Meeting Europe’s biodiversity and climate targets, and implementing the Nature Restoration Regulation, will require a well-trained, cross-sectoral workforce spanning agriculture, forestry, landscaping, and related fields. DERTO responds to that need.

Developed by the TEAM#UP consortium, 15 partner institutions across five European countries, it is an open educational resource offering free teaching materials in ecological restoration, an extensive resource library, and access to virtual restoration demonstration sites, with Massive Open Online Courses coming in 2026/27, hosted by the Society for Ecological Restoration and aligned with international principles and standards. It is designed for vocational education and training schools, higher education institutions, and lifelong learners, helping to upskill and reskill the next generation of restoration professionals.

The session placed DERTO alongside other digital learning initiatives from across the sector, including courses and platforms from the UNCCD G20 Global Land Initiative, SER’s own Foundations of Restoration Ecology course, the UN Decade’s forthcoming PROPEL platform, the MERLIN Academy for freshwater restoration, and FAO’s e-learning portfolio, a sign of the growing momentum behind open, accessible restoration education.