Welcome to the dedicated Biodiversa+ Partners’ Bulletin page! On this page, you’ll find everything that could not be fitted in the actual bulletin sent to your email.
You can click on the icons below to jump to the corresponding work package’s section!
For any question about the content of this Partners’ Bulletin, please reach out to the corresponding WP officer.
The BiodivNBS 2023-2024 call for research proposals on “Nature-Based for biodiversity, human well-being and transformative change” was launched on 11 September 2023.
For more information, contact the Biodiversa+ Call Secretariat (ANR): biodiversa.cs@agencerecherche.fr
The process to decide on the topic of the 5th joint call for research proposals was agreed on during the General Assembly in September 2023. Biodiversa+ partners are invited to fill this survey before 17 November 2023 to suggest topics for future calls.
For more information, contact the Biodiversa+ Call Secretariat (ANR): biodiversa.cs@agencerecherche.fr
Following the Data Management workshop on 30 May 2023 for projects funded under BiodivProtect Call and the rapidly evolving landscape of data management and open science, Biodiversa+ and the Belmont Forum updated the DMP guide that was jointly produced in 2019. Minor updates were made without changing the whole structure of the document and the new version is available on our website.
For more information, contact Harri Hautala (Leader of T1.2.2): harri.hautala@aka.fi
A discussion session with Biodiversa+ partners about the monitoring process of the funded projects and the strategy to analyse the impact of Biodiversa+ calls will be held on 30 November from 10 to 11am CET.
If interested, please save the date on your agenda to attend the discussion session.
For more information, contact Matej Stepanek and the Call Secretariat: matej.stepanek@tacr.cz & biodiversa.cs@agencerecherche.fr
Since the last partners’ bulletin, the Biodiversa+ WP2 is pleased to present its:
During the summer, WP2 has been particularly active to finalise the development of five candidate pilot topics. Among others, TAGEM has organised a workshop on marine non-indigenous species in Trabzon, Türkiye in July, gathering some Biodiversa+ partners and external initiatives and experts.
Based on the candidate pilot work plans, the General Assembly formally agreed to launch three of the candidate pilot topics (Habitats, ABMS and EuRockFish) in January 2024 and to create a BioDash task force for the development of an EBV-based dashboard under WP2.
The General Assembly has also agreed to extend by the IAS and soil pilots by one year.
All the Biodiversa+ partners willing to join a pilot will have to confirm their participation by the 6 October 2023 in this online form: we look forward to working with you!
In June, we launched the European Roadmap to 2030 for Research and Innovation on Nature-based Solutions. This roadmap, developed in collaboration with Biodiversa+, outlines key action areas for European research and innovation in NBS. These actions are crucial for achieving the EU’s goals related to NBS development and deployment. You can explore the roadmap here: EU R&I Roadmap for NBS
On 28 June, 2023, we organised a strategic workshop on Business and Biodiversity in Paris. This gathering brought together experts and stakeholders to provide valuable insights that will shape Biodiversa+’s concrete activities in support of the link between business and biodiversity in the years ahead. We anticipate sharing the workshop report with you in October 2023.
NetworkNature+, the successor to NetworkNature, was officially launched in August 2023. With this project, Biodiversa+ will continue its collaboration with research and innovation communities to promote Nature-based solutions. The consortium, comprised of 11 partners, will operate for four years with the following objectives:
In the coming months, we have some exciting activities planned in Work Package 3 (WP3):
Since the last partners’ bulletin, the Biodiversa+ WP4 is pleased to introduce two reports:
Our work package on the science policy interface has carried out many activities and
This mapping, developed by UEFISCDI, analyses research collaboration in biodiversity from 2012 to 2021. Its primary aims are to assess and guide priorities for reinforcing international biodiversity research, and to inform biodiversity research strategy and foster international scientific cooperation.
Reading this mapping, you will…
The report, developed by LNV, outlines Biodiversa+’s efforts to enhance the use of global biodiversity infrastructures by European researchers during 2022 and 2023. These efforts include:
The report provides an overview of these activities and offers recommendations on how Biodiversa+ can further facilitate the utilisation of European and global research infrastructures, including of earth observation programs, by biodiversity researchers in the European Research Area.
From 12-15 September this expert meeting took place with the main aim was to provide expert input into the 25th meeting of the CBD SBSTTA, which will take place in October 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya.
A presentation on Biodiversa+ and its diverse set of activities in support of the CBD (incl. SBSTTA) was also given in one of these sessions, together with a presentation on the CO-OP4CBD European project. Several ways of using Biodiversa+ project outcomes relevant to SBSTTA-25 (e.g., on IAS or sustainable use of wild species) were highlighted.
