BiodiverCities by 2030(1) is an initiative of the World Economic Forum and the Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute with the Government of Colombia. Together, the organizations gathered a large group of world-renowned experts and professionals from many sectors to use the latest research to improve and have a more inclusive nature-positive urban development. Although there has always been a dichotomy between cities and nature, it is now time to understand and apply nature-positive technologies to urban environments. World statistics show that, by 2030, 60% of the global population will be living in cities (2; 3). The consequences of increasing rural exodus can be positive and negative, ranging from improving lives to exacerbating inequalities and nature degradation. As the world still deals with the COVID-19 pandemic, and the triple planetary crisis of pollution, biodiversity loss, and climate change, it has become increasingly clear how unsustainable our ways of urbanization have been.

In this context, the BiodiverCities by 2030 report states that we must rethink and restructure our cities in a way that rescues nature’s value by bringing harmony and synergy to this dichotomy, and ensuring conservation, sustainability, and health as well as scientific and economic development. In fact, the report finds that investing in nature-based solutions could generate over 59 million jobs in cities around the world and achieve more than $1.5 trillion in annual business value by 2030. One of their key-findings was that the adoption of nature-based solutions is an opportunity that will lead to more resilient and competitive cities.

The report is structured in three main chapters. The first addresses cities’ relationship with nature, covering how the fast expansion of the urban environment has proven to be destructive for the natural environment. They also discuss the importance of cities for the global GDP and  how cities’ impact on nature can also be a critical economic problem, before concluding with a brighter perspective of how the cities of tomorrow can bring healing through nature-positive infrastructure alternatives for urban development. The second covers the economic case for BiodiverCities, advocating further for nature-based urban transformation, showing examples of investment and job opportunities by sector, and how their relevance differs by region. And the third chapter discusses three fundamental systemic shifts towards a nature-positive urban development: urban governance, spatial (re)integration, and investment mobilization. In the end, they conclude with a call for multistakeholder action.

To bring nature forward, respect it, and live in harmony with it should be at the core of our lives and our cities. There, it can only have benefits and growth for the planet, for us, and for future generations. BiodiverCities by 2030 is an incredible initiative with ties to SDG11. Hopefully their message will spread to many nations, improving people’s health and the economy while recognizing planetary boundaries.

The BiodiverCities by 2030 report can be found clicking here. Something to note is that GCE Alumna María Mejía was involved with the BiodiverCities by 2030 Initiative at the National Research Institute of Biodiversity of Colombia. You can read her GCE Alumni interview here.

References

1 BiodiverCities by 2030

2 Destatis – Statistisches Bundesamt (2022)

3 UN Department of Economics and Social Affairs Population Dynamics – World Urbanization Prospects 2018

The post Bringing Nature Forward: The BiodiverCities by 2030 report appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

Why did you decide to study GCE?

I was attracted to GCE’s interdisciplinarity and the fact that the program was in Germany. The latter refers to i) Germany is a leading country in environmental research and project implementation. ii) Germany’s public educational system was something I was keen on experiencing. In Germany, the system itself teaches you to be a better citizen i.e. work-life balance, solid waste management and recycle, quality time with people, simple life, etc. iii) Lastly, Germany was a platform upon which I reached out to diverse opportunities (within the country but also internationally).

What did you like most about GCE?

The broad portfolio of courses and seminars.

How has your career continued after GCE?

Academically speaking, I haven’t embarked into new programs. Professionally, I have been involved in NGOs, consultancies with the English and German cooperation agencies and I have boosted my participation in international knowledge networks in the fields of urban ecology.

What is your current position? What are your tasks?

I lead the BiodiverCities by 2030 Initiative at the National Research Institute of Biodiversity of Colombia, commonly known as Instituto Humboldt. This initiative was commissioned by the Government of Colombia and will be jointly developed with the World Economic Forum. Some of the key work fronts of this initiative – linking biodiversity and cities – are i) Creating a 25-member Global Commission, ii) Bringing together a knowledge network in Colombia; and iii)  Consolidating a publication that will speak to the world. The two latter are under my coordination. Here you can find the official announcement.

How has GCE supported your career?

It provided me with the ecological and environmental foundations I was lacking to understand environmental change. My focus is societal issues, so my aim was to make broader understanding about global change.

What do you recommend to the current GCE students?

I believe that the role of students, even outside of GCE, is to be critical and engage in disruptive conversations. Especially for GCE students, I’d say to engage in cross-cutting conversations and bring to the table examples in which one can put all three modules into motion. And if those examples are not always there, then push a little to make them part of your seminars so that one can unpack and make visible how ecological, environmental and societal issues interact. Last but not least, enjoy the GCE family and camaraderie. Have tea or grab a beer at Glashaus and then crash in Iwalewahaus for an art exhibition or afrobeat party!

