ICTA-UAB researchers participate in the presentation of the State of the World report

10/06/2016

Ed Gardner, President of WWI, and Gary Gardner, director of Publications of WWI, will be presenting the annual State of the World 2016 report, which is entitled Can a City be Sustainable?, focused on urban sustainability. The renowned report includes three chapters written by Catalan researchers of the group Conservation, Biodiversity and Global Change (Nycticorax), led by Dr Martí Boada.

During the presentation, Dr Martí Boada will give a lecture on “Biodiversity as Sustainability Indicator” and Dr Roser Maneja will talk about “Biodiversity as Health Indicator”.

The Conservation, Biodiversity and Global Change (Nycticorax) research group has written three chapters of the State of the World 2016 (one conceptual and two case studies). The conceptual chapter, “The Critical Role of Biodiversity in Urban Sustainability”, aims to contribute to a new thinking regarding the role of urban biodiversity in Mediterranean cities, which is considered one of the central measures of urban sustainability. The chapter outlines ways to promote and understand urban biodiversity, the ecosystem services it provides, and biological functions in cities.

The use of examples from cities in the Mediterranean basin (Barcelona, Jerusalem, Amman, Rome and Tunis) will give the finishing touch while aiding in the understanding of the approach introduced. The chapter also proposes a new way of understanding biodiversity in cities, through a newly devised urban green governance index that can serve as a toolbox and a guideline for urban biodiversity managers in the Mediterranean region. The case studies were developed in Barcelona (Barcelona, Wooded City between the Forests and the Sea) and in Jerusalem (The City of Jerusalem: A Biodiversity Shrine).

The Worldwatch Institute is an independent research organization working to speed the transition to an environmentally sustainable world that meets human needs. Since its founding in 1974 by Lester R. Brown, the Worldwatch Institute has been among the world’s most well-respected environmental research organizations. Earlier this year, in a report by Global Go-To Think Tanks, the University of Pennsylvania named Worldwatch among the top three environmental think tanks in the world. Worldwatch’s recent work in sustainable agriculture, low-carbon development strategies, rights-based approaches to population, energy and environment in China, and the green economy has been featured in hundreds of media outlets and is relied upon around the globe by those seeking to build a more sustainable world.