CO-OP4CBD aims to enhance coordination of the EU support to advance the implementation of the CBD, and doing so make more effective use of existing expertise and initiatives. This will lead to greater coherence in the ways in which the EU, its Member States and associated countries identify and draw on available expertise, improved advice and support to a range of CBD processes, and a more coordinated and cooperative approach in the engagement of experts in supporting implementation of other intergovernmental agreements and processes. Therefore the core focus of CO-OP4CBD is to support the increase facilitation of technical and scientific cooperation in European countries and elsewhere. This will be achieved through the implementation of a set of Coordination and Support Actions: 1) building on existing networks of experts and institutions; 2) engaging experts into the CBD processes; 3) supporting the implementation of monitoring, reporting and review; and 4) increasing technical and scientific cooperation. These actions are targeted at and will benefit the EU, its Member States and associated countries. Many actions and outputs of CO-OP4CBD however will be of interest and use to other Parties to the CBD.

NetworkNature+ will continue NetworkNature’s legacy as a ‘network of networks’ and expand it to engage new audiences in addressing the societal challenges outlined by the EU. It will maintain and enhance the established evidence/demand/policy-driven multi-stakeholder platform for NBS, strengthening partnerships and fostering new relationships around a clear strategic framework for action, underpinned by an updated EU Research & Innovation NBS Roadmap and complementary analysis of policy opportunities for integrating NBS at EU, Member State, regional and local level in view of EU 2030 policy targets and EU Missions. NetworkNature+ will provide scientific NBS insights across selected policy priorities and different European and international contexts. This will guide our work around dialogue, stakeholder interactions, knowledge sharing and awareness raising, resulting in products, standards and advisory services that support the growing NBS community of innovators, practitioners and developers. A targeted training and capacity building programme will promote a step change from siloed, project-based thinking towards an integrated, systemic and stakeholder-led approach to NBS planning, design and investment, while leveraging the role of ecosystems as critical infrastructure that support regenerative economic activities and help reduce biodiversity loss. We will enable regional and Europe-wide transdisciplinary collaboration to answer identified R&I needs for NBS via knowledge exchange between EU-funded NBS R&I projects and stakeholders, together with skills development and capacity building for target groups from science, policy, business and society. International collaboration with key strategic partners (e.g. UNCBD, IPBES, IPCC, UNFCCC, UNEP, UNDRR) and selected regions will enable European expertise to inform the global NBS discourse, contributing to the EC’s vision of “a stronger Europe in the world” and supporting new investments for NBS.

Current knowledge and conventional awareness-raising have largely proven insufficient to tackle the issue of biodiversity and ecosystems degradation. In this context, scenarios of biodiversity and ecosystem services (ESS) can play a key role both in informing policy makers and practitioners and raising awareness on biodiversity issues for the general public, as it has been the case for climate change. By networking 27 funding agencies from 24 countries from Europe and other continents, BiodivScen aims to promote and support coordinated international research on scenarios of biodiversity and ecosystem services. It will strengthen research and research programmes coordination with the ultimate aim to provide policy makers and other stakeholders with adequate knowledge, tools and practical solutions to improve the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystems. The BiodivScen objectives are to: - coordinate the research agendas of major European and interantional research funders to agree on sha