María has also been involved in other organizations and initiatives, serving as a Regional Curator at The Nature of Cities and as a collaborator for URBANET and Situated Political Ecology Collective. Additionally, she is a member of  Parks for the Planet Forum hosted by the Salzburg Global Seminar and an alumna of the Global Environments Summer Academies (GESA). Feel free to check out María’s master thesis, “The social nature of urban nature: A qualitative study linking value articulation and contested geography in Santiago de Cali, Colombia.” If you would like to continue to keep up with María, follow her on twitter at @okmejia!

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Why did you decide to study GCE?
GCE was the only study program that I found which combined multiple different topics pertaining to sustainability. I have always enjoyed learning about a broad range of subjects and GCE offered exactly that.

What did you like most about GCE?
Like I said previously, the broad range of subjects is what I liked about GCE the most. However, I was always drawn to the Societal Change modules since they included ways in which we might steer away from the unsustainable path our global civilization is currently on. In terms of the study program itself, I particularly liked the teaching and examination format. It encouraged critical thinking and practical work, rather than the outdated rote learning and repetition of information. This is especially relevant in today’s world where information can be accessed in a matter of seconds using a smartphone and an internet connection while the ability to critically process that information is much more important.

How has your career continued after GCE?
After essentially a year of looking for a job I applied for a PhD at the Professorship of Ecological Services with Prof. Dr. Thomas Koellner as the supervisor. And for the past three years this has been my job. My contract has finished in February 2021, but I am still continuing to work on the PhD.

What is your current position? What are your tasks?
Currently I am partly employed as a GCE lecturer teaching the course M16 Modeling Ecosystem Functions with the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). And the rest of my time is split between working on the PhD and caring for my newborn son together with my wife.

How has GCE supported your career?
GCE enabled me to do two internships, one at IPBES and one at UNCCD where I also worked as a consultant. I found these experiences at the UN extremely valuable and enjoyed them very much. GCE has also given me the opportunity to further my career by doing a PhD, as well as allowing me to give something back to GCE by becoming one of the lecturers.

What do you recommend to the current GCE students?
I would say, make the most out of the variety of courses offered by GCE. It is a rare opportunity since the vast majority of study programs force you to specialize in a single narrow field while GCE gives you the option for specialization, as well as a broader perspective.

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Why did you decide to study GCE?

It was actually a combination of two main reasons:

1) During my third year of studying a Bachelors in Land Resource Planning and Management in Nairobi, Kenya I took part in a 3 months internship in Freising, Germany through the International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience (IAESTE). I was under the supervision of the Hochschule Weihenstephan Triesdorf peatlands research team and was fascinated by the excellent work ethics displayed by their team members. It was this experience that opened my mind to the possibility of studying in Germany.

2) Upon my return to Nairobi, I carried out an extensive survey of master programs that I could take in Germany. I felt that my bachelors gave me sufficient knowledge of how natural resources are managed only in my country and/or region. What I needed was a perspective on how environmental issues are managed and interlinked globally. Hence once I came across the GCE study program, it was a perfect match as it fit all the criteria.  

What did you like most about GCE?

If I could use one word-it would be flexibility. The GCE program gave me the choice to select the modules-environmental, societal or ecological- which I could specialize in. It was through this flexibility that I pursued my passion towards peatland management and how it is affected especially by human activities. Notably, the opportunities available through the program such as participating in class seminars, internships, summer/winter schools, elite network of Bavaria seminars, and conferences, broadened my mindset while expanding my social and professional networks. The interactive activities with classmates, lecturers, and colleagues from around the world inspired me to start thinking of home-grown solutions for global challenges such as climate change.

How has your career continued after GCE?

Upon finishing my master thesis, I applied and got accepted for a 6 months internship in the Forestry Department at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Rome, Italy. After completing my internship, I was given another contract as a consultant working in the same department.

What is your current position? What are your tasks?

Fire Management, Peatlands and Climate Change Specialist at FAO.

My roles and responsibilities include:

-Support to finalize the organization of the fire danger rating workshop for Indonesia; collect lessons learned and manage generated knowledge to be shared;

-Produce materials as a result of the work for Indonesia; such as concept notes, guidance materials, best practice brief, and workshop results documents;

-Continue to liaise and support consultation efforts with Kenya land and fire management agencies, under the guidance of FAO-Kenya to finalize the preliminary report on fire management in Kenya and then promote discussions on findings obtained from the report with a view to exploring potential for further activities and potential projects;

-Finalize a draft concept for a fire management portal based on the existing and further review of data collection, management, validation and analysis of fire resource materials;

-Continue to collate fire emission factors for Indonesia and/or tropical regions for use in the EX-ACT tool;

-Support a review of emissions from fires, with an emphasis on peatlands, continuing the work that was initiated in 2020;

-Consider the options for including fire emissions into reporting GHG;

-Support to the planning and preparation of the World Forestry Congress (WFC) Forest Fire Forum

-Any other related activities, as required.

How has GCE supported your career?

