, and local knowledge together.
This is not just a design exercise; it’s a co-creation process rooted in real needs and guided by new tools. The goal? To demonstrate that NbS in urban schools can promote climate resilience, biodiversity, education, and inclusion all at once.
🏫 Nature-Based Solutions in Schools: Why Start Here?
Educational institutions, particularly public schools, are often overlooked in urban green planning efforts. But they hold immense potential for meaningful nature integration. In Szombathely, the city partnered with the EU-funded JustNature project to test how Service Design tools could unlock this potential.
By focusing on a schoolyard transformation, the project combined social equity goals (safe and inclusive green spaces for youth) with ecological ambitions (enhanced biodiversity and climate adaptation).
🔧New Tools, Real Voices
A key part of this process was experimenting with co-creation tools adapted from Service Design, including:
- Personas: fictional characters based on real interviews, used to represent diverse user needs
- Actor Mapping: visualizing the ecosystem of stakeholders and their relationships
- Motivation Matrix: identifying drivers and fears related to green change
Workshops brought together teachers, students, maintenance staff, and city officials. These tools helped participants move from vague ideas to concrete, shared priorities—like food-growing, shade for summer months, and educational gardens.
“We realised it wasn’t just about planting more trees,” says one local planner. “It was about designing a space people would love, use, and care for.”
🌱 A Living Schoolyard in Progress
The result? A co-designed vision for a green schoolyard that balances play, learning, and nature. Unlike top-down planning, this approach embedded maintenance and governance responsibilities into the design process itself.
Stakeholders proposed pilot interventions such as:
- Composting and food waste reduction campaigns
- Shared planting areas managed by students and staff
- Biodiversity corridors linked to wider green-blue infrastructure
The co-creation process didn't just deliver a plan. It activated a network of decision-makers, users, and citizens—that will now shape the implementation and future adaptation of this urban NbS.
Takeaways for NbS Practitioners
This case study highlights three key lessons for cities implementing NbS in public spaces:
- Co-creation must start early: Tools like personas and actor maps are most effective during the ideation phase.
- Schools are strategic NbS sites: They connect generations and promote long-term ecological literacy.
- Design is social: Without addressing use, governance, and care, green interventions risk failing—even when technically sound.
Learn More
This work is detailed in the peer-reviewed article:
"Integrating Service Design Principles in NbS Implementation: Insights from Szombathely (Hungary)"
To explore how tools like these can support NbS design and delivery, visit the JustNature and NetworkNature resources and case studies.