Reimagining resilience: Highlights from the ‘Humanitarian-Nature Learning Lab’ at HNPW 2026

A Call for Transformation

The session opened with a powerful call to action: as the humanitarian system faces unprecedented disruption and austerity measures, there is an urgent need to reimagine our relationship with nature. Facilitated by Sarah Henly-Shepard, Verónica Ruiz, and Erika Clesceri, the lab emphasised that "resilience requires disturbance" and that the current "Humanitarian Reset" offers a moment for systemic transformation.

Field Insights: Ecosystem-based Adaptation in Action

The heart of the Learning Lab featured "lightning round" presentations from experts implementing Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) approaches in some of the world’s most fragile contexts:

• Myanmar: Wahyu Nugroho (Mercy Corps) demonstrated how "embedded nature" programming, such as ecological farming, can reduce environmental fragility in areas facing overlapping crises.
• Afghanistan: Ayesha Hassan (Community World Service Asia) shared a success story of a 500-meter-long protection wall and check dams used to mitigate flood risks and support groundwater recharge in Nangarhar Province.
• Uganda: Noah Ssempijja (YICE), Nalukwago Naswirah (Bassattu Innovations), and Juliet Millican (Re-Alliance) shared insights from the Nakivale project, highlighting the importance of land tenure and co-designing with refugee communities, using local natural materials to restore landscapes.
• Colombia: Carolina García Londoño (Global Network of Civil Society Organisations for Disaster Reduction) presented a low-cost Eco-DRR methodology in Marmato, where a network of nurseries and automatic irrigation systems was built in just three months through multi-sectoral collaboration.
• Global & Jamaica: Ninni Ikkala Nyman and Kevin Douglas (International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies) shared strategies for scaling community-led NbS across 191 national societies, citing watershed restoration in Jamaica as a model for climate resilience.
• Global: Masoom Hamdard (Norwegian Refugee Council) showcased the Nexus Environmental Assessment Tool (NEAT+) digital tool, which helps field practitioners identify environmental risks and integrate NbS into humanitarian responses.

Key Lessons from the Learning Lab

During interactive breakout sessions, participants identified critical cross-cutting themes for the future of the sector:

• Timeframes Matter: Nature cannot be rushed. Experts noted that while humanitarian cycles are often short, EbA/NbS projects require at least 3 years to show measurable results.
• Local Knowledge is Paramount: Effective EbA must be "community-driven," respecting local networks and traditional methods.
• Flexibility is a Must: What is planned on paper often changes in the field. Practitioners emphasized that limited budgets and time constraints should be seen as opportunities for "creativity" and "innovation".
• Hybrid Solutions: Combining traditional engineering with EbA approaches (such as vegetated terraces alongside stabilization structures) often yields the most sustainable results.

Join the Movement

The event concluded with an invitation for all participants to join IUCN’s Friends of Ecosystem-based Adaptation (FEBA) network and its Working Groups to continue sharing evidence and strengthening the capacity for EbA across the humanitarian sector.

“The turnout here shows that we can do more with less, because we have done it before,” noted the facilitators during the final plenary, echoing the spirit of the Humanitarian Reset.

If you missed this session, feel free to watch the recording on our FEBA YouTube channel.

About FEBA

Friends of EbA (FEBA) connects 100+ organizations advancing Ecosystem-based Adaptation, including government ministries, UN bodies, CSOs, NGOs, and research centres. As a global hub, it provides knowledge products, convenes expert groups, and hosts events that strengthen the role of nature in climate adaptation policies and strategies worldwide.