Events

Past events

Parliamentary evening "Implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework in Germany"

Parliamentary evening

Approximately 200 guests from politics, research, NGOs and the civil society followed iDiv's invitation to a Parliamentary Evening in Saxony-Anhalt's State Representation in Berlin on January 17 2023. The goal of the event was to discuss what actions need to be taken to implement the new Global Biodiversity Framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Germany.

The evening was opened by a welcome address of Saxony-Anhalt's Minister for Science and the Environment, Professor Armin Willingmann and a speech by Parliamentary Secretary of State for the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) Dr. Bettina Hoffmann. Professor Aletta Bonn then presented how biodiversity research can help implementation of the goals and targets, followed by a lively panel discussion with Dr. Christiane Paulus, Head of Division 4. Nature Conservation in the BMUV, Olaf Bandt, president of the NGO Friends of the Earth Germany, Andreas Jahn, member of the federal executive board of the Bundesverband Mittelstand (Federal association of medium sized businesses) and Professor Aletta Bonn representing biodiversity research.

The evening concluded with a reception where participants engaged in lively discussions until late at night. 

Science and environment committee of the Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt visits iDiv

On June 8 2022, the Committee for Science, Energy, Climate and Environment visited iDiv together with the Minister of Science, Energy, Climate and Environment, Armin Willingmann. The committee is composed of members of the federal state parliament (“Landtag”) and has the mandate to discuss bills and proposals related to the expertise of the Committee and to develop recommendations for resolutions to be adopted in parliament.

iDiv was represented by Helge Bruelheide, Jonathan Chase, Christine Fürst, Isabell Hensen, Sabine Matthiä, Robert Paxton, Henrique Pereira and Christian Wirth. Helge Bruelheide and Christian Wirth welcomed the delegates and presented biodiversity research at iDiv and MLU, Isabell Hensen and Henrique Pereira presented the projects PhenObs, EuropaBON and NaturaConnect, and MLU rector Prof. Christian Tietje and chancellor Markus Leber presented plans for the iDiv’s funding and permanency after 2024. The presentations were followed by lively discussions among the visitors and iDiv representatives and a tour of the building where Simone Cesarz and Susanne Dunker provided the parliamentarians with a glimpse of how research is done at iDiv.

Presentation of the Citizen Science Strategy 2030

Generating knowledge together - that is the goal of Citizen Science. On 29 April 2022, scientists from the Helmholtz and Leibniz Associations as well as the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) will present the Citizen Science Strategy 2030 for Germany to the public and present a series of current projects at a Citizen Science Festival. The strategy addresses the greatest challenges and potentials of Citizen Science over the next ten years. It contains 94 specific recommendations for action to further develop citizen science in Germany and to integrate it permanently into science, society and politics. The Citizen Science Strategy 2030 Germany was developed in a two-year participatory process with more than 200 actors from 136 organisations. The process was largely funded by the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

iDiv contributes to CBD meetings in Geneva

In March 2022, delegates of the signatory countries of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and observer organisations met in Geneva for the first time after more than two years of online negotiations. In three parallel meetings, they focused on finalising the goals and targets of the new Post2020 biodiversity framework that shall be adopted later this year at the 15th Conference of the Parties in Montreal, Canada. The focus was on the monitoring framework and suitable indicators to track progress towards the goals and targets, and means of implementation of the framework such as financing and capacity building.

 

iDiv as an observer of the CBD participated in the meetings with Hannah Moersberger, Henrique Pereira and Andrea Perino. Together with GEO BON and Future Earth, the delegation contributed a text proposal for an additional paragraph in the draft framework providing guidance for its implementation. The joint statement highlights the importance of identifying how different actions contribute to the different targets, who the responsible stakeholders are, promoting ownership of biodiversity action by recognising the multiplicity of biodiversity values as well as considering remote responsibility for biodiversity change.

The contribution stressed the need to further mainstream implementation across key economic sectors, to be supported by adequate legal, economic and behavioural tools and reward systems, and to ensure accountability through a systematic and transparent assessment of progress. This should be achieved with the help of national biodiversity observation and monitoring networks.

