Our department at the Earth System Governance conference & PLANET4B project consortium meeting

In the week of 23-27 October 2023, the Department of Human Dimensions of Global Change was represented at two events in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, as part of the ongoing activities of the PLANET4B project.

The 2023 Radboud conference on Earth System Governance brought together different scientific disciplines and stakeholders from different sectors to connect science and society to learn about and strengthen sustainability. The PLANET4B project chaired the session “Transformative interventions to strengthen biodiversity prioritization in decision making”, led by Ilkhom Soliev. The first presentation by Simon Vaňo and Julia Leventon focused on “System transformation for biodiversity: what intervention, in what system and for what purpose?”. Here we presented a conceptual framework and a series of workshops specifically designed for implementation in different case studies within the PLANET4B project.

Following this, our project partners presented ongoing research in several of the case studies involved:

Using an intersectional lens in co-developing interventions to strengthen the ‘BioDiverse Edible City’ concept in Graz, Austria
Understanding Interventions for pro-biodiversity behaviour in a sectoral context – Tuscan textile, apparel, and fashion industries
Aligning agri-environmental programmes with farmers’ attitudes to unlock transformative change: a target-oriented biodiversity promotion in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland

The final presentation entitled “Mainstreaming global biodiversity targets in sectoral actions: what works, how and why?” focused on the integration of global policy at national levels and in practice. Overall, the session provided an opportunity not only to disseminate project work, but also to exchange knowledge and ideas and have enriching discussions with other academics.

In the second part of the week, the Department of Human Dimensions of Global Change, represented by Simon Vaňo and Blanka Loučková, participated in the project consortium meeting. The program was intense, but productive and fun. Researchers and case study leaders in the PLANET4B project participated in several team workshops that brought stories and deeper insights on what interventions and what needs need to be achieved in local communities with regard to transformational change. A report The story in the theory – How we apply creative methods in our research? was published summarising the outcomes of these workshops.

Our team piloted a series of 4 workshops focusing on systems mapping, interventions and leverage points, indicators and monitoring of change, and wider impact beyond focused communities (or case studies). We are now going to refine the 4 workshops based on feedback from project partners and prepare them for implementation in 11 case studies across Europe in 2024.