Open Science Conferences

© D. Van Steenderen

DIVERSITAS organises, on a regular basis, Open Science Conferences which convene the entire DIVERSITAS community as well as researchers and policy makers working in the field of biodiversity. The overall goals of the DIVERSITAS Open Science Conferences are:

To convene scientists representing the full DIVERSITAS spectrum, that is, perspectives from the natural and social sciences to highlight the linkages from biodiversity to ecological functions to ecosystem services, as well as the consequences of damaging economic activities that ignore such linkages;
To promote scientific exchanges;
To develop interface between science and policy making for biodiversity;
To strengthen and expand DIVERSITAS networks;
To forge new partnerships.

The First Open Science Conference of DIVERSITAS "Integrating biodiversity science for human well-being" (DIVERSITAS OSC1) took place 9-12 November 2005 in Oaxaca, Mexico. It was the first international conference of this kind, entirely dedicated to the many facets of biodiversity science. The conference was organized by DIVERSITAS, along with the Mexican and US National Committees of DIVERSITAS. This was the first time that DIVERSITAS convened its entire community. The DIVERSITAS OSC1 had the following main goals:

To synthesise existing scientific knowledge, identify gaps and emerging issues and promote new research initiatives, while continuing to build bridges across countries and disciplines;
To get buy-in from the wider community into the science plans of its core projects and cross-cutting networks and to engage additional scientists from all regions of the world in on-going activities, and inspire them to initiate new ones;
To investigate policy implications of biodiversity science and consider means of communicating these to various fora, including international conventions, and, in particular, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), represented at the Conference.
To hold a series of science-policy discussions, including on the need to establish an IPBES.

The Conference attracted an international audience of 550 scientists from 60 countries. DIVERSITAS was able to support 177 participants from developing countries. The conference received an important exposure in the media including an editorial in Science and 108 papers in the press worldwide . New scientific knowledge was presented at the conference. A larger DIVERSITAS set of networks emerged as a result of the conference. A stronger base in the Latin America region was developed thanks to initial contacts made in Oaxaca. A stronger link between science and policy also emerged in relation to the International Mechanism of Scientific Expertise on Biodiversity (IMoSEB) project, which led to IPBES, the Intergovernmental Plaform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.

In this context, one of the outputs of this conference was the Oaxaca Declaration approved by the conference participants, which supports the recommendations of the Paris Conference (Biodiversity: Science and Governance, 24-28 January 2005) to establish an International Mechanism of Scientific Expertise for Biodiversity.

The Second DIVERSITAS Open Science Conference "Biodiversity and society: understanding connections, adapting to change" was held on 13-16 October 2009 in Cape Town, South Africa. More

DIVERSITAS is currently co-organising, with the three other global environmental change programmes of the ICSU family (IGBP, IHDP, WCRP) and their Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP), the Open Science Conference "Planet Under Pressure: New knowledge towards solutions" (PUP 2012), which will be held on 26-29 March 2012 in London United Kingdom. More

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