Biosphere Reserves: Sustainable Territories, Resilient Communities
This is a collaborative project with Portuguese researchers and Biosphere Reserves. We aim to map, analyse, generate and test new knowledge and solutions for sustainable land-use at a local scale in line with the needs of the people of Biosphere Reserves in Portugal. We will use best-practice knowledge of the past, and fuse it with current needs and methods to build solutions for a better future. The 12 Portuguese Biosphere Reserves will be the focus of this project, while Nordhordland Biosphere Reserve will be the Norwegian comparative case study.
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RESEARCH AFFILIATES:
Portugal:
Helena Freitas - Professor of Biodiversity and Ecology at the Department of Life Sciences of the University of Coimbra, and holds the UNESCO Chair in Biodiversity and Conservation for Sustainable Development.
Joana Alves - PostDoc, Centre for Functional Ecology at the University of Coimbra. Her work is on the topics Animal ecology & behaviour, Conservation and management of natural resources, and Landscape ecology.
Catarina Moura - Invited assistant researcher accociated with the University of Coimbra UNESCO Chair and Centre for Functional Ecology.
António Abreu - Biologist and Environmental Expert on biodiversity, nature conservation and environmental management, with a long experience of work with the MAB program in Portugal as well as internationally. Member of the Portuguese National Council for the environment and Sustainable Development and Vice-Chair of the European Network of environmental Advisory Councils.
Maria Fernanda Rollo - Secretary of State for Science, Technology and Higher Education of Portugal. PhD in Contemporary History by the Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanidades, Universidade Nova de Lisboa and Associate Professor in the same faculty.
University of Bergen:
Inger E. Måren - Associate professor at the Department of Biological Sciences, and holds the UNESCO Chair on Sustainable Heritage and Environmental Management - Nature and Culture. Her research focuses on the dynamics in coupled human and natural systems, including sustainable development, natural resource management, agro-biodiversity, sustainable land use, ecosystem services, agroecology, and food security.
Alicia Barraclough - Postdoctoral researcher associated to the University of Bergen UNESCO Chair. Her work focuses on UNESCO Biosphere Reserves as social-ecological systems which are testing sites for sustainability and earth stewardship.
Jarrod Cusens - PhD Candidate associated to the University of Bergen UNESCO Chair. His work is transdisciplinary in the field of ecology, focusing on sustainable development and understanding the human position in the big ecological picture.
