Translational Centre in Biodiversity Conservation

Together with climate change, biodiversity decline is the most pressing environmental crisis that the world is facing. The "Translational Centre in Biodiversity Conservation" bundles knowledge and makes it generally available.

Photo: ETH Zürich

Translational Centre in Biodiversity Conservation:
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The Translational Centre in Biodiversity Conservation is a competence center for biodiversity. Jointly with key Swiss stakeholders, it identifies topics for knowledge transferperforms syntheses and translates, communicates and distributes synthesis products in close collaboration with stakeholders. In the longer run, the goal is to develop an "ETH Domain Competence Centre Biodiversity and Conservation".

“The ETH Domain with it vast scientific and application knowledge in biodiversity conservation is uniquely positioned to respond to the Federal Government's call for synthesis and to take the lead in establishing a national translational centre.  ”
Alex Widmer, Professor of Plant Ecological Genetics, ETH Zurich

The Translational Centre Biodiversity Conservation will be transdisciplinary and participatory. A Task Force, equally composed of natural and social scientists and stakeholders, will direct the centre. It will also act as contact point for a broad range of stakeholders.  

Activities and actors

To identify the needs for synthesis by stakeholders – especially Swiss cantons – , an iterative "horizon scan" will be carried out with stakeholders and scientists to identify burning biodiversity conservation topics. These topics can be narrow or broad, dealing with information on current trends, clear-cut management advice, best practice knowledge or legal aspects of biodiversity conservation, to name a few options.

From the list of hot topics, the Task Force will choose the most pressing ones for synthesis. Per topic, a specific expert group of relevant stakeholders and scientists from across all ETH Domain institutions (and beyond) will act as expert panel. Synthesis and outreach will be carried out by hired personnel (scientific collaborator and postdoc levels) in close collaboration with the expert groups.

Background

The Biodiversity Strategy lists increased knowledge transfer, e.g. through a synthesis centre, as a major goal. The Federal Office for the Environment FOEN and the Cantonal Delegates for Nature and Landscape Protection KBNL are highly interested in such a centre. The ETH Domain with it vast scientific and application knowledge in biodiversity conservation is uniquely positioned to respond to the Federal Government's call for synthesis and to take the lead in establishing a national translational centre.  

Strategic area: Dialogue and Engagement with Society
Contributing institutions: WSL, Eawag, ETH Zurich, experts from the ETH-Domain
External partners: Konferenz der Beauftragten für Natur- und Landschaftsschutz (KBNL); André Stapfer (Büro Landschaft und Natur)

Kontakt: Rolf Holderegger, Eva Lieberherr, Christoph Vorburger, Alex Widmer
Six "Joint Initiatives" from D-​USYS approved by the ETH Board: Article from 03.08.2022

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