Water Lives Symposium: successful science-policy dialoguing

February 6, 2014

Last week’s Water Lives symposium in Brussels was deemed a great sucess by all involved. The wonderful museum of the Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences offered a setting that took participants out of their everyday work environment and created the space to discuss issues of mutual interest and concern. Among these were the value of riparian corridors for maintianing biodiveristy in a changing climate, the importance of south-eastern Europe for freshwater biodiversity conservation (highlighted in new maps presented of EU freshwater biodiveristy), and the politics and scientific unease surrounding the ecosystems services concept.

The key themes and messages of the symposium are still being consilidated and prepared. A short video sumamry and longer podcast will be released soon and the video-streaming of first day’s sessions will be made avialble. In the meantime here are some photos which capture something of the essence and spirit of the symposium.