With the Sustainability Research Initiative, SCNAT, together with its sister institutions, promotes research on sustainable development and 2030 Agenda. It focuses on the joint handling of social issues of higher priority in overarching consortia.more

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«Thriving Spaces»: Sustainability and Spatial Development

Workshop at the World Biodiversity Forum 2022, Report

The priority theme «Thriving Spaces - Sustainability and Spatial Development» was discussed in a workshop session at the World Biodiversity Forum in Davos on 29.06.2022. The second World Biodiversity Forum brought together researchers across all disciplines of biodiversity science with practitioners and societal actors in a forum that offers inspiration and examples for actions and solutions to conserve biodiversity, and set us on a path towards transformation for sustainability.

Workshop «Thriving Spaces». World Biodiversity Forum

Mobility, housing, and individual choices profoundly impact patterns of land use, both in Switzerland and abroad. In the report "Priority Themes for Swiss Sustainability Research", the Swiss Academies identified “Thriving Spaces” to be one of six priority areas where we need to take action. The concept of thriving spaces relates to how we perceive, use, change, restore, and protect our spaces, and how lifestyle choices and economic activities can be reconciled as part of a sustainable whole. Changing course will require being inspired by the best examples of sustainable land use and developing a shared vision of the way forward. The most important unresolved issues listed in the report include, for example, exploring the factors underlying unsustainable lifestyles; dealing with urban-rural divides and unequal opportunities; the impact of (economic) cost transparency on realising a sustainable use of our space; or realising inclusive processes to shape the future together. These and the other proposed most important unresolved issues are now to be put up for discussion and debated more broadly, with the aim of networking the various specialist communities in science and practice and making the topic a strong, integrative and transdisciplinary field of research.

Read the full report here.

Authors: Dr Eva Spehn

Thriving Spaces: Sustainability and Spatial Development - Priority themes sustainability research
Thriving Spaces: Sustainability and Spatial Development - Priority themes sustainability researchImage: Hansjakob Fehr

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