Biodiversity Awareness: The conceptualising of a new educational approach

Current dramatic loss of biodiversity is a globally pressing issue since ecosystems and humans, as part of it, depend on biodiversity.

Despite being a primary issue in the contemporary world, biodiversity lacks sufficient attention within educational contexts.

Hence, the aim of these four exploratory workshops, consisting of twelve days in total, is to conceptualise a new approach to biodiversity awareness that can be used to boost research and implementation in education. To sustain life on Earth it is important to understand human awareness of biodiversity.

Due to a lack of valid and reliable measurement tools we are not able to assess biodiversity awareness.

We know even less of how to teach this issue effectively, since we also lack a generally accepted biodiversity awareness concept. The workshop participants include experienced researchers and early career researchers from three universities.

These participants have a diverse range of methodological and conceptual knowledge and skills with which to develop a conceptual framework for mapping biodiversity awareness, and methods of studying it.

This work will help us understand the educational challenges and opportunities in our societies related to biodiversity awareness.

The social imperative to do so is the current extinction crisis, and the need for education to enable humans to understand and act.