What is SPARK4B+?
SPARK4B+ — Strengthening Pathways for Alternative socio-economic paradigms and governance frameworks and Response-able Knowledge and action for Biodiversity-Positive and just futures — is funded under the European Commission’s Horizon Europe programme (Call: HORIZON-CL6-2025-01-BIODIV-08). The project starts from the premise that biodiversity loss, climate change and inequality are closely connected, and that addressing them requires more than improving existing growth-oriented models.
Across Europe and Latin America, approaches such as degrowth, the wellbeing economy and ecosystem-based governance already offer alternatives. Yet these approaches remain fragmented, are rarely institutionalised, and their combined implications for biodiversity, climate and equity are still insufficiently understood. SPARK4B+ will bring these ideas together, test them in real-world settings and translate them into credible, usable pathways for change.
“Biodiversity loss, climate change and inequality are not separate crises — they are symptoms of the same growth-oriented paradigm. SPARK4B+ gives us the space, the partners and the tools to make credible alternatives tangible, test them on the ground, and turn them into pathways that policymakers, businesses and communities can actually follow,” said Prof. Marco van de Wiel, SPARK4B+ Coordinator at Coventry University.
From alternative ideas to practical pathways
SPARK4B+ will work in six countries — Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Hungary and Colombia — and across seven sectors: agriculture, forestry, water, finance, health, education and urban development. Its research combines qualitative approaches, including visioning, narratives, systems mapping, behavioural methods and arts-based approaches, with quantitative socio-economic and ecological modelling.
Co-creation is central to the project. Transformation Labs and Demonstration Intervention Cases will bring researchers and stakeholders together to develop and test place-based pathways. Generative AI and immersive technologies will support future-visioning and stakeholder engagement, while modelling tools will help explore trade-offs, synergies and long-term impacts.
The consortium describes this approach as “response-able knowledge and action”: knowledge that is scientifically grounded, open to diverse values and perspectives, and designed to be useful to the people and institutions that need to act on it.
Four areas of action
Over the next 48 months, SPARK4B+ will focus on four connected areas:
- Mapping and assessing alternative socio-economic paradigms and governance frameworks, including the barriers and conditions that influence their wider adoption.
- Co-creating future scenarios and pathways through Transformation Labs, combining multiple value perspectives, qualitative methods, digital tools and quantitative modelling.
- Testing interventions through Demonstration Intervention Cases to assess their feasibility, effectiveness, equity and potential for wider application.
- Building coalitions, strengthening inclusive leadership, and communicating evidence in ways that support public debate, policy uptake and long-term transformative change.
What the project will deliver
SPARK4B+ will document more than 50 best practices and develop practical tools for scenario- and pathway-building. Planned outputs include three qualitative toolboxes with more than 50 methods, including SPARKBOX; a dedicated AI/VR toolbox for immersive stakeholder engagement; and SPARKSPACE, an interactive modelling dashboard for exploring trade-offs and synergies.
The project will also translate its findings for decision-makers through a Policy Knowledge Synthesis Report, policy briefs, infographics and at least three high-profile Policy Brunches in Brussels. The consortium plans to participate in more than 30 international policy events and engage wider audiences through documentaries, exhibitions, online courses and creative collaborations with artists and media.
A multidisciplinary international consortium
SPARK4B+ is coordinated by Coventry University through its Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience (CAWR). GreenFormation. (Hungary) co-leads coalition-building and communication and leads a demonstration case. The wider consortium brings together universities, research institutes, civil-society organisations and policy actors from across Europe and Colombia.
The project is further supported by an Advisory and Influencers Board with expertise in biodiversity, socio-economic transformation, policy and advocacy, connecting perspectives from Europe, Latin America, Africa and beyond.
Kick-off in Coventry
The SPARK4B+ project officially began on 1 September 2026. Its kick-off meeting in Coventry on 8 September marks the start of the consortium’s joint work, bringing the 18 partner organisations together to align governance structures, research methodologies and communication activities for the four years ahead.
The SPARK4B+ project website and social media channels will launch in the coming months. In the meantime, follow GreenFormation for project updates or contact Agnes Zolyomi ([email protected]) for more information.
SPARK4B+ is funded by the European Union under Horizon Europe Grant Agreement No. 101291197. Views and opinions expressed are those of the consortium and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission.
