The project DAISY (DigitAl, technologIcal and Social innovation mixes enabling transformation for biodiversity and equitY) will run for three years from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2027, with a total budget of over €2 million fully funded by the EU under Horizon Europe. Its launch was marked by a kick-off meeting in Coventry, England, bringing together eight project partners from six countries, including academic institutions, industry, and civil society organizations.
Besides serving as scientific co-lead of the consortium, I am also leading the work package on interdisciplinary social science methods together with my team: Agnes Zolyomi, Sven Grüner, Edit Hunyadi, Torsten Wähler, and Julian Jäger. In case studies, we will look at citizen science apps, the degrowth doughnut model, apps for farmers, commons initiatives, and blue and green veining across four countries in Europe. We will explore how we can enhance and amplify their transformative potential.
DAISY investigates how digital and technological innovations, regulatory frameworks, financial incentives, and tools influencing social norms and emotions can be combined to address biodiversity loss and social inequity. Among others, it builds on research from PLANET4B, another ongoing Horizon Europe project led by MLU and co-led by Coventry University, which studies biodiversity-related decision-making with innovative methods.
A key feature of DAISY is its multidisciplinary perspective, integrating social sciences, digital technology, and policy studies to develop solutions that recognise the complex interplay between ecological systems and social structures. The project will pilot intervention strategies in real-world settings to assess their effectiveness, scalability, and adaptability, ultimately informing policy recommendations. DAISY aligns with the EU’s policy priorities, contributing to the Biodiversity Strategy, broader climate action goals, and the Digital Agenda.
The project will share its findings through academic publications, policy briefs, and public engagement, fostering dialogue on biodiversity and social equity. Focusing on agri-food, energy, education, and urban and regional development, DAISY will map and assess innovations with potential for systemic change.
Engaging civil society, policymakers, and businesses is central to its approach, and interest from other iDiv community members will be sought and appreciated. In fact, one of the objectives of another new FlexPool project, PrioDiv, that is about to start in March-April, led by myself, Ilkhom Soliev (MLU, iDiv), and co-led by Sven Grüner (MLU), Aletta Bonn (iDiv, UFZ, Uni Jena), Henrique Pereira (iDiv, MLU) and Amelie Wupperman (MLU), aims to accelerate exchange with the iDiv community on societal and policy dimensions of biodiversity.
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