The successful proposals should:

• Gain a wider understanding of the role of actors involved in NBS, considering: a) particular groups of actors that have been under-researched (e.g. land holders such as churches, charitable organizations, educational establishments, utilities, etc.); b) sectors of the economy (e.g. agriculture, forestry, tourism, finance, etc.); c) landscapes (e.g. coastal areas, river catchments, wetlands, etc.);
• Investigate how different NBS designs and governance can contribute to environmental justice, prevent environmental racism and gentrification, insure the inclusion and active participation of women, youth, minority groups, immigrant communities, etc.;
• Develop innovative governance models: a) exploring different forms of engagement, inclusion and stewardship; b) enabling the breaking of silos in public administration and between different administrative domains; and c) tackling other legal, management and administrative issues;
• Propose ways in which NBS governance and design can contribute to transformative change and to a just transition in support of the Sustainable Development Goals;
• Understand and propose solutions to functional conflicts in land-use for better and more integration between NBS, land-use planning and other (possibly conflicting) sectors, their policies and planning processes;
• Explore governance techniques (e.g. standards, certification, incentives, subsidies, etc.) that develop private and voluntary governance alongside formal regulatory and planning powers, with a view to mainstreaming NBS in the public and private sectors.
• Provide approaches based on citizen science, big data or artificial intelligence tools to better communicate the science of NBS and promote citizen engagement in the co-creation, co-implementation and co-monitoring of NBS;
• Understand how the meanings and values attached to nature in urban, rural, coastal, periurban or post-industrial areas affect the long-term success of NBS. etc. 

Projects should seek to contribute to the New European Bauhaus initiative by supporting the green and digital transitions in communities’ living environments through merging sustainability, inclusiveness and quality of experience.
International cooperation is strongly encouraged, in particular with the Latin American and Caribbean region and the USA.