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Start of the BiodivScen action
Reinforcing international research on the development of biodiversity scenarios
Following a collaboration between the Belmont Forum and BiodivERsA, the BiodivScen Action started in October 2017. This Action, aiming at supporting international research on scenarios of biodiversity and ecosystem services, is supported by members from BiodivERsA and the Belmont Forum and by the European Commission through an ERA-NET COFUND.
This ambitious action is a unique opportunity to strengthen the partnership between the BiodivERsA and the Belmont Forum networks while supporting research on scenarios of biodiversity and ecosystem services at the international level. It is in line with the BiodivERsA Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda, which identifies among its Transversal Theme (TT3) the need to reinforce research capacity for the development of scenarios.
Figure 1: Core themes and transversal themes of the BiodivERsA SRIA (left); and how the BiodivScen call covers the themes identified (right)
The theme “scenarios of biodiversity” has also been identified as a major one by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) within its Methodological Assessment of Scenarios and Models of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Indeed, anticipating likely or possible trajectories of biodiversity over the next decades can play a key role both in informing policy makers and raising awareness on biodiversity issues for the general public, as observed for climate change.
The BiodivScen action is built around two fundamental aspects: on the one hand, a large call for research proposals, tackling research needs identified by the IPBES assessment; and on the other hand capacity building activities aiming at supporting research on scenarios of biodiversity and ecosystem services. The latter will consist in reinforcing the internationalization of research on biodiversity scenarios; promoting open access to data generated by the projects that will be funded by the call; developing a science-society interface and enhancing stakeholder engagement within the funded projects in order to increase the uptake of research results and the use of the produced scenarios by different actors. Ultimately, this will also support knowledge transfer between BiodivScen and the IPBES.
Focus on the joint call on scenarios of biodiversity and ecosystem services
It aims at supporting international research projects that are both scientifically excellent and societally relevant, and that gather teams from at least three different countries participating in the call. All projects must explicitly address a scenario dimension. Twenty-six partners from 23 different countries are participating in this joint call co-funded by the European Commission, with an indicative global budget reserved of over25 million euro. The BiodivScen Call is now closed. Over 130 proposals were received, demonstrating a large interest in the call.
Submitted full proposals will be evaluated by an independent panel of experts, consisting of both scientific and policy experts, as well as by external reviewers. The proposals will be assessed according to criteria of scientific excellence, quality and efficiency of project implementation, and society/policy relevance and stakeholder engagement. The results of the evaluation should be known over the summer 2018. Selected projects are expected to start between October 2018 and March 2019. > For more information on the BiodivScen call, please click here |