For over 15 years, Focali has bridged forest, climate, biodiversity, and livelihoods research with policy and practice. Such safe spaces for mutual learning across disciplines and sectors are more needed than ever. Therefore, we invite you to join this year’s Focali Annual Meeting, offering an opportunity for networking and knowledge exchange, and a space where you can contribute to and benefit from, the shared insights. Read more about the event below and stay tuned for the final program and announcement of speakers on this page.
The annual meeting will include:
- Pitches and speed talks by Focali researchers and partners based on open call for talks
- A research – policy – practice dialogue taking us from Cali to Belem
- Updates on Focali innovations, such as our new work streams and partnerships
- Space for actors to express their interests, needs, and knowledge gaps
- A forum for early career researchers and professionals to connect on common interests
- Interactive world café discussions on critical issues on our minds in these times
- Informal networking, mingling, and developing of new collaborations
During a part of the day, we will be traveling from Cali to Belem via Windhoek guided by experts from different sectors, to reflect on these milestone events and synergies between them. 2024 was a crucial year for global environmental governance, as it was a ‘triple COP year’ with the UN Convention on Biological Diversity’s COP16 took place in Cali, the UN Convention on Combating Desertification’s COP16 in Riyadh, and the Framework Convention on Climate Change’s COP29 in Baku. Science and current global developments show how these Rio conventions and themes are intertwined, as underscored by the recent approval of two landmark assessments at the IPBES meeting in Windhoek. The Nexus Assessment explores the interlinkages between crises in biodiversity, water, food, health, and climate change, whereas the Transformative Change Assessment focuses on underlying drivers of biodiversity loss and the system-wide changes needed to address them.
Read more and register here.