{"id":36064,"date":"2015-10-22T09:39:48","date_gmt":"2015-10-22T13:39:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=36064"},"modified":"2015-10-22T09:39:48","modified_gmt":"2015-10-22T13:39:48","slug":"brock-researchers-involved-in-world-forum-focused-on-ecosystem-threats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2015\/10\/brock-researchers-involved-in-world-forum-focused-on-ecosystem-threats\/","title":{"rendered":"Brock researchers involved in world forum focused on ecosystem threats"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brock University biologist Liette Vasseur and Master\u2019s student Christine Janzen are heading off to China for the first-ever World Forum on Ecosystem Governance<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Modeled after the World Economic Forum, the World Forum on Ecosystem Governance brings together experts and leaders from around the globe to come up with ways to respond to ecosystem threats.<\/p>\n

Vasseur, who holds a UNESCO Chair in Sustainability, is a\u00a0program leader for one of the forum\u2019s two themes: implementing the United Nations\u2019 17 Sustainable Development Goals<\/a> (SDGs).<\/p>\n

Recently approved by the United Nations, the SDGs include measures and targets to reduce poverty and increase access to health care, food, education, employment, energy and many other basics by 2030.<\/p>\n

Vasseur will be giving a number of presentations on the UN\u2019s Sustainable Development Goals and the conservation of ecosystems, which relates to the forum\u2019s second theme \u2013 addressing climate change.<\/p>\n

Janzen, a graduate student in Brock\u2019s Sustainability Science and Society Master\u2019s program, will attend the Future Leaders Academy, scheduled for October 23-25.<\/p>\n

There, she will join other students and \u201cfuture leaders\u201d to attend seminars \u201con topics looking at linking rural and urban systems, how to adapt to climate change, climate change mitigation, managing risk, engaging society, and others,\u201d says Vasseur.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe event will give me a broader view of what\u2019s going on in the world and how different people are addressing concerns about the ecosystem, sustainability and adapting to climate change,\u201d says Janzen, adding that it will be a good experience for her to meet others in her field.<\/p>\n

The governance forum itself runs Oct. 15-28.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will finally start discussing the importance of ecosystem services and ecosystem governance in implementing the SDGs,\u201d says Vasseur.\u00a0\u201cIf we don\u2019t take care of the ecosystem, and we don\u2019t find nature-based solutions, we will never achieve any of these goals.\u201d<\/p>\n

The World Forum on Ecosystem Governance will explore alternative approaches to govern the world\u2019s ecosystems specifically in relation to:<\/p>\n