Aug
Grand Seminar: Nature’s Alarms — Connecting Biodiversity Loss to Preparedness and Societal Safety
In times of accelerating biodiversity loss and the looming risk of ecosystem collapse emerge as direct threats to national security, food systems, and global stability - societies are confronted with an urgent dilemma: how to respond immediately to escalating crises while also building long-term resilience for a rapidly changing future.
Recent assessments by both Swedish and international intelligence and academia warn that collapsing ecosystems could trigger resource scarcity, price shocks, and geopolitical instability within just a few years, underscoring how deeply local vulnerabilities are tied to global environmental decline. Against this backdrop, this seminar explores how we can connect biodiversity loss to crisis preparedness and societal safety by examining:
- how our research can better inform both “action now” and long-term strategies
- how to understand societal risks from local communities to global systems
- where critical system vulnerabilities lie
- why policy responses so often address symptoms rather than underlying global drivers
Through cross-sector dialogue, we aim to strengthen the connection between scientific insight and real-world needs in a time of profound ecological and societal disruption.
Registration
Participation is free of charge, but requires registration.
Last day to register 16 August on the following link:
Programme
08:30 Coffee and registration
9:00 Welcome and aim of the seminar
Moderator: Hugo Malm, County Administrative Board Skåne
09:15-10:15 Keynotes: Do we understand the scale of the challenges?
Richard Walters, Lund University: Status of biodiversity and the risk of ecosystem collapse
10:15 Coffee break
10:45 Panel: Consequences of biodiversity loss - critical system vulnerabilities across sectors and scales
- Fredrik NG Andersson, Lund University
- Pål Börjesson, Lund University, LTH
- Lina Eklund, Lund University
- Jesica Lopéz, Nature Development Company
- Henrik Smith, Lund University
11:50 Introduction to mingle lunch
12:00-13:30 Lunch with group discussion
What can research contribute with – and when?
13:30-14:30 Short talks: Actions now versus long-term resilience, local versus global
- Security in creeping crises
Magnus Ekengren, Swedish defense University - Need for coordinating efforts across sectors – who does what?
Ulrika Postgård, Swedish Civil Defence and Resilience Agency - Food systems preparedness
TBA - Addressing symptoms not drivers: Why is policy often reactive?
Åsa Knaggård, Lund University
14:30-15:30 Concluding dialogue: From tensions to takeaways
- Magnus Ekengren, Swedish Defense University
- Ulrika Postgård, Swedish Civil Defence and Resilience Agency
- Additional panellists will be announced
About the event
Location:
Lund (venue TBA)
Admission:
Free admission
Target group:
Researchers and societal actors engaged in, or affected by, these issues
Language:
English
Contact:
josefin [dot] madjidian [at] mgeo [dot] lu [dot] se