The Biodiversa+ presentation was prepared by Charlotte Le Delliou, task lead in charge of the collaboration with the CBD and delivered by Rob Hendriks who was already one of the participants in the meeting and thus in a good position to represent Biodiversa+ on this occasion.
Download the slides of this presentation here.
The 7th Pan-European Stakeholder Consultation was held prior to the 10th IPBES plenary session, from July 3 to 5 in Kastamonu, Türkiye. This event was co-organised by Biodiversa+. It brought together biodiversity stakeholders from Europe and Central Asia (ECA) in support of IPBES and provided an opportunity to:
Some 60 participants attended, including national focal points and experts from 28 European countries.
The AlienScenarios and GloBAM projects have won the Biodiversa Prize for Excellence and Impact, BiodivScen edition. Congratulations to them! Biodiversa+ has developed animated videos with the awarded projects to highlight their findings, and to help disseminate their work to the scientific community and beyond. Watch them below:
The IPBES has launched its assessment on invasive alien species on 4 September 2023. 25 scientific and peer-reviewed publications resulting from Biodiversa+ projects were used in the new assessment, demonstrating their relevance and quality for the comprehensive work undertaken by IPBES. Find all about how these projects fed the IPBES IAS Assessment.
We are very happy to share our latest video! Two BiodivHealth projects, BIODIV-AFREID and BioRodDis, have delved into the intricate interplay between wild animals, coronaviruses and human health. We have worked together with the projects to integrate their findings in a captivating new video and highlighted the importance of One Health to safeguard global health.
At the beginning of this Summer, Biodiversa+ launched its Biome – an open-ended group of active organisations, initiatives and individuals interested in Biodiversa+ purposes and work, that aim to share their interests, experiences and ideas with others. Joining the Biome is a light and easy way to enter the vibrant community around the European Biodiversity Partnership, get the latest developments, key outcomes and products, get invited to Biodiversa+ events and collaborative relevant workshops, and hear news from other members of the Biome.
By joining the Biome, members get regular information on the Biodiversa+’s latest developments, they receive opportunities to interact more closely in various activities, and they participate in stimulating dialogues between members of the Biome.
The first Biome mailing will be out in October 2023. You can share the registration link with your own networks!
This Summer we finalised the Internal Toolkit on Stakeholder Engagement, which aims to support the engagement of external stakeholders in a more systematic way as well as make sure to track and record their participation in your activities. This toolkit has several objectives:
In parallel of the release of the Internal Toolkit on Stakeholder Engagement, a short training session is open to all Biodiversa+ partners on 25 October at 10:00 am CEST, during which we will present the stakeholder engagement processes in Biodiversa+, how to use the toolkit and related tools developed, and you will be free to ask any questions you would like. This session will be recorded and available in case you won’t be available, or free to access for any new person that will be onboarded in the future.
In terms of capacity building, the WP7 is working on the update of the Guide on Policy Relevance of Research to be published in December 2023. The first draft update will be shared during an online capacity-building session on policy for BiodivProtect projects on 10 October.
Finally, by December 2023, WP7 in task 7.2 will also lead the work on the update of the Science-Policy Interface strategy with the working group of interested partners.
The fourth Advisory board meeting will be on 8-9 November 2023 in Paris.
It has been decided, in accordance with AB members and Chairs, that the upcoming third Enlarged Stakeholder Board will be held back-to-back with the fifth Advisory Board on 2-5 April 2024.
Should you have key topics that you wish to be discussed within one or both boards, please contact your WP lead so that we can add related sessions to the agenda.
In early September, for the second year in a row, Biodiversa+ actively co organised the 2023 Alternet Summer School as part of our key collaboration with them, through a global co-fund, the support of young scientists from Biodiversa+ funded projects to attend, and the participation as students and speakers of team members of Biodiversa+. This year’s theme was “Biodiversity and Society: science, policy and transformative change”.
We are happy to announce that recruitments to reinforce the Operational Team are well on their way!
Sophie Germann (ANR) and Frédéric Lemaître (FRB) have now formally started their new roles as Operational Manager for Research & Monitoring, and Operational Manager for Society & Policy impact respectively. They will gradually move into these new roles as the new recruits from the Operational Team come on board.
The first interim report of Biodiversa+ is being finalised by the OT and CT, with the support of WP (co)leads. The reporting period spans M1 (Oct 2021) to M20 (May 2023). This report will be submitted to the European Commission by the end of the month at the very latest.
