Workshops
The BioClimSocial project aims to foster applied research on NbS. This will be achieved inter alia through cooperation with several research institutions working at the interface of climate mitigation/adaptation and biodiversity. The capacity-building component of the project bases on a series of transdisciplinary workshops which bring together the ZEF-University of Bonn team and case-study partners, as well as representatives from BfN and the Project Advisory Board (PAG) members, for a peer learning process and joint work towards the project goals.
The BioClimSocial Project Workshop on the Island of Vilm
BioClimSocial Project - Peer Exchange Workshop on the Social Dimension of Nature-based Solutions (NbS)
The BioClimSocial BfN commissioned global project, implemented by ZEF-Uni Bonn, aims to highlight the significance of the social dimension in the context of researching, planning and implementing measures/interventions in the shape of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for biodiversity and climate, at the local or regional level through the lens of transdisciplinary research. The ‘social dimension’ encompasses the views, needs and experiences of a diversity of actors/stakeholders across civil society, industry and academia, as well as the interrelationship of these actors/stakeholders (power relations, institutional arrangements, governance systems).
The BioClimSocial workshop took place this mid-May on the Island of Vilm- an organised in-person event at the premises of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) in Germany. It brought together 19 participants – BfN project managers; the project implementing team from ZEF (Center for Development Research), University of Bonn; the project NbS case study partners/researchers; four experts as part of the Project Advisory Group (PAG), and a specialist in funding resources from the University of Bonn.
The workshop facilitated the direct exchange among all the partners on the project development, establishing relationships and strengthening the collaboration. It gave an opportunity to merge the parallel project activities into a multifaceted but integral body of work, and to create a shared vision of the expected outcomes and outputs. During the 3-day full programme, the project case-study partners presented their ongoing NbS research activities, while the ZEF team presented a series of presentations including, ‘Mind the Gap in NbS’- a snapshot of the initial results of the literature review of current NbS Guidelines/handbooks.
The ZEF-Uni Bonn team presented a draft outline of the proposed BioClimSocial NbS Guideline. This took the form of a conceptual framework that included such considerations as the purpose and intended audience and the State of the Art – establishing the available resources and knowledge gaps about the connection between NbS and how to conceptualise and characterise the 'social dimension'.
A full day was devoted to an analysis and interactive exchange in ideas through the World Café approach to re-define, revise and clarify the outline and content of the BioClimSocial Guideline for the forthcoming stage of the project.
(Vanessa Haines-Matos (Supervisor: Jun Prof. Lisa Biber-Freudenberger) - LANUSYNCON, ZEF-Uni-Bonn, June 2024)
Workshop Announcement
BioClimSocial project for fostering applied research focussing on biodiversity and climate Peer exchange workshop
A 3-day, in-person workshop, inviting NbS experts for an interactive peer-exchange with the focus on the social dimension of NbS through the iterative process of transdisciplinarity.
Our participants include the BioClimSocial case study partners, Project Advisory Group experts, a funding specialist and members of the BfN and ZEF- Uni Bonn teams.
Vilm Workshop Objectives:
- To inform each about each of the five NbS case studies, categorised by sector (agroforestry/savannah; coastal/marine; mountainous/montane; urban), and to familiarise each other with respective approaches to stakeholder engagement (in terms of transdisciplinarity), and in this regard, to learn from each other and PAG experts.
- To connect, through free-flowing discussions in establishing commonalities and divergences in the findings of social dimensions arising from NbS case studies at any stage of the NbS cycle (planning, implementation, and evaluation).
- To collaborate through the World Café method to develop ideas and concepts for content, principles, target audience and approach of the prospective NbS Guideline. The discussions will include perceived gaps of knowledge in existing NbS Guidelines.
- To inform the attendees on future research and conceptual ideas (create match-making and interactive space); case study partners to propose concepts of future research, building on the co-design of transdisciplinary processes with stakeholders, including initiatives that capture their stakeholders’ needs.
Outcomes: The workshop participants will
- understand the work to date of each of the NbS case study partner’s research and practice and exchange their findings on how to optimise transdisciplinarity;
- have documented the commonalities and divergences in the social impacts and benefits of NbS, at any point along the NbS cycle;
- will have made valuable contributions to the initial stages in the development of the NbS Guideline.
Output: The workshop findings and key recommendations will provide fundamental data to contribute to both the Guideline and a co-authored scientific paper.
BfN reference: www.bfn.de/veranstaltungen-ina/bioclimsocial-project-fostering-applied-research-focussing-biodiversity-and
First Project Workshop
The first project workshop took place in October 2023 in online mode. This event served in establishing links between all the involved sides and developing a common vision of the project aims and methods. It was also aimed at jointly exploring how the outcomes and outputs of the BioClimSocial research can be refined by the concrete experiences and knowledge from the selected case studies.
The case-study partners introduced their work on the topics of biodiversity and climate, describing the current (and anticipated further) research focus, challenges and lessons learnt in relation to the social aspects of NbS and stakeholder participation in NbS. This provided the project team with the first landmarks for establishing a mind-map of the real-life social dimension in NbS research and implementation.
The workshop participants also discussed the possible format, scope and contents of the envisaged Guidelines on the social dimension of NbS. Different areas of concerns and needs for better understanding were revealed: e.g. What factors limit effective stakeholder engagement in NbS actions? How may we improve communication within NbS research and tailor it depending on the stakeholders’ background and power level? What are the ways to utilise traditional knowledge on deliberation and achieve co-production? How may we capture the benefits of transdisciplinarity?