For me it is the opportunities that arose from GCE that made it possible for me to apply and be accepted for an internship position at FAO. As an alumna, I still receive emails from the GCE student coordination occasionally providing links to available opportunities such as PhD positions, courses, or conferences which I find helpful.

What do you recommend to the current GCE students?

I have 3 recommendations; 1) Find your unique mix of modules and specialize in what you are truly passionate about, 2) Maximize on the opportunities that GCE presents to you-for instance the possibilities of attending summer/winter schools, conferences, internships, semester exchanges abroad and doing your master thesis with external organizations, and 3) Find time to interact with your course mates as well as other students doing different courses within the University of Bayreuth as this will enhance your intercultural skills.

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Why did you decide to study GCE?

After completing my bachelor’s degree in biology at the Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich in 2016, I was looking for a graduate program that could look beyond academic research only and dive deeper into applied and interdisciplinary research, rooted in ecology but with the eyes put in policy and decision making.

I scanned all Universities in Germany and discovered few only would bet on cross-sectorial graduate study programs in the field of climate change (although it is a very pressing issue, there is still a major gap in how universities address this topic, beyond the scientific view only).

I was happy to find that in a little city called Bayreuth a highly specialized (and relatively new) master program would devote itself with answering the climate challenge and finding solutions from research. I was captivated with the program after some Alumni – during my application – accepted to exchange some words with me and tell me more about the manifold opportunities and career outlooks during and after the GCE studies (e.g. attendance to UN COPs, fun remote sensing schools, internships, summer schools, etc).

After I got acceptance from Bayreuth, I automatically enrolled!

What did you like most about GCE?
The fact that I got the entire world in one classroom, 60% of students in my cohort were non-Europeans and thus represented a wide variety of countries and continents! They all brought in experiences and observations about the manifold ways climate change is impacting their cities and communities already.

Global classroom, global GCE: addressing a global issue like human-caused climate change requires global representativity and exchange of experiences – it is enriching to go into talks with classmates and share work and research experiences from distant yet similarly challenged countries like Ethiopia, Vietnam, Colombia, Australia or Peru.

How has your career continued after GCE?
As an early-career scientist you would perhaps expect me to work in academia and publish papers – but this has not been precisely my case (at least for the moment). In fact, after graduating I started working in the German corporate sector – a bit of a 180° degrees change, but why?

Well, during the GCE graduate program and in extracurricular manner, I joined the International Forestry Students Association (IFSA) youth delegation to the Halting Deforestation Conference held at FAO Rome in 2018. During the conference, expert FAO commissioners, representatives from manifold environment ministries and leading forestry and nature conservation NGOs were present to discuss the issue of deforestation, drivers and policy recommendations to stop global forest loss.

During the meeting, however, it became tangible to me that one powerful sector of society was missing in the conversation, namely: the private sector.

It all became embarrassingly evident when during an icebreaker, the whole plenary asked private sector delegates to raise hands, and in a room full of 150 heads, only 2 hands were raised up. I was shocked to see that one week had gone by discussing about the state of the worlds forest and yet only two heads from the corporate sector had been listening to the whole discussion.

This observation was magnified through further extracurricular experiences of mine – as member of the Youth in Landscapes Initiative and attendee to further events by the Global Landscape Forum.

I observe and believe as of today that Science may create the best paper ever, but as long as it is not read and implemented by the people who need to read it and do the required changes, then no change is going to happen.

So that is why I started working at KPMG Germany in the corporate sustainability and responsibility field, driven by the idea of learning about where the private sector is currently standing – in terms of capacities – and what is ought to be done.

What is your current position? What are your tasks?
Currently I am a Senior Associate at KPMG Germany and support the Sustainability Services Department in the review and audit of non-financial disclosures (that is: sustainability reports) by top 30 leading German companies. I also engage in consultancy projects for the private sector, and provide technical support at the moment to the integrated accounting  initiative value balancing alliance e.V (natural capital valuation included here).

How has GCE supported your career?
GCE has been for me a platform to grow, a hub for ideas and to network (inside and outside Bayreuth) – Bayreuth is also a calmed city to best focus on research and classes.

Most importantly, GCE allows students to shape specialization topics – if you have a well-structured research plan, then you will encounter willingness and expert support from Professors in Bayreuth ready to help you best shape your endeavors based on their research profiles from diverse continents.

What do you recommend to the current GCE students?
Don’t restrict your understanding of sustainability and climate action to climate sciences or basic research only. Nature collapse caused by human is a humongous challenge that needs ambition and human talent from all fronts. Lately I have become big fan of “ecopreneurship” – which is the wave of young people bringing into the market disruptive ideas and innovative business models to tackle climate crisis and biodiversity collapse in the way of new services, products, big data applications and science-based solutions.

We are all needed, and if you have the seed of youth and green leadership I invite you to join the Youth in Landscapes Initiative – which regularly holds virtual training events, internship positions and calls to support nature restoration and conservation work on the ground.

Highlight: We invite you to check Carla’s sustainability blog “Tierra Somos” clicking here.

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