BECC Annual Meeting 2025 - Restoring Nature under Climate Change

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Programme 

Day 1

9.00-9.15 Arrival and coffee 

9.15 Welcome by BECC coordinator Edith Hammer

9.30-12.00 Defining Restoration: Baselines, Goals and Trade-offs

Keynotes

• Torbjörn Ebenhard, SLU: Overall view of restoration – law & baseline
• Harry Fischer, SLU: Building “restoration futures” for more sustainable and thriving landscapes

BECC researcher presentations

Thomas (Tom) Pugh (INES); Restoring Europe’s forests: Where are we and what are we aiming for? 
Camille Volle (INES), Primary Forests: Useful natural baselines
Lydwin Wagenaar (Biology), Using forest structures in rewilding projects
Kimberly Nicholas (LUCSUS), Earth System Boundaries for natural and working ecosystems 
Josefin Winberg (CEC), Nature conservation and restoration in the corporate sector - metrics matter 
Mikkel Brydegaard (Physics), Photonic monitoring of insect diversity in situ 

This session explores how we define and approach ecological restoration. What are we trying to restore, and how do we choose our goals and reference points? We’ll look at the role of historical baselines, the uncertainties of future climate impacts, and how these influence restoration decisions.   

We will also highlight current gaps in monitoring biodiversity and ecosystem state, and how this limits our ability to assess restoration outcomes. We’ll discuss how legal frameworks may support or constrain future-oriented restoration, and how we can navigate the trade-offs involved.

12-13 Lunch

13.00-15.00 Policy & Global Perspectives: The Role of Restoration Laws

Keynotes

• Rachel Kristensen, BiodivRestore Nature Restoration Law Knowledge Hub and University of Western Australia:
  Addressing the big questions? An overview of the NRR and NRL, available resources and the state of play for the Member States  
• Annette Löf, SEI: Governing through restoration?
  On the politics of restoration policies and possible implications for Indigenous Sámi rights-holders, lands and livelihoods

BECC researcher presentations

Henrik Smith (CEC and Biology), Science meets reality – how to inform complex policy processes under time constraints exemplified by nature restoration 
Torsten Krause (LUCSUS), Protecting at home, degrading somewhere else? - The EU restoration law and the risks of extraterritorial impact displacement
Purnendu Sardar (INES), Climate Adaptation finance for climate Mitigation using Afforestation in extractive conflict zones
David Harnesk (LUCSUS), The contentious politics of forest degradation – a multi-scalar approach to boreal forest restoration  

In this session, we will explore how restoration laws—especially the EU Restoration Law—are being implemented and interpreted at the national level. We’ll look at how national plans are shaping up, where progress is being made, and where key challenges remain. We’ll also discuss the wider impacts of EU restoration policies. Are efforts to protect and restore nature somewhere unintentionally shifting environmental pressures to other regions?

15.00-16.00 Poster session and fika
                     Poster presenters: Carla Coelho, Carlos Jair Muñoz Rodriguez, Dan Hammarlund, Edith Hammer, Emily Register, 
                                     Emma Kritzberg, Hakim Abdi, Hanna Ekström, Johanna Strandhag, Jutta Holst, Lina Eklund, Martin Eriksson, Md. Rafikul Islam

16.00-17.00 Panel discussion - moderated by Kim Nicholas.

19.00 Quiz and Dinner

Day 2

6.45-7.45 A guided bird walk. Start from the hotel lobby
                No experience necessary. If you have binoculars or birding guides, please bring them. 
                Our expert guide will be Hakim Abdi, BECC PI and founder of Birding Therapy, who will share his over 30 years’ birding                   experience with us. You are guaranteed to gain new appreciation of our feathered friends!

8.15-10.00 PI-meeting

9.00-10.00 Workshop for non-PIs:  Let’s Talk Methods: Challenges, Needs, and Collaboration 

This workshop invites BECC members to share quick elevator pitches about their research and the challenges they face in their work—especially methods. What do you need help with? What can you offer others? The goal is to connect people with different kinds of expertise and encourage collaboration. The session will also highlight the BECC Knowledge Commons as a shared resource to support learning, exchange, and new ideas. Whether you’re looking for advice, tools, or research partners, this is a space to start the conversation. 

10.30-11.30 Restoration in Working Landscapes: Agriculture and Forestry

Keynote

• Laura Puértolas, BiodivRestore Nature Restoration Law Knowledge Hub and Albirem Sustainability - Business and Biodiversity: Some insights and recommendations to help implement the EU Nature Restoration Regulation  

BECC researcher presentations

Hanna Ekström (CEC/Political Science), Both heritage and resource: Values and needs in restoration decisions
Annemieke Gärdenäs (BioEnv), A GIS-tool for end-users to identify potential profitable areas for organic beef production and restoration of semi-natural pastures 
Maj Rundlöf (Biology), Monitoring Restoration Actions for Adaptive Conservation Management – Collaboration on Threatened Wild Pollinators as Example
Ola Olsson (Biology), Habitat quality conservation and restoration for an umbrella species 

This session looks at how restoration can work in landscapes that are used for agriculture and forestry. Researchers will present their research on what kinds of restoration are possible in these areas, and what challenges and trade-offs may come up. Topics can include how to set realistic goals for restoring agricultural land, how to balance forest restoration with timber production, and how people’s values and needs can affect restoration decisions. 

11.30-12.30 Lessons from the Past: What Works and What Doesn't? 
Keynotes 

• Karin Olsson and Carina Greiff from County Administrative Boards

What can we learn from restoration projects that are already happening? This session will focus on two large EU-funded projects, LIFE CONNECTS and LIFE RestoRED. Speakers will share what these projects are about, who is involved, and how they work across counties and with different stakeholders and organizations.

The session will also look at how these projects are managed in practice—how they deal with funding, partnerships, and real-life challenges. Have some things worked really well? Have some not gone as planned? What lessons can we take with us for the future? This is a chance to hear honest reflections from the field and to better understand what it takes to make restoration work in the real world. 

12.40-14.40 Lunch and excursion to SANDLife site

We will visit the SANDLife restoration site near Halmstad to explore efforts in restoring coastal sand dune habitats. The SANDLife project, conducted from 2012 to 2018, focused on revitalizing overgrown Natura 2000 areas in southern Sweden, including sites in Skåne, Halland, and Öland, to benefit both biodiversity and public access. During the excursion, attendees will observe various restoration methods and management practices. These actions have led to increased biodiversity, notably benefiting insects, birds, and plants adapted to open sandy environments. Project experts will guide us on-site, offering insights into the restoration processes and outcomes.

15.00 End of Annual Meeting

Organisers: Camille Volle (INES), Carolina Rodriguez (CEC), Amelie Lindgren (Dep of Earth Sciences) and Torsten Krause (LUCSUS)