Ecosystem researchers currently do different types of BEF research. How can these studies be used in policymaking? A recent analysis with involvement of Prof. Nina Buchmann from ETH Zurich and member of PSC came up with recommendations:
Continue reading How can biodiversity-ecosystem function research (BEF) be used to inform ecosystem managers and policy-makers?All posts by Melanie Paschke
How can policymakers decide if protected areas (=PA) in the Alps will be able to secure high-species richness under climate future change?
Protected areas like the Swiss National Park should conserve native plant and animal species in the Alps now and in the future. With upcoming climate change the habitats of species shift and the spatial distribution of alpine biodiversity is changing.
Can researchers predict if protected areas can uphold conservation goals under these changing conditions? How can policymakers decide if they need to update the boundaries of existing protected areas or if new ones need to be created in specific areas to conserve alpine biodiversity?
Continue reading How can policymakers decide if protected areas (=PA) in the Alps will be able to secure high-species richness under climate future change?
Dramatic Loss of Food Plants for Insects
The diversity of food plants for insects in the canton of Zurich has dramatically decreased over the past 100 years or so. This means that bees, flies and butterflies are increasingly deprived of their food base, a team of researchers from the Universities of Bonn and Zurich (Reto Nyffler, Michael Kessler) and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL has demonstrated. The results are transferable to the whole of Central Europe, with minor regional restrictions.
Source: https://www.media.uzh.ch/en/Press-Releases/2020/Loss-of-Plants.html
Stefan Abrahamczyk, Thomas Wohlgemuth, Michael Nobis, Reto Nyffeler, Michael Kessler: Shifts in food plant abundance for flower-visiting insects between 1900 and 2017 in the canton of Zurich, Switzerland, Ecological Applications, 23 April 2020. DOI: 10.1002/eap.2138
Theory of Cange for three Alternative Food Networks in Zurich and Basel
Written by Dubravka Vrdoljak (ETH Zurich, Maria Tereza de Alencar (University of Graz), Anja Tesic (University of Basel)
Many alternative food networks (AFNs) developed over the past few years in Zurich and Basel. AFNs are an umbrella term that encompasses different foci in sustainable food systems, such as community-supported and urban agriculture, short food supply chains up to direct farm retail or food cooperatives with the objectives of shortening the food chain from farmers to consumers, bringing it closer to urban or peri-urban areas; the promotion of community engagement and participation; and the reduction of food waste (Moschitz et al., 2018).
We analyzed three AFNs operating in Zurich and/or Basel, namely Too Good To Go, Urban Agriculture Basel and Bachsemärt for their goals, visions, interventions and formats and organized it in the process-oriented Theory of Change (ToC).
In summary we have built ToC analysis based on the informations on the webpages of each AFN, crucial contributors to diverse agri-food chains. With the help of the ToC, we could provide compelling evidence that alternative food system initiatives work with a long-term goal model, even though they don’t clearly communicate it to the public. This approach has the potential to help emerging AFN’s to learn from existing ones and to establish a bigger network and best practices.
The seminar “Sustainable Plant Systems” (VVZ: 551-0209-00L) is organized by the Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center for MSc and PhD students of ETH Zurich, University of Zurich and University of Basel every autumn term.
New Publication in GAIA 28/3/2019: Science-policy boundary work by early-stage researchers – Recommendations for teaching, internships and knowledge transfer
In our newest publication in GAIA (GAIA 28/3/2019) based on a Delphi study we summarized opportunities and challenges of our educational model: Real-world experience through secondments and co-creation of knowledge with policy organizations facilitates boundary crossing of research results to policymaking in their later work.
Most important for the success of policy work are institutional incentives and resources to engage as academic supervisor and early-stage scientist in the process:
Continue reading New Publication in GAIA 28/3/2019: Science-policy boundary work by early-stage researchers – Recommendations for teaching, internships and knowledge transferGemeinsame Planung von Forschung: ENGAGE with Society
Nachhaltigkeitsinitiativen, Landwirte und pflanzenwissenschaftliche Forschung engagieren sich gemeinsam für ökologische Landwirtschaft und alternative Ernährungssysteme.
