Newsletter March 2018

Dear friends and readers,
A short update on the latest news from SUSTINOVA, on our new collaborations.
Comments and questions can be posted below.

New year, new collaborations

We are happy to announce that Sustinova will be working together with two other organisations during 2018: the platform Reforestation World and the Chair of Ecosystem Management at the ETH Zürich.

This cooperation follows our overall approach of linking stakeholders but with a strategic focus in the area of ecosystem restoration. Our aim is to support the work of these two groups while establishing new links to the scientific community, practitioners and the general public.

Reforestation World is a platform dedicated to the promotion of forest restoration efforts and sustainable livelihoods around the world. Sustinova will provide operational support to their public outreach activities, such as the “Draw a Tree, we plant it” action (Link to Facebook). The first one took place at the Zurich Zoo in September 2017, with great results, and will now be repeated in additional locations. In addition, we will build on our joint Open House session from Nov 2017 about the value of forests (event notes here), by co-organising workshops with practitioners and other stakeholders.

In addition to its normal research focus, the ETHZ Chair of Ecosystem Management is organising the upcoming Latsis Symposium ETH 2018 “Scaling-up forest Restoration”, on June 6&7 at the ETH Zürich. Their goal is to ensure that the scientific basis for the expansion of restoration efforts can be delivered and effectively applied by other stakeholders and practitioners. Our focus will be in assisting with the connection to other actors, in the non-profit and business areas. We strongly recommend this event, with experts from around the world.

Another event which we want to highlight here is the symposium “The Potential of Perennials for Food System Resilience”. It will take place on April 7h, in Stans, central Switzerland. This event, with experts from Switzerland and abroad, is focused on building sustainable food production systems.

Healthy, functional ecosystems are a key element of any sustainable development strategy as they ensure several functions which are either irreplaceable or where the alternatives carry a huge social and economic cost. Sadly, the current level of degradation is high and many trends amplify the problem further. To reverse the course, normal conservation approaches need to be supplemented by effective restoration efforts, with each part of society playing a role. Through these collaborations, which are part of a larger puzzle, we aim to make a contribution to this path.

With best regards,
The SUSTINOVA Team