The UKRI and IIASA hosted a critical dialogue on the benefits of systems thinking in biodiversity research.
According to the 2019 IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services: “Biodiversity... is declining faster than at any time in human history”, as are nature’s contributions to people. Around 1 million species are threatened with extinction in the coming decades. Direct and indirect drivers of biodiversity declines are underpinned by societal values and behaviors, and it is widely recognized that systemic changes are needed to bend the curve of ongoing biodiversity loss.
The IIASA Biology Ecology and Conservation (BEC) research group constitutes the institute’s hub for applied ecology and conservation research. This webinar brings together UK and IIASA BEC researchers to exchange perspectives on biodiversity research and highlight how biodiversity-related research could benefit from systems thinking.
Watch the webinar recording:
This video requires YouTube cookies to play.
This event will also launch IIASA Connect in the UK community. Join us and network with other biodiversity experts on the platform!
Agenda
Introductions
Introduction to IIASA by Albert van Jaarsveld, IIASA Director General
UK National Member Organization Introduction
Perspective on IIASA biodiversity research
Piero Visconti, BEC Research Group Leader, IIASA
Gergana Daskalova, Schmidt Science Fellow, BEC Group, IIASA
Perspective on UK biodiversity research
David Edwards, University of Sheffield
Jane Hill, University of York
Meet the IIASA-NERC fellows
Laura Graham, BEC Group, IIASA
Eleanor Warren-Thomas, BEC Group/Integrated Biosphere Futures Group, IIASA
Chris Smith, Integrated Assessment and Climate Change Research Group, IIASA
IIASA Connect introduction
Q&A
Upcoming Events
Online and in Raiffa room at IIASA (Laxenburg, Austria)
AI for Climate Science seminar series: How much climate data do we need? Machine learning approaches for evaluating high-resolution climate models
Online (closed expert workshop)
Expert workshop on food waste emissions methodologies and MRV systems
Heiligenblut am Großglockner, Austria
Forum Anthropozän 2026: IIASA Director General to deliver keynote on the “Good Anthropocene”
Hybrid: online and at the Austrian Academy of Sciences
Public lecture: Digitalization and AI within planetary boundaries
Chulalongkorn University, Thailand