In 2016, the French Golf Federation (ffgolf) partnered with the National Museum of Natural History (MNHN), recognising both the biodiversity potential of golf courses and the need for scientific guidance. This collaboration led in 2018 to the launch of the Golf for Biodiversity Programme, which promotes knowledge, conservation, and valorisation of biodiversity across golf courses in France.

The partnership plays a foundational role in the programme. Ffgolf contributes sector-specific knowledge and stakeholder engagement, while MNHN provides scientific and technical expertise in biodiversity. Together, they bridge the gap between golf and nature conservation, pursuing shared goals. For instance, ffgolf helps inform local conservation groups about golf-specific biodiversity contexts so their input aligns with on-the-ground realities.

This collaboration remains central throughout implementation, with expert groups—trained and informed about the golf context—supporting clubs in conducting ecological diagnostics and proposing tailored management actions to preserve and enhance local biodiversity. The partnership continues to reinforce the Programme’s scientific foundations while strengthening synergies between sport and biodiversity conservation.

The remote format of the externship program is key to its global accessibility and flexibility. By offering a fully virtual experience, the program supports participants from across time zones and life circumstances, including students who are currently enrolled in school or balancing other responsibilities. All resources are digital and freely available, enabling externs to engage with the content and complete their work on a schedule that fits their lives over the eight-week program. This structure also fosters a strong sense of community as externs stay connected through platforms like Slack, where they exchange ideas, seek advice, and collaborate on projects in real time. The digital nature of the program has not only removed geographic barriers but also created a dynamic, supportive environment where young people from around the world can learn, grow, and lead together.

The externship program is made possible by the joint collaboration between the National Geographic Society (the Society) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC), uniting the strengths of two globally respected organizations to support the next generation of conservation leaders. The Society brings deep expertise in storytelling, exploration, and education, while TNC contributes extensive field-based conservation knowledge and extensive reach as the largest global environmental nonprofit. Together, their partnership creates a meaningful opportunity for young adults to engage with real-world environmental challenges, develop professional skills, and access mentorship from conservation experts like National Geographic Explorers and TNC Scientists—advancing shared goals around youth empowerment, equity, and environmental stewardship.

To support Emerging Leaders programs, Nature United and community partners have developed many tools and resources to support communities in establishing, running and expanding their own on-the-land programs for Indigenous youth. The SEAS Toolkit was developed in 2017 by communities running Supporting Emerging Aboriginal Stewards (SEAS) youth on the land programs on BC's Central Coast, in partnership with Nature United. It is a resource for planning an on-the-land Indigenous youth program developed based on the unique culture and territories of First Nations on the BC Coast, that other communities can adapt to their specific contexts.

In more recent years, several one-off tools and resources have been developed by Nature United or shared out by community partners, in response to need and requests from on-the-land programs, including curriculum documents to link programs to school credits, financial reporting templates, and tipsheets on how to include mentorship opportunities in programs. These all now live on the YOLO (Youth On the Land Opportunities) Community network website in the resource library. 

Coordinators have offered feedback that being the only ones doing this work in their communities can feel isolating. We continue to hear from practitioners on the ground that they are hungry for opportunities and are wanting to connect and learn from each other across communities. People want to share practical details about their experience building and running an on-the-land youth program - where others got their funding or received their training. Having spaces to share what’s working and not working, They want to share challenges and to learn from each other.

The YOLO network fulfills a need for resource sharing and communication. The YOLO website features a map of on the land programs for Indigenous youth programs across the country, along with contact information for fellow Coordinators, who can sign up to participate in monthly virtual coffee hours and webinars to connect with others doing similar work. Many connections have already grown out of these coffee hours, with participants sharing tips and funding resources with each other, planning land-based camps together, and talking about getting together for exchanges in the future.

Nature Lab’s curriculum includes a collection of virtual field trips, teaching guides for educators, and seasonal activity guides for families with children ages 5 to 11. Virtual field trips allow students to explore diverse ecosystems—such as forests, wetlands, oceans, and urban environments—through high quality videos and structured learning experiences. Each virtual field trip is accompanied by a teaching guide with activities that encourage observation, inquiry, and provide connections to real-world environmental issues.

Nature Lab’s teaching guides provide ready-to-use lesson plans and student resources that bring nature-based learning into classrooms, supporting a wide range of environmental science topics. These materials are designed to help students build critical thinking skills, deepen their understanding of environmental science topics, and recognize their role in protecting the planet.

In addition, seasonal activity guides empower families to connect with nature through simple, locally relevant experiences that foster curiosity, creativity, and environmental awareness in everyday life. Together, these resources aim to make nature education accessible to all learners and support the development of the next generation of environmental stewards.

Establishing several multi-year partnerships has exponentially increased Nature Lab’s reach since 2020. Content partnerships extend the reach of Nature Lab’s resources, while marquee collaborations offer both reach and opportunities for co-creation, resulting in compelling conservation-focused educational resources for young people. 

Nature Lab partners with a number of education-focused learning platforms such as: Kahoot!, PBS Learning Media, Google Arts & Culture, Share My Lesson, Subject to Climate, Mizzen Education, and CLEAN (Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network). Nature Lab has also partnered with companies such as Viacom, TedEd, and Netflix, which have supported the growth and reach of the platform. 

Nature Lab has developed partnerships in several ways, through external outreach initiatives and through TNC’s name and network as one of the most effective and wide-reaching environmental organizations in the world. 

Prioritisation and Planning took place in three categories:

1. Basic prioritisation: Combines results of the assessment to identify areas that are threatened and under-protected.
2. Multi-criteria approach:  Uses criteria to identify important sites for biodiversity, drawing from the foundational datasets and results of the assessment.
3. Systematic conservation planning: Identifies a portfolio of biodiversity priority areas based on biodiversity targets. Can include a range of additional data on ecological processes, ecosystem services, constraints and opportunities.

Risk status and protection levels  of the ecosystems and species were assessed. 

All the countries collected  spatial data sets that included:

1. Baseline map of ecosystem types
2. Map of current extent and condition
3. Map of protected and conserved areas
4. Maps of species occurrence