I am organising an innovative event that will be fully remote and web-based. The web conference process will use webinars for the introduction and conclusion sessions and then a online discussion forum open during 3 weeks for all participants to join conversations on some topics related to knowledge gaps and needs on land degradation and restoration.
But you might wonder what is the context and why this subject. Have you heard of IPBES? Maybe not..This is an intergovernemental platform bringing together scientists and knowledge holders across disciplines and regions to provide the best available knowledge on issues related to Biodiversity and Ecosystem services. It is a bit like the IPCC but for Biodiversity.
One of their latest report deals with the current state of knowledge on “Land degradation and Restoration”. This topic is critical especially in the face of climate change that will exacerbate current land degradation phenomenons. This assessment also identify some knowledge gaps that are sometimes limiting policy decisions and actions to address land degradation challenges.
Organising and facilitating such a virtual event is of course a challenge in many ways even if at least you don’t have to handle logisitics (no virtual food or drinks unfortunately!). First, the timing is tight tight… We have one month to approach keynote contributors and support them in preparing some sexy/interesting contributions to trigger conversations on the forum. We also have to make sure a wide scope or participants are registering covering a diversity of regions, expertise and interests. Finally we need to also approach the organisations that will potentially use the recommendations generated by this web event to ensure some usefull outcomes. I am not even mentionning the technical aspects to fine tune when you expect more than 300 participantsn but I have amazing technical experts to support this part of the organisation…
So if you know of people or organisations who could be interested in this innovative event, join us :