Promoting & implementing joint programming to reinforce transnational research for the conservation and restoration of degraded ecosystems and their biodiversity, including a focus on aquatic systems

Project Information

BiodivRestore

Grant agreement ID: 101003777

DOI

10.3030/101003777

EC signature date 1 October 2020

Start date 1 October 2020

End date 30 September 2026

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Climate action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials

Total cost

€ 15 151 513,00

EU contribution

€ 4 999 999,29

Coordinated by

FONDATION FRANCAISE POUR LA RECHERCHE SUR LA BIODIVERSITE
France

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - BiodivRestore (Promoting & implementing joint programming to reinforce transnational research for the conservation and restoration of degraded ecosystems and their biodiversity, including a focus on aquatic systems)

Reporting period: 2020-10-01 to 2022-03-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Many of the European and world's ecosystems undergo degradation of terrestrial, aquatic and transitional ecosystems with negative impacts on biological diversity and people’s livelihoods. In this context, research actions are needed to ensure the protection and/or restoration of ecosystems and their biodiversity whilst meeting the socioeconomic, political and cultural needs of current and future generations.

By networking 34 funding agencies from 27 countries from Europe & other continents, BiodivRestore aims to promote coordinated international research on conservation and restoration of degraded ecosystems and their biodiversity, in all environments, including a focus on aquatic systems. It will strengthen research & research programmes coordination to support science-based evidence for the implementation of a relatively wide range of European and International policy initiatives and therefore act for better management, conservation and restoration of ecosystems and their biodiversity. This will notably be achieved by launching two calls (one co-funded by the European Commission) for proposals, promoting research collaboration across national borders and disciplines and by supporting dialogue and collaboration between academia and stakeholders, and stakeholder engagement in research projects in order to increase the impact of research on policy and practice.

BiodivRestore will also contribute to networking, clustering and capacity building activities for the research community in the field and enhanced synergy coordination between RDI funding programmes (national, EU, International) in the relevant research fields. Lastly, BiodivRestore will contribute to reinforce the links between BiodivERsA and the WATER JPI, to enhance their collaboration for issues at the crossroad of water resources, aquatic ecosystems and biodiversity sustainable management.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

BiodivRestore officially started in October 2020. At the early stage the governance, procedure and administrative framework were organised: the BiodivRestore Operation Team (hosted at FRB) and the General Assembly composed of representatives of every partner involved in the project were set up.

During this first period, two types of activities were carried out: activities directly related to the COFUND call for research projects (Work Packages 1 to 5), and activities additional to the call (Work Packages 6 to 7).

Activities related to the call
The BiodivRestore COFUND call was officially launched on 2 October 2020. This call relies on a set of documents developed jointly by the partners of the call, describing its modalities, criteria and objectives, agreed upon before the launch of BiodivRestore.
As an effect of the strength of the biodiversity research community and the communication work conducted preliminarily to the launch of the call, a very large number of pre-proposals were submitted in December 2020. The evaluation process was implemented by the Call Secretariat (AEI) from October 2020 to September 2021. To evaluate the proposals, an independent evaluation committee (EvC) and external reviewers were appointed. The EvC met in February 2021 for the first step of the evaluation process and will meet in September 2021 for second step of the evaluation process, each time to evaluate and rank the proposals. Strictly following this ranking, in October 2021 the participating funders agreed to fund 22 projects for a total amount of over 21.3Mio€. The projects started between November 2021 and March 2022 for a three years duration.

Additional activities
During the concerned period, several tasks started:
- Preparing a sustainable cooperation between the Water JPI, Water4all and Biodiversa+.
- Promoting synergies and clustering of the funded projects.
- Promoting networking between researchers and with relevant stakeholders to share results and promote uptake of results.
- Promote open access of data on conservation and restoration of degraded ecoystems and their biodiversity including a focus on aquatic systems
- Developing a possible knowledge hub (community of practice) on restoration laws, in collaboration with Biodiversa+.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

BiodivRestore aims at aligning research agendas in the area of conservation and restoration of degraded ecosystems and their biodiversity, in all environments, including a focus on aquatic systems, while enhancing the significance and relevance of these topics for decision-making.
It is expected that the BiodivRestore funded projects will support decision-making. Additional activities related to the uptake of the results of the research projects will also intend to generate links with new stakeholders, notably collaborations with socio-economic sectors identified as relevant to the research.
BiodivRestore allows steps toward stronger links inside the European Research Area (ERA), but also toward collaboration between the ERA and the other continents.
Ultimately, BiodivRestore will result in a more credible and more harmonised voice in terms of research on conservation and restoration of degraded ecosystems and their biodiversity, in all environments, including a focus on aquatic systems.

© Kim Magnus Bærum