Webinar: How to make biodiversity governance more just, inclusive and effective? 24 September

24 September 14.30-15.45 CET

How can biodiversity governance be made more inclusive, just, and effective? What can policymakers learn from bottom-up initiatives across Europe? Join our international webinar to explore science-based insights and actionable policy recommendations for driving transformative change. The webinar will present two new policy briefs from the BIONEXT and BIOTraCes projects.

This 75-minute webinar brings together researchers, policymakers, civil society, and practitioners to highlight bottom-up practices and discuss the governance tools needed to halt biodiversity loss and build regenerative futures.

Who is the webinar for?

• Policymakers (particularly those working on biodiversity, environment, and sustainability)

• Civil servants, civil society organisations and grassroots actors

• Enterprises, consultants, think-tanks and interest organisations engaged in sustainability transitions

• Actors operating in the science-policy interface

Why attend?

Participants will gain:

• Recommendations for the advancement of transformative biodiversity governance

• Insights into how citizen groups, NGOs, and frontrunning companies and public actors are making biodiversity matter through bottom-up action

• Reflections on how gender, justice, and intersectionality must shape future biodiversity policies

• Perspectives from researchers, NGOs and policymakers in dialogue

Programme

• 14.30-14.35 Welcome, Group manager and BIONEXT’s co-coordinator Soile Kulmala, Finnish Environment Institute

• 14.35-14.45 Bottom-up practices for transformative change, Principal researcher Helena Valve, Finnish Environment Institute and BIONEXT-project

• 14.45-14.50 Commentary, Pierre Cornu, Senior Researcher and Head of the unit “Territories” at INRAE

• 14.50-15.00 Just governance and intersectionality in biodiversity policy, Dr. Luciane Lucas dos Santos, associate researcher at the Centre for Social Studies - University of Coimbra, research partner of BIOTraCes.

• 15.00-15.35 Panel discussion

  • Chair: Soile Kulmala

  • Panelists:

    • Biodiversity expert Liisa Toopakka, The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation

    • Group manager Kaisa Korhonen-Kurki, the BioAgora project and the Finnish Environment Institute

    • Chief specialist Katja Matveinen, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland

    • Joensuu city councillor and member of the Finnish Parliament, Krista Mikkonen, the Greens

• 15.35-15.45 Audience questions

About the projects:

BIONEXT is a research and innovation project that joins the fight for nature and biodiversity. The project produces new evidence to better understand biodiversity loss and demonstrates how biodiversity underpins every aspect of life. The project is coordinated by the Finnish Environment Institute and is funded by the EU’s Horizon Europe program and by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

BIOTraCes is an EU-funded project using action research to address the root causes of biodiversity loss while promoting justice and inclusion in governance.