Web Conference on Land Degradation and Restoration Knowledge Gaps and Needs | January 14th - February 4th, 2019

The web conference on Land Degradation and Restoration Knowledge Gaps and Needs is an opportunity for a broad spectrum of experts, knowledge holders and practitioners to collaborate, to inform the work of IPBES and catalyse further knowledge generation via interactive web-based forum discussions and webinar presentations.

Registration

Registration for the web conference is open to all experts, decision-makers and stakeholders, aiming to engage a larger community than previously engaged in the Assessment, exchange ideas and build capacity on the topic.

You must have an IPBES user account to register and participate in this web-conference and contribute to the online forum discussions.

Click to login with existing account and register for the web conference 

If you do not have an IPBES account, please create one here. Please note that your account will need to be approved before you can register.

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Objectives of the Web Conference

This web conference will build on the knowledge gaps identified by the IPBES Assessment Report on Land Degradation and Restoration. It will provide an interactive, transparent and inclusive platform for the discussion of these gaps, the consultation on knowledge needs of policymakers and practitioners, and the identification of priority areas for relevant knowledge generation. The ultimate objective is to inform research, policy and funding agencies, and to catalyze the generation of new knowledge. The overall scope includes gaps and needs related to data, information, knowledge and infrastructure. Experts and stakeholders from around the world are invited, from a wide array of relevant fields, such as scientific organisations, natural history museums, organisations mobilising citizen science and Indigenous and local knowledge, funding organisations, the private sector, policymakers and other practitioners. 

The conference will be an opportunity to consult various actors on the knowledge gaps identified throughout the assessments, and to seek their feedback and additional suggestions on knowledge gaps and needs. It will be of a consultative nature and participants will inform the work of IPBES by:

  • Providing feedback on and discussing the knowledge gaps identified by the Land Degradation and Restoration Assessment, further contributing to a robust body of identified knowledge gaps on this issue; 
  • Proposing and discussing knowledge needs in practice and policy, reflecting the priorities of various political and social contexts across appropriate scales;
  • Suggesting and deliberating means and methods to address these knowledge needs with a view toward informing research, policymakers, funding agencies and other actors generating or mobilising knowledge.

Conference Format

This conference will be fully remote, using webinar technology for presentations and primarily taking place through interactive and structured online forum discussions. Discussions during one week will build the base for the following week. The structure enables participants to engage across the globe by posting on the forum contributions such as comments, scientific literature, citations and other inputs, organized thematically over a period of three weeks and ultimately resulting in a synthesis of contributions on knowledge gaps and needs.

(January 14) - Introductory webinar: Presentation of knowledge gaps identified by the Assessment and conference overview

Week 1 (Jan 14–18) - Identifying knowledge gaps: Invitation for feedback on knowledge gaps identified

Week 2 (Jan 21–25) - Prioritizing knowledge needs: Reflecting on knowledge needs in practice and policy

Week 3 (Jan 28–Feb 1) - Addressing knowledge needs: Seeking suggestions on how to address knowledge needs

(February 4) Concluding webinar: Synthesis of contributions  

Policymakers, practitioners, experts and other knowledge holders are encouraged to actively participate in the structured forum discussions. The proceedings of the web conference will result in a list of suggestions for highly-prioritised knowledge needs, which will inform research, policymakers, funding agencies and other actors generating or mobilising knowledge.

This web conference is part of a pilot approach to fulfill the IPBES mandate of identifying and prioritising key scientific information needed for policymakers and catalysing efforts to generate new knowledge.

 

The IPBES Approach to Knowledge Gaps and Needs

One of IPBES’ four functions is to identify and prioritize key scientific information needed for policymakers at appropriate scales and to catalyse efforts to generate new knowledge by engaging in dialogue with key scientific organizations, policymakers and funding organizations (UNEP/IPBES.MI/2/9).

A general approach to identifying knowledge gaps and needs and catalysing knowledge generation is being developed to guide the implementation of this function (IPBES/6/INF/14), including the following three steps:

  1. Identification of gaps in knowledge, information and data in the IPBES work programme, and in completed assessments;
  2. Consultation on these gaps and formulation of priority areas for knowledge generation with the scientific community;
  3. Tailoring these priority research areas to potential research-funding institutions and communication to these funding organizations.

The approach to identifying knowledge gaps and needs and catalysing knowledge generation should be transformational and shape future directions of research and other forms of knowledge mobilization and generation relevant to biodiversity, its sustainable management and nature’s contributions to people.

The approach differentiates between “knowledge gaps”—which identify a gap in data, information or knowledge as provided by the Assessment authors and experts—and “knowledge needs,” which entails the identification and prioritization of the knowledge gaps on the part of policymakers and practitioners in relation to specific policy contexts and targeted objectives.

Identified knowledge gaps and needs should therefore include:

  • Gaps/needs related to various scientific disciplines, including natural and social sciences and humanities, and from different knowledge systems, including Indigenous and local knowledge (ILK);
  • Gaps/needs regarding a) data, b) information (organized data), and c) knowledge (analyzed data and information)
  • Gaps/needs regarding the a) existence of, or b) access to data, information and knowledge and c) capabilities and infrastructure to mobilize, generate and process data, information and knowledge;
  • Gaps/needs related to different levels of governance, to support requirements of policy formulation and implementation at local, national regional and global levels;
  • Gaps/needs with different time implications, including those able to be addressed in the short-term (within 2 years), gaps to be addressed in the medium-term (within 5 years), and in the long-term (within 10 years and beyond);
  • Gaps/needs of different scale, ranging from broad, general areas to more specific aspects and topics.

IPBES' Mobilization and Generation of New Knowledge

The identified knowledge gaps and prioritized knowledge needs will then inform IPBES’ efforts to catalyse the mobilization and generation of new knowledge by engaging in dialogue with a wide array of actors, including but not limited to:

  • Organizations mobilising or generating knowledge, information and data;
  • Organizations funding activities to mobilise or generate knowledge, information and data; and
  • Users of knowledge, information and data that will have been mobilised or generated based on the gaps and needs identified by IPBES.

This web conference on knowledge gaps and needs pertaining to land degradation and restoration strives to foster a more inclusive platform for consultation on these issues while fulfilling the IPBES mandate in a more environmentally-friendly manner. 

Contact

Please contact the LDR webconference team for any related issue on [email protected]