Natural solutions in environmental education, environmental measurement and AI, and how to address climate change: the main themes of Ihobe’s 2026 summer courses

10/06/2026

The courses will be held in-person and on-line with registration available via the UIK Summer Course Foundation. 

Ihobe presents its summer course programme for 2026, which will take place as part of the University of the Basque Country (EHU) Summer Courses. The programme focuses on the use of nature-based solutions as a tool for environmental education, AI-powered environmental monitoring and climate narratives as a tool to communicate the existing environmental challenges. 

Natural solutions and environmental education 

The 5th Education for Sustainability 2030 School, organised by Ihobe as an in-person event on 2nd July as part of the UIK summer courses, focuses on the role of nature-based solutions as a key tool to address the climate emergency and biodiversity loss from an educational perspective. Under the title Educating Through Nature: Living Solutions to Climate Change, the course addresses the need to transform the way in which educational spaces are designed and used, incorporating renaturalisation principles that contribute towards climate adaptation and well-being and health, particularly that of children. 

The programme builds on the potential of nature-based solutions to reduce impact, such as extreme heat, improve the environmental quality of school environments and transform these spaces into active actors for learning and looking after the local area. Beyond analysing existing experiences, the School sets out to move towards increased pedagogical integration of these initiatives, promoting them as dynamic educational processes capable of bringing about cultural and social change. 

Conceived as a laboratory for exploration and design, the School invites participants to analyse, reinterpret and prototype initiatives that connect nature, climate, community and learning. This approach highlights participatory processes and their educational value, going beyond physical interventions and understanding schools, municipalities and local projects as spaces for active learning, experimentation and shared decision-making. 

Throughout the course, collaborative work between the education sector, government and local stakeholders will be encouraged, with the aim of developing practical and transferable proposals. Its goals include providing participants with criteria and practical guidelines to design educational activities linked to nature-based solutions, strengthen the pedagogical perspective of playgrounds and school environments and develop prototypes that foster shared responsibility, critical thinking and inclusion, in line with today’s climate and social challenges and the Sustainable Development Goals. 

Environmental Measurement and Artificial Intelligence 

The School for Environmental Education will be followed on 9th September by the Environmental Measurement Workshop: AI for Environmental Protection and Assessment, produced in collaboration with EUSTAT. 

The second edition of the School for Environmental Measurement will explore the potential of artificial intelligence to increase the quality, usefulness and predictive power of environmental indicators, as well as its role in generating innovative solutions to the Basque Country’s major environmental challenges and their economic and social implications. The training also highlights the importance of transparent and accurate communication with the public, in which environmental measurement is presented as an essential basis for decision-making and the continuous improvement of the environment. 

Another key aim of the course is to foster collaboration among public institutions, the scientific community and the general public in order to move towards a culture of open data and the responsible use of artificial intelligence tools. From this perspective, the workshop seeks to facilitate the practical application of environmental indicators in public policy and everyday initiatives, reinforcing their role as a lever for more effective and shared environmental management. 

Both the School for Environmental Measurement and the Education for Sustainability 2030 School will offer practical workshops. 

Climate narratives and communication 

The 2026 School for Environmental Communication, which will take place on 10th September in-person and on-line will explore climate narratives and their ability to mobilise action. “The climate crisis is not just a scientific and political challenge: it is also a communication challenge. The narratives built around the climate shape how society perceives the urgency, hope and possibility of taking action. For this reason, the 2026 School for Environmental Communication focuses on exploring different narratives for climate action in order to move from emotion to transformation, exploring diverse ways of telling stories that mobilise, inspire and bring about real change”, according to Ihobe. 

Registration for the three summer schools is now open on the University of the Basque Country-EHU Summer Courses website.