Bewerbungsschluss für die Formulierung der Anliegen am 20. April 2019 und Teilnahme an der gemeinsamen Ideenwerkstatt am 10. Mai 2019, 13:00 – 17:00.
Worum geht’s?
Wir laden Sie ein, Ihre Fragen und Anliegen an die Forschenden des Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center (Universitäten Zürich und Basel, ETH Zürich) in den Themenbereichen ökologische Landwirtschaft und alternative Ernährungssysteme zu formulieren.
Wir möchten mit Ihnen zusammen eine evidenzbasierte, naturwissenschaftliche Lösung oder Ergebnisse zu Ihrer Fragestellung erarbeiten. Zusammen definieren wir die wissenschaftliche Fragestellung und den Forschungsprozess und stossen gemeinsam Transformationsprozesse an – damit wir etwas bewirken für Nachhaltigkeit und Ihre Initiative.
Continue reading Gemeinsame Planung von Forschung: ENGAGE with SocietySummer School Registration closed: PSC summer school “Responsible Research and Innovation in Plant Sciences”, taking place from 10-14 September2018 in Einsiedeln, Switzerland.
From September 10 – 15, 2018 we will present the PSC summer school „Responsible Research and Innovation in Plant Sciences” at Einsiedeln, Switzerland.
Our summer school series (since 2010) on some of the most tackling topics of current science-society interface has been evaluated positively for years now as mind-opening experience.
Program: http://www.plantsciences.uzh.ch/teaching/summerschool.html
Registration: Please send an e-mail to Romy Kohlmann (romy.kohlmann@usys.ethz.ch)
Visions as a powerful tool for sustainability
Visions can become surfaces for people to project their needs and wishes, to stimulate creativity and dialogue about desired futures on that people can consent for example based on agreed sustainability principles.
Visions are not the same as foresight that build on present-day knowledge and constraints and model future trends under different uncertainties. Visions are scenarios that could be a step in moving behind land use dilemmas, an example of this in Perez-Soba et al. 2018.
Imaging a distant future is a big mental step from our current experience. A key notion is therefore in Perez-Soba et al. (2018) that such a visioning exercise with stakeholders and the public needs to anchor imagination in a combination of normative and explorative scenarios to enrich these with their own experiences and imagination. Continue reading Visions as a powerful tool for sustainability
Agriculture and Climate Change: Reducing Food’s Footprint
A case study report can be downloaded:Agriculture and Climate Change: Reducing Food’s Footprint. Written by Carlos Eduardo Flores Tinoco, Tabea Gallusser, Christie Walker, PhD Program in Plant Sciences, ETH Zurich.
Agriculture and climate change go hand-in-hand, and changes in one will induce changes in the other. It is of utmost importance to identify agriculture procedures that minimize their contribution to climate change. Nowadays many agricultural procedures have been implemented that are able to increase their sustainability. Here we review the major influences between agriculture and climate change as well as explore which possibilities we currently have in order to mitigate the contribution from agriculture to climate change.
For download: PDF
The seminar “Sustainable Plant Systems” (VVZ: 551-0209-00L) is organized by the Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center for MSc and PhD students of ETH Zurich, University of Zurich and University of Basel every autumn term.
New book: Agriculture in Transformation
PSC has summarized the diverse field of sustainable transformation of agriculture with contribution of Philipp Aerni, Gurbir Bhullar, Allan Buckwell, Markus Frank, Marcel van der Heijden, Hans Herren, John Ingram, François Meienberg, Michael Meissle, Melanie Paschke, Martin Schmid, Franziska Stössel, Raphael Wittmer, Gunda Züllich et al.
Agriculture in Transformation. Concepts for agriculture production systems that are socially fair environmentally safe. Proceedings of the PSC Summer Schools 2014 and 2016. For download: https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000218321 Continue reading New book: Agriculture in Transformation