Global biodiversity crisis: risks and opportunities for human society
| Name: | Global biodiversity crisis: risks and opportunities for human society |
|---|---|
| Researchers: |
Hédl Radim (researcher) Růžková Pavla (member in research team) Kašpárková Iva (member in research team) Baldassarre Švecová Eva (member in research team) Petřík Petr (member in research team) |
| Provider: | AV ČR |
| Web: | https://strategie.avcr.cz/programy/krize-biodiverzity |
| Realization from: | 2026 |
| Realization to: | 2030 |
| Summary: | The global biodiversity crisis is without doubt the most serious current environmental threat, together with climate change. However, Czech society has long underestimated the biodiversity crisis, unlike other global crises such as security or migration. The core vision is to establish a communication platform connecting researchers, government, and the civic society. Our goal is to embrace the initiative, consolidate the fragmented communication, and bring the topic to the level of public debate. We want to contribute to identifying effective solutions to biodiversity decline in the context of current societal changes. The four interlinked objectives of the programme are: 1. To explore the still unexplored topic of the biodiversity crisis perception. A sociologically based understanding will be essential for targeting communication tools. 2. To analyse time series on the changes in biodiversity of key groups of organisms. We will clearly define the main trends and their causes. 3. To analyse the legal basis for biodiversity protection. The aim is to support the incorporation of effective legal instruments into Czech legislation. 4. To combine knowledge from the humanities and natural sciences into a functional framework. We will formulate concrete steps to address the biodiversity crisis. A synthesis will emerge from cooperation among the institutes of the CAS. All project participants will collaborate on four joint outputs: 1) Internet platform as the main future public source of information on the biodiversity crisis, 2) Book synthesizing the expert knowledge, 3) Short documentary films as a generally accessible medium, 4) Open conference for direct communication between stakeholders. In parallel, specialized outputs will be created. There will be coordinated communication, from the membership in advisory boards of the Ministry of the Environment to events organized for the general public. |