Horizon Europe GoDigiBioS Project: Mitigation and adaptation measures for biodiversity loss: Policies, governance, and tools to drive transformative change

The world is losing its wild species and ecosystems at an alarming rate, and Europe is no exception. However, biodiversity underpins the functioning of ecosystems, which provide essential goods and services for humans and all other life forms on Earth. We must therefore reverse the trend of biodiversity loss in the foreseeable future, particularly by addressing the underlying indirect drivers of biodiversity loss, such as consumption patterns, norms, and values, to achieve a double decoupling (from consumption stemming from the overuse of natural resources and from the satisfaction derived from consumption).

This transformative change requires social innovation and improved systemic governance approaches. Furthermore, digitalization and emerging technologies offer potential to support biodiversity conservation, increase social well-being, and economic prosperity, which must be harnessed while reducing their existing negative impacts. GoDigiBios aims to support biodiversity-relevant transformative change toward a nature-friendly economy and society that utilizes new digital and other emerging technologies to help reverse biodiversity loss.

Specifically, GoDigiBioS will provide:

1. A comprehensive understanding, complemented by new knowledge and operational insights, of the interactions between biodiversity, social and economic well-being, and technological development.
2. Tools to support decision-making relevant to biodiversity.
3. A better mix of systemic policies and governance approaches.

To co-produce these insights, tools, and governance approaches, GoDigiBioS will bring together and leverage the knowledge and experience of key researchers and stakeholders from four European peri-urban transformation laboratory regions, and will utilize specific approaches to ensure the scalability and replicability of its solutions.