Introduction
The Europe and Central Asia network of organisations engaging in IPBES brings together the IPBES national focal points (NFP) and the national biodiversity platforms in Europe working at the science-policy interface in the biodiversity arena to connect the national scientific community, the administrative and political actors, and other stakeholders in these countries.
A bit of history…
Following the successful co-organisation of two Pan-European Stakeholder Consultations (PESC) in 2013 and 2014, the national biodiversity platforms/focal points of Germany, Switzerland, France, UK, and Belgium decided to join forces and put in place the ECA network, an informal network of organisations engaging in IPBES.
Since its inception in 2015, many countries have joined them and the network is now comprised of 23 members: Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the UK, and Uzbekistan.
The objectives of the network
The overall aim of our informal network is to connect the NFPs/national platforms in Europe and Central Asia to contribute to the development of a European-wide network working on IPBES-related topics; and to provide a common space for sharing knowledge, resources, opinions, and lessons learned regarding IPBES.
As such, the network also wants to support the establishment of national platforms in other interested countries, in close collaboration with the IPBES Technical Support Unit on Capacity building and the Open-ended Network of IPBES Stakeholders (ONet, supported by International Union for the Conservation of Nature). The ECA Network also organises the (bi)yearly Pan-European Stakeholder Consultations (the so-called PESC meetings) as a place for National Focal Points to network, exchange, and strengthen their capacities to engage with IPBES.
How to join the ECA network, and what is required from the members?
Joining and being part of the ECA Network is easy!
Interested NFPs/national platforms are warmly invited to contact us: Anna Heck a.heck @biodiversity.be
Once you are a member, your contribution to the network is on a voluntary basis, depending on your own resources, interests, and needs