worldbiodiversityforum.org
The World Biodiversity Forum will be held from 23-28 February 2020 in Davos, Switzerland.
Venue
Congress Centre Davos
Description
The Forum will provide a platform for exchange, covering a wide range of perspectives, and capturing a diversity of visions. With this, it aims to redefine and set the agenda for biodiversity as a focal point over the next 10 years in current themes and topics across sectors.
In this, the Forum supports the "New Deal for Nature" to be forged by the Convention on Biological Diversity at the end of 2020. It is aligned with Sustainable Development Goals and achievement of which will require the involvement of all sectors/societal actors, societal consensus and collective search for solutions to conserve biodiversity.
Conference themes
1. Changing Biodiversity - illustrate the response of biodiversity and ecosystem function to environmental change, explore the impacts of (anthropogenic) drivers of change and their interactions and feedbacks with ecosystems.
2. Values and Concepts - examine the role of humans and human agencies in the protection and sustainable use of biodiversity, and explore what it takes and means for humans to conserve biodiversity.
3. Future of Biodiversity - what are the pathways to desirable futures, which actors need to be involved, and what commitments are required?
4. Making an impact - highlighting the relevance and importance of biodiversity for human well-being, adding value to biodiversity knowledge by making it useful and used, facilitating the implementation of knowledge.
Conference aims
First of its kind, the World Biodiversity Forum will bring together leading researchers, early career researchers, practitioners, representatives from different sectors, decisionmmakers and societal actors to have a conversation on the kind of future we want (and/or do not want) for biodiversity.
Call for Session proposals
Sessions provide the platform to discuss topics of interest in an in-depth manner. The proposed sessions can take different forms, from the traditional scientific sessions with one plenary and 4-6 additional talks, 4-6 talks leading to an in-depth discussion of a specific topic, or a panel or round table discussion involving 4-6 invited participants. Please specify the selected format in your proposal, and include a list of proposed (key note) speakers or panelists.
We accept session proposals from all fields of biodiversity and ecosystem science, however, they should speak to the overall themes of the conference.
We encourage session proposals that examine the value of biodiversity for different sectors and the existing/envisaged commitments of sectors, societal actors and policy to implement measures that protect and conserve biodiversity, and lead to e.g. special issues in journals, journal articles, white papers, policy briefs, and more.
Session organizers are responsible for inviting (key note) speakers for their session, ensure that speakers submit abstracts and register for the meeting.
Deadline for submissions is 4 August 2019.
Go to: https://www.worldbiodiversityforum.org/en/participate
Call for workshop proposals
Workshops are interactive sessions that require the active participation of the audience. They foster networking, facilitate interaction and contribute to skills development. Workshops can be conceived as training workshops, or as workshops to prepare e.g. a joint publication or prepare a series of meetings around a specific topic.
Slots are available for
1-day workshops (preceding the conference, limited slots available)
4-hour workshops (morning or afternoon)
2-hour workshops (morning or afternoon)
lunchtime workshops (1-1.5 hours)
Please include a draft workshop outline / draft agenda as separate document in your submission.
Deadline for submissions is 4 August 2019.
Go to: https://www.worldbiodiversityforum.org/en/participate
Registration
Registration opens in the second half of 2019: https://www.worldbiodiversityforum.org/en/register
Organizers
The Forum is organized by the international research network bioDISCOVERY, and the University of Zurich Research Priority Programme Global Change and Biodiversity.
Further information
Go to the official website: https://www.worldbiodiversityforum.org/index.html