Co-creating evidence-based conservation interventions with and for city neighborhoods

Our deteriorating relationship with nature is a fundamental driver of the biodiversity crisis. The disconnection from nature can reduce people’s willingness to care for nature or engage in pro-biodiversity conservation behaviors. If we are to achieve the transformative change required to reverse threats to biodiversity and promote a biodiversity-positive future, we must strengthen people’s connection to and care for biodiversity – especially in cities where a majority of the human population lives and may experience nature and biodiversity. Thus, strengthening nature connection can be achieved by designing cities that support biodiversity and foster frequent as well as meaningful nature experiences. Yet, the ecological transformation of the city requires evidence-based interventions to support biodiversity, as well as coordinated efforts among city actors using transdisciplinary approaches. In our project ‘BioDivHubs – bringing biodiversity into the neighborhood’ in Munich, Germany, we collaborate with urban gardeners, neighborhood residents, urban greening organizations, environmental educators and government agencies to develop, implement and evaluate biodiversity conservation interventions with and for both people and nature. Community gardens and their surroundings are our “living laboratory” to co-create, test and collectively implement conservation strategies with residents. This talk will present on diverse activities including a citizen science balcony greening project, community-led neighborhood greenspace rewilding, a mobile demonstration garden, and an evidence-based seed mixture to implement in different gardening and neighborhood contexts. These various activities represent different interventions for biodiversity conservation that interface ecological research and praxis. These activities also represent different forms of human-nature interactions that incorporate ecology, food, art, and landscape planning. Our aim is that, through peoples’ diverse experiences with biodiversity, people will be further empowered to invest in pro-biodiversity behavior, care for biodiversity, and implement more conservation interventions. We will discuss the opportunities, challenges, and successes in transdisciplinary urban biodiversity conservation. The project BioDivHubs is funded within the Federal Programme for Biological Diversity by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation with resources from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.