The decline of pollinators and other insects is a worldwide environmental issue with potential negative effects on ecosystems and our daily lives. Therefore, halting insect decline is a key aim of several international policies. Despite a growing awareness of the problem, the rates of decline are still growing, which indicates an implementation gap in many areas. Therefore,our educational design research project focuses on “Action Competence for Insect Preservation (ACIP)” to close citizens’ implementation gap. The project shall improve the theoretical understanding of citizens’ ACIP. This is achieved by developing the new ACIP-framework and a corresponding quantitative research instrument to measure citizens’ competences in this field. The ACIP-framework provides educators with a scientifically grounded frame for teaching about the topic of insect conservation in an action-oriented way. The two main categories of the framework are direct actions and indirect actions, which both 63contribute to mitigate insect declines. The new research scale enables the assessment of individuals self-perceived action competences and shows a broad spectrum of potential applications in educational contexts. At the ERIDOB conference, we will present details of the development and validation of the ACIP-framework and the quantitative scale. We will also outline how we use educational design research to connect these two components with the design of teaching interventions. Finally, we will discuss how the framework and the research instrument can help to overcome implementation gaps in insect preservation and contribute to achieve global diversity and sustainability goals.