BiodivERsa3

BiodivERsA is the network of organisations programming and funding research on biodiversity and nature-based solutions across European countries and territories.
Biodiversity is the Earth’s living heritage and is essential for the delivery of ecosystem services. It is as much an environmental issue as an economic, food-security, energy-security and political one. With adequate actions and a solid research basis, biodiversity and associated ecosystem services can become a toolbox for the resilience of human societies facing a changing, unsettled world. Biodiversity questions cross both boarders (e.g. alien invasive species) and disciplines (e.g. valuation of ecosystem services). They can thus be tackled more effectively by interdisciplinary collaboration between multi-national teams.
Biodiversity loss has become a major societal challenge, which is calling for scientific support to policy and management decisions and for a coordinated strategy to address the challenge at a European level. In order to address this challenge, adequate financial resources must be allocated to biodiversity research under EU and national programmes. However, in addition to the volume of investment in research, efficient transnational cooperation and joint actions are needed to integrate biodiversity science at the regional and international levels, which are often the relevant scales at which to address the issues at stake. Moreover, scientific support to European policies (including Community and member states) should rely on an open and coherently managed research framework, with coordinated priorities and programmes based on a continuously developed European research strategy.

Funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme and gathering 32 organisations from 21 European countries, mainland and overseas, BiodivERsA aims at strengthening the cooperation between biodiversity research funding agencies, achieving resource efficiency and synergy and identifying and developing shared biodiversity research strategies. A main objective is to continue developing a coherent vision of research planning and use, and contribute to building a strong European research area on biodiversity and ecosystem services. The ultimate aim is to provide policy makers and other stakeholders with adequate knowledge, tools and practical solutions that address the dynamics of biodiversity and ecosystem services and explore innovative solutions for their conservation, sustainable management and use.

Building upon the two first phases of BiodivERsA cooperation (FP6, 2005-2010 and FP7, 2010-2014), BiodivERsA3 will achieve its ambition by fulfilling the following general objectives:
• Development of a strategic, multi-annual vision of the network’s priorities, based on ambitious mapping and foresight activities developed in collaboration with key initiatives in the field;
• Reinforcement and enlargement of the consortium and enhancement of its capacity to jointly support research on biodiversity and ecosystem services across Europe, including in overseas countries and territories and outermost regions, and reinforcement of the international dimension of BiodivERsA activities;
• Design and implementation of joint calls to better integrate research on biodiversity and ecosystem services across Europe;
• Development of a range of other joint activities, in particular alignment of national (and possibly infra-national) research programs for biodiversity and ecosystem services, and activities for promoting mobility and equal opportunities for researchers and reinforcing data sharing;
• Promotion of effective science-policy and science-society (including science-business) dialogue during the whole research process.