The meetings were intense and exhausting; however, at the same time very inspiring. A wide variety of side events and parallel meetings on a diverse range of topics that accompanied the negotiations were equally important and informative. Some of them the students found the most interesting include the “Nature and Culture Summit”, which focused on an integrated approach of biodiversity into nature conservation, “Nature-Based Solutions”, which focused on an ecosystem based adaption approach, and the Rio Conventions Pavilion, which focused on integrating its three conventions (UNFCCC, CBD, and UNCCD) for future sustainable development.
They believe that to addend such high-level meetings are always a good opportunity for students. During their visit of this conference, they were not only able to learn about innovative and creative projects for biodiversity conservation around the world, but also gained insights into the processes of negotiations, diplomacy, and policymaking. These experiences are relevant to whichever fields that students of the Elite Graduate Program „Global Change Ecology“ will pursue. The exchange with high-ranking international representatives promotes networking for future careers.
Text: Elite Graduate Program "Global Change Ecology"
