Event Reports
We hold a wide range of events, from large-scale conferences to panel debates and focused workshops, bringing together ecologists and policymakers.
People, Politics and the Planet: Any Questions
Our pre-election political debate, chaired by Jonathan Dimbleby
March 2015
(109 KB pdf)
Hosted by The Sibthorp Trust, The British Ecological Society and the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM).
People, Politics and the Planet: Any Questions brought together a panel of leading politicians to debate their environmental policies ahead of the 2015 UK general election, chaired by Jonathan Dimbleby.
The panellists were:
- Lord de Mauley TD (Conservatives, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Natural Environment and Science)
- Barry Gardiner MP (Labour, MP for Brent North and Shadow Minister for the Natural Environment)
- Baroness Parminter (Liberal Democrats, Environment Spokesperson)
- Natalie Bennett (Green, Party Leader and Parliamentary Candidate for Holborn and St. Pancras)
- Dr Eilidh Whiteford MP (Scottish National Party, MP for Banff and Buchan)
- William Cash (UK Independence Party, Heritage and Tourism Spokesperson)
Event report by Ben Connor, Policy Manager
2014
Valuing our life support systems
The second Natural Capital Initiative Summit
November 2014
(6 MB pdf)
The second Natural Capital Initiative summit aimed to:
- Derive a common understanding of what natural capital really means
- Understand in plain language the natural and social science behind it
- Find and demonstrate ways in which sectors and initiatives can work, and are working, together to apply it
- Identify ways of ensuring that practical responses have scientific rigour
- Communicate recommendations for ways forward across the sectors.
All presentations and videos from the summit are available on the Natural Capital Initiative website
Summit report by the Natural Capital Initiative
Scottish Biodiversity Science conference
A joint conference of the Scottish Policy Group, CIEEM and the Science and Technical Group of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy
October 2014
(125 KB pdf)
The second Scottish Biodiversity Science conference focused on the theme of Monitoring in action.
All presentations from the conference can be downloaded from the Biodiversity Scotland website.
Scottish Policy Group horizon scanning meeting
Members of the BES Scottish Policy Group, staff from the Scottish Government and Scottish Natural Heritage, convened to discuss emerging issues with implications for both research and policy.
June 2014
(363 KB pdf)
The Scottish Policy Group horizon-scanning workshop brought together policy colleagues and members to informally discuss research and policy gaps in selected topic areas.
Top 10 tips for effectively engaging and communicating with policymakers
Policy Training workshop
April 2014
(156 KB pdf)
Our training workshop enabled participants to generate an understanding of the UK policy environment and equip them with the appropriate skills to effectively communicate their science to policymakers.
2013
Biodiversity offsetting: what does the science say?
A workshop to inform our response to the biodiversity offsetting green paper
September 2013
(333 KB pdf)
This event was held at the Linnean Society. Jo Treweek (Treweek Environmental Consultants) led the workshop, supported by an organising committee comprising Joe Bull (Imperial College London), Adrian Jowitt (Natural England), Toby Gardner (Cambridge Conservation Initiative) and Stewart Thompson (Oxford Brookes University). Participants discussed the science behind offsetting following the Biodiversity Offsetting Green Paper.
2012
Balancing food security and environmental concerns: challenges of sustainable intensification on land and at sea
A joint meeting with the UK Biodiversity Research Advisory Group
December 2012
(100 KB pdf)
What is the future for aquaculture and agriculture in the UK? Could fish become our main source of protein and seaweed a major biofuel? How can we balance increased farm productivity with clean and biodiverse freshwaters? And what are the socioeconomic and governance issues of the current significant changes in practices?
The BES collaborated with the UK Biodiversity Research Advisory Group (UK BRAG) to deliver a Special Session at the BES Annual Meeting addressing these questions, to explore how continued and ecological sustainable delivery of food and energy from the natural environment will be achieved.
2011
Adapting conservation to a changing climate
A joint British Ecological Society and Natural England conference
January 2011
(577 KB pdf)
We organised a two-day conference with Natural England in January 2011, exploring how practical conservation measures could facilitate adaptation to climate change.
There is much interest in approaches allowing conservation and climate change adaptation objectives to be met simultaneously, using what is sometimes called ecosystem-based adaptation, for example, identifying where creating wetlands can provide flood defence. This conference aimed to provide a timely review and synthesis of this area of research.