Biodiversity loss is considered the next big global crisis, overshadowing the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. Biodiversity loss and climate change are interlinked and mutually reinforcing. However, many people perceive both biodiversity loss and climate change as abstract and psychologically distant threats. Citizens and farmers may struggle with translating these global crises into imminent concerns they can identify and act on in their local livelihood.
BIODIVERCITI engages citizens and farmers to reflect on the interrelation between biodiversity loss and climate change and the role they personally play in these crises in a familiar environment – their own garden and cropland. The project analyses how beliefs and behaviours may transfer from biodiversity to climate action in order to transform mindsets and practices.
BIODIVERCITI aims to close the gap how to leverage engagement with biodiversity to simultaneously advance engagement with climate action. Therein, the project pursues four research questions:
A further aim is to involve multi-stakeholder and become a citizen science project. The process involves and observes citizens and farmers and their respective gardens and cropland over the timeframe of two vegetation periods. Citizens and farmers receive personal advice on enhancing biodiversity, observe their garden/cropland and are evaluated how their attitudes and beliefs change. Each participating citizen is supported and trained in biodiversity-enhancing elements and techniques suitable for their garden, which species may benefit, and how to identify and monitor these species. Farmers are grouped by their participation in the Austrian agri‐environmental programme ÖPUL and supplementary organic farming certification. These interventions are evaluated in a pre-post design by comparing participants (1) by the degree they realise gardening and farming techniques, and (2) to their baseline biodiversity and climate activities and beliefs prior to the intervention.
BIODIVERCITI shall function as a demonstrator project for engaging citizens and farmers all over Austria for jointly tackling biodiversity loss and climate change. The project develops recommendations to sustainability NGOs, gardening associations, chambers of agriculture, etc. how to better align their activities for biodiversity preservation and climate action. Thereby, BIODIVERCITI aims to contribute to increased and accelerated action on the local and individual level, joining efforts on combating biodiversity loss and climate change. The results of the project will be of value to policy makers, the scientific community, the citizen and farmer participants and to civil society organisations.
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