BioAgora Held Its 2024 Consortium Meeting: Overview

15 Jan 2025 / Events

Between 11 - 13 November 2024, the BioAgora team gathered in Cambridge, UK, for the project’s annual consortium meeting. This gathering marked a pivotal moment in the project, as discussions, presentations, and collaborative exercises helped solidify the vision for the years ahead. Your contributions have been instrumental in refining our strategies to deliver a fully functional Science Service for Biodiversity (SSBD) prototype.

Key highlights from the consortium meeting include:

Advancing the BioAgora Framework

  • Three Key Functions of the SSBD: The consortium welcomed the BioAgora framework with its three overarching functions, which form the foundation of the future SSBD. These functions will be further developed through dedicated Task Forces on addressing policy and knowledge demands, on building topical networks and strengthening capacities, and on fostering biodiversity mainstreaming, research prioritization, and horizon scanning.

  • Interactive sessions on key topics provided crucial insight into the development of ethical infrastructure of the future SSBD, fostering efficient communication and dissemination, mapping of the interlinkages between the different functions of BioAgora, developing and integrating knowledge from the BioAgora demonstration cases, interacting with key stakeholders within the vibrant biodiversity science-policy-society interface (SPSI).

All project partners will feed into these Task Forces, ensuring a cohesive approach to achieving BioAgora’s goals.

Strengthening Partnerships and Driving Transformative Change

  • Collaboration with EC and KCBD: Regular engagement with the European Commission (EC), the Knowledge Centre for Biodiversity (KCBD), and Biodiversa+ remains a cornerstone of co-developing the Science Service for Biodiversity. The participation of key EC representatives in the BioAgora consortium meeting enriched discussions and reaffirmed the importance of these partnerships.

  • Commitment to Transformative Change: BioAgora’s work will contribute to transformative change on multiple levels—individual, procedural, and goal-setting—ensuring meaningful progress towards sustainable biodiversity governance.

Communicating Progress to the Broader Community

BioAgora and the members of its External Advisory Board (EAB) emphasized the importance of showcasing the achievements of BioAgora to date. As a result, for the upcoming period, the BioAgora team will further focus on sharing progress with the broader community and encouraging greater participation in shaping the future of the Science Service.

The 2024 BioAgora consortium meeting marked a significant step forward for the project, underscoring the strength of collaboration and the shared commitment to advancing biodiversity knowledge and governance.

Stay tuned for updates as we continue to build momentum toward achieving the common goal of enhancing the biodiversity science-policy interface.