Since 1989, NEST has held an annual workshop each year except in 2000. Up to 1999 the annual workshops were sponsored mainly by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Lagos. The annual workshops have addressed issues of deep concern to NEST and have been held in various agro-ecological zones of the country: thus, The Nigerian Environment: Non-Governmental Action (Lagos, 1989), Sustainable Development in Nigeria's Dry Belt (Kano, 1990), Sustainable Development in Nigeria's Rain Forest Region (Owerri, 1991), Women, Children and the Environment (Jos, 1992), The Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) and the Environment (Benin City, 1993), Waste Generation and Disposal in Nigeria (Ibadan, 1994), Promoting Environmental Education (Calabar, 1995), Making the Transition to Sustainable Energy Use in Nigeria (Minna, 1996), Appropriate Technology and the Environment (Ibadan, 1997), The Informal Sector and the Environment (Aba, 1998), NGOs, Popular Participation and Environmental Management (Kaduna, 1999), and Rural-Urban Linkages and Sustainable Livelihoods (Umuahia, 2001), Nigeria Adjusting to Climate Change (New Bussa, 2002), Energy Systems and Climate Change (Bauchi, 2003), Biodiversity and Climate Change (Asaba, 2004). The proceedings of the workshops up to 1995 have been published.

Other than the annual events, NEST has held numerous workshops, seminars and meetings for training in methodology, briefing the media, production of books or developing perspectives on issues. Occasionally, NEST has held workshops in conjunction with partners to address such issues as Lost Crops of Nigeria (with the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta and Goethe Institut, Lagos).  NEST has also organized public hearings on burning environmental issues such as dredging of the Lower Niger and the spate of flooding that hit the country in 1999.