Inspire4Nature · INternational training at the Science-Policy Interface for Researchers in Europe, for Nature

INternational training at the Science-Policy Interface for Researchers in Europe, for Nature

The growing recognition that biological diversity is a global asset of immense value to present and future generations has underpinned a number of multilateral environmental policy agreements, including the United Nation’s Convention on Biological Diversity and the European Union’s Biodiversity Strategy to 2030. Implementing these agreements requires a global-scale cooperation among conservation scientists to collect, mobilise and synthesise biodiversity data and ecological knowledge, and translating them directly into recommendations for conservation actions and indicators of progress towards meeting internationally agreed goals and targets. The purpose of the Inspire4Nature project was to contribute to the training of a new generation of creative, entrepreneurial and innovative early-stage researchers by providing them with both research-related and transferable skills which will enable them to work at this science-policy interface, converting their knowledge and ideas into tools for tackling complex global environmental problems. To do so, Inspire4Nature brought together a Consortium of 13 research centres, universities and international conservation organisations (representing 9 European countries in total) with a vast experience in the science and the practice of biodiversity conservation. The Consortium’s strength came from an unprecedented collaboration between academic and non-academic conservation organisations that have generated in the European research area a unique focus of professional training at the interface between conservation science and policy. We implemented an ambitious training programme combining: individual research projects of a high scientific standard that were by design strategically positioned at the science-policy interface in biodiversity conservation; with a rich network-wide training programme including five training sessions and three joint projects that give fellows a wide diversity of scientific, communication and project management skills. Placed at the crucial interface between conservation science and policy, the Inspire4Nature supported key biodiversity knowledge products (in particular the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the Living Planet Index and the Key Biodiversity Areas) and related processes in order to advance the scientific knowledge necessary to support effective international policy processes impacting the conservation of biodiversity at the national, European and global scales. Specifically, this programme aimed to: 1. Enable more effective site-based conservation action and policy. 2. Guide more effective species-based conservation action and policy. 3. Strengthen policy-relevant biodiversity indicators. 4. Support the development of policy-relevant biodiversity scenarios under global change.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union