Under the call HORIZON -CL6-2021- CLIMATE -01, a contract for funding the project “Ecosystem-based Adaptation and Changemaking to Shape, Protect and Maintain the Resilience of Tomorrow’s Forests” – eco2adapt was approved and signed! The partner from the Republic of Serbia was the University of Belgrade – Institute for Multidisciplinary Research (IMSI). Participants in this project from IMSI are Dr. Žaklina Marjanović (PI for Serbia), Dr. Slobodan Krnjajić, and Dr. Goran Trivan.
The implementation of the project is scheduled to start on 1 September 2022.
This is a networking and research project related to forest resilience towards climate change and anthropogenic impacts in Europe and China. Eco2adapt will develop an ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) framework, derived from nature-based solutions (NBS), using biodiversity and ecosystem services to reduce vulnerability and build socio-ecological resilience to climate change.
The project will be conducted in Living Laboratories in Europe and China, that are located in climate hotspots, using a cutting-edge approach to decision-making (Decision Theatres), in order to explore how forest managers integrate disturbance and vulnerability into decision-making. Scenarios of how disturbances affect forest dynamics and ecosystem services at a landscape scale will be derived through modeling and using the data from the Living Labs. In this way, stakeholders will learn how their decisions affect ecosystem services in neighboring forests. One of the Living Laboratories will be located in Serbia and IMSI will be responsible for it.
The interdisciplinary knowledge of academics and stakeholders in Europe and China is combined to understand perceptions and incentivize the adoption of EbA solutions through building local capacity and national policy agendas. Through the same decision-making methodology, capacities are built to create and promote innovative technical, economic, and management mechanisms at the regional level. Semantic technologies will be used to create a knowledge base storing data from FAIR and to develop a SmartPhone application (OneForest ToolBox) that allows users to access and add data on climate resilient species, origin, mixtures, management techniques, and ecosystem services, taking into account future uncertainties related to climate and social change.
We will provide a suite of state-of-the-art vulnerability and resilience monitoring tools (including invasive species and above and below-ground biodiversity) at all levels of society – from citizens to policymakers. Through tailored communication at all levels of society, we will reach a wide audience that can initiate positive change. The consortium is formed by 25 participants, 21 from Europe and 4 from China.
