BEES Newsletter - Autumn 2017 Edition

1 | REGISTER NOW for the 4th Xmas market,  December 12th in Namur 2 | Report of the second BEES young ES scientists day 3 | Towards testing and implementing ESMERALDA’s flexible methodology 4 | PhD study assessing the forest cover impact on water related ES at the regional scale 5 | Ecology Across Borders: Joint Annual Meeting 2017 6 | Put yourself on the BEES Map 7 | Join and share our brand new Facebook Page 8 | "3 Questions to" Evy Ampoorter, Postdoctoral Researcher at Ghent University

 

 

BEES Newsletter - Autumn 2017 edition


CONTENTS
 
 
1 | REGISTER NOW for the 4th Xmas market,  December 12th in Namur

The BEES Xmas market is the venue where scientists from different disciplines, administrators, practitioners and policy makers get together to enjoy workshops, demo’s and project stands from different regions in a relaxed atmosphere. For who was there before, no need to explain... for who wasn't: here are some impressions!

This year, we'll be in the magnifivcnat historical building l'Arsenal, hosted by the university of Namur.

Are you working at the diverse interface between ecosystems and society, want to get to know who's who? Don't miss it...

The program is being finalized, but there’s already some whispering about drone demonstrations, workshops participatory valuation, edible insects, and something about the Namur City local Xmas Market…

Curious? Then there is only one thing left to do: register here:  it's all for free !

When ? Tuesday 12th of December 2017
Where ? Expo room "L'Arsenal" in Namur
 
2 | Report of the second BEES young ES scientists day
The BEES Young Scientist Day is an informal, interactive afternoon focused on developing interdisciplinary cooperation and exploring transdisciplinary opportunities