Introduction Tissue regeneration needs biomaterials that combine controlled structure and function with biological relevance. Natural biomaterials offer inherent bioactivity and cell adhesion motifs, but suffer from batch variability and low tunability, limiting reproducibility. Shifting to synthetic materials offers precise control over chemistry and physical properties. FDA-approved Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is widely used in biomedical applications. Its functionalisation with norbornene (NB) groups allows rapid UV crosslinking into hydrogels with tunable crosslinking degree and mechanical properties. Materials & Methods Norbornene functionalised PVA (PVA-NB) was used as the hydrogel precursor and was crosslinked under UV irradiation with a dithiolated crosslinker, in presence of a photoinitiator. Hydrogels were biofunctionalised using peptides or molecules to afford different bioactive materials. These bio interactive scaffolds were studied in terms of physical properties (mechanical properties, swelling, degradation) and also cell behaviour (biocompatibility, adhesion). Alternatively, the PVA-NB hydrogel precursor was applied in an electrospinning setup to afford fibrous scaffolds. These matrices were then studied in terms of fibre morphology (diameter, porosity). Results & Discussion To demonstrate the versatility of this material platform, three modification approaches were investigated addressing biochemical and structural control. Functionalisation of PVA-NB with different bioactive motifs improved the hydrogel’s physical properties. Scaffolds reached higher storage moduli after biofunctionalisation, while stability studies showed that the hydrogels remained stable after over 1 month in physiological conditions. Also, biofunctionalisation enabled integration of bioactive cues, which is essential for tissue regeneration applications. In parallel, PVA-NB was explored in the electrospinning setup, enabling the development of ECM like structures without limiting PVA-NB’s processability. Conclusions The presented modification approaches illustrate how a single material system can be adapted across biochemical and architectural length scales. Combining biofunctionalisation and electrospinning, PVA-NB can be used as a versatile toolbox for various tissue regeneration applications.