 

Implementation was also the topic of a side-event, that iDiv’s Science-Policy coordinator Andrea Perino and Henrique Pereira (iDiv, MLU) organised together with Yves Zinngrebe (UFZ). Among others, Haigen Xu from the Chinese Environment Ministry, Daniela Guaras (UNEP-WCMC), Sylvia Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen (Wageningen University and Research), Cornelia Krug (bioDISCOVERY) and Universität Zürich) and Axel Paulsch (Institute for Biodiversity Network) were involved.

2. iDiv Forum "Biodiversity in Central Germany"

The environment ministers of the Central German states and representatives from nature conservation organizations and authorities exchanged views on the implementation of the international biodiversity targets at state level at the 2nd iDiv Forum "Biodiversity in Central Germany" on January 14, 2022.

The protection and conservation of biodiversity is one of the most urgent tasks of our time. The Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) are therefore working at full speed to develop a new framework for the protection of biodiversity, despite pandemic restrictions. The German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) supports the dialogue on the implementation of the biodiversity goals through an annual expert forum with lectures and discussion panels. Topics such as land use planning, pesticide reduction, pest-resistant plant varieties, reporting or the cooperation of different actors were on the agenda. The work of the recently opened National Biodiversity Monitoring Center of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) in Leipzig was also presented. 
As at the first iDiv Forum 2021, the Minister of the Environment and the Ministers of the Environment of the Central German Länder, Anja Siegesmund, Prof. Armin Willingmann and Wolfram Günther, took over the patronage of the event and emphasized the urgency of the biodiversity crisis in their welcoming addresses. The participants agreed that this crisis can only be solved through the cooperation of many different actors.

Make your start-up (bio)diverse

Networking and information event for start-up founders and young business owners on 15th November 2021 in Jena. Together with representatives from Bionade, Dachgemüse and PartiQla the young iDiv researchers and business owners discussed how they can integrate biodiversity-friendly measures in their management practices and how this could benefit their business, too. 

Joint event with the Thüringer Zentrum für Existenzgründungen und Unternehmertum (ThEx)

Program

1. iDiv Forum “Biodiversity in Central Germany”

How can biodiversity in Central Germany be better protected in the future? And how can research contribute to this? These questions was discussed by more than 120 representatives from biodiversity research and practice at a virtual meeting hosted by iDiv on January 11, 2021 (program).

"The world is in a biodiversity crisis," said Professor Walter Rosenthal, President of Friedrich Schiller University Jena and Chairman of the iDiv Board of Trustees, in his welcome address. "To reverse the negative trend and halt species extinction, we need integrative biodiversity research, which can provide the scientific basis for a sustainable approach to biodiversity." 

The environment ministers* of the states of Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and Thuringia emphasized the importance of biodiversity in speeches. "Species protection - like climate protection - is actually protection of humans," said Thuringia's Environment Minister Anja Siegesmund (link to speech). However, biodiversity protection can only succeed if many people act together, as Saxony's Environment Minister Wolfram Günther emphasized. "We need a coordinated interaction of many individual measures and many actors." This applies to the renaturation of the Leipzig floodplain forest as well as to the cross-border preservation of the Green Belt, which enjoys special protection in Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt as a National Natural Monument. This principle also guides the model project "Collective Nature Conservation in Agriculture" presented by Professor Claudia Dalbert, Environment Minister for Saxony-Anhalt, which promotes dialogue between nature conservation and agriculture and supports farmers in implementing biodiversity-friendly measures.

 

The exchange and increased networking between biodiversity research and representatives of nature conservation authorities and organizations were also the main goals of the discussion rounds that followed the presentations. The participants noted that communication and cooperation of broad expertise from science, authorities and associations are important prerequisites for successful biodiversity protection and took away various concrete ideas for future cooperation from the event.

Further links:

Press release of the Saxon State Ministry for Energy, Climate Protection, Environment and Agriculture

Model project Collective Nature Conservation in Agriculture

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