RECONNECT Team workshop in Göttingen, Germany
September 9th-11th, 2024. Göttingen, Germany.
This September, RECONNECT held its second team workshop in Göttingen, Germany. Our partner from Göttingen hosted us for three days. During these, we discussed how our research could potentially influence, and be influenced by, a shifting policy landscape, particularly in light of the recent approval of the EU Nature Restoration Law.
Our workshop session on “Setting the EU + International policy scene”. Göttingen, Germany.
Credits: Aminta Estrada
The workshop gathered 13 of our team members, who traveled from Grenoble, Potsdam, Helsinki, and Stockholm. On the first day, we focused on revisiting the work we have been doing on protected areas and how this is framed by current policy processes. To support this, our colleagues from IUCN presented the challenges and opportunities for RECONNECT to link insights to national, EU and global level biodiversity related policies. Between the sessions, we explored the classicist-medevial city center and explored the green areas surrounding the small city of Göttingen.
On the second day, the team discussed the role of narratives and collaborations for facilitating human-nature interactions in and around protected areas. Later, we met with colleagues from our sister Biodiversa+ project, BridgingValues, where we learned from their work on policy impacts and established collaborations to create new narratives for policy implementation.
We concluded our desk-based work with a reflective session on our transdisciplinary journey within RECONNECT.
RECONNECT workshop session on “Transdisciplinary journey and reflexive monitoring”. Göttingen, Germany.
Credits: Aminta Estrada
Finally, on the third day, we took a field trip to some of the case study areas which the Göttingen team has been working on. We visited the “Solling Woodland Pasture,” where ponies and cattle contribute to forest conservation and regeneration. We had the opportunity to speak with the forester in charge and observe both preserved and newly established wood pastures. We also visited an ancient primeval forest that has been strictly protected since the early 20th century, where we saw ancient oak trees and enjoyed the panoramic views from the cliffs.
Heath reoccurring in open wood pastures. Besides blackberry bushes, the more colorful sight in this season. We did not meet the ponies but their droppings were one more short term proof of their recent activities in the area.
Credit: Romina Martin
The oak tree which got named after the forester “Rapp” in the protected area “Urwald Sababurg”, Hessen, Germany.
Credit: Romina Martin
Overall, the workshop was refreshing to connect within our team and reflect over individual relations to the broader RECONNECT project and biodiversity conservation policy objectives. We are confident that our work will continue to adapt to the shifting global conservation landscape, and we look forward to our next project activities!
RECONNECT field visit of a skywalk viewpoint over the Weser in lower Saxony, Germany.
Credits: Tobias Plieninger
