Jointly organised with the Spanish Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge and the IUCN Chair for Nature Conservation (UNIA - International University of Andalusia), this technical conference enabled an exchange of experiences which support an integrated development of the national Strategy for Green Infrastructures and the Nature-based Solutions standard.

 From 19 to 20 May, the online event explored opportunities arising from the new European financing framework "European Green Pact" for post-COVID 19 economic recovery, where regional and local managers, as well as the private sector (agriculture, livestock, environmental engineering, etc.) will play a fundamental role.

Read the final report with the conclusions of the conference here (Spanish):

https://www.iucn.org/sites/dev/files/content/documents/informe_final_jornadas_iv_sbn_200721.pdf

This conference pursued the following goals:

- Open an enriching discussion on the role of Nature-based Solutions to enhance connectivity, environmental restoration and protection of ecosystem services throughout the implementation of the Green Infrastructure Strategy, taking into account environmental, economic and social factors.

- Identify social challenges at the core of Nature-based Solutions and their relationship with the development of the Green Infrastructure Strategy, specifically climate change, socio-economic development, disaster risk reduction, biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation.

- Develop the transversality of the Green Infrastructure Strategy, to integrate and coordinate sector-related policies impacting territories, as well as enhancing coordination between administrations, from an international to a local level.

The conference was inaugurated by Hugo Morán, Secretary of State for the Environment, who highlighted the close relationship between human and ecosystems’ health revealed by the COVID-19 crisis. He thanked all the participants for their collaboration, highlighting that their experiences, as well as the development of Green Infrastructure at different scales and Nature-based Solutions, represent an opportunity to consolidate and support the roadmap of the Ministry to promote the implementation of the National Strategy for Green Infrastructure.

Likewise, the rector of the International University of Andalusia (UNIA), José Ignacio Fernández presented the IUCN Chair for Nature Conservation, which aims to promote knowledge and dissemination of NBS standard in the Mediterranean context and conceived as an instrument for the development of research, innovation and knowledge transfer about NBS and biodiversity conservation to respond to the main challenges of this century such as climate change or food security.

Programme: https://www.iucn.org/sites/dev/files/content/documents/2021/programa_largo_sbn_iv_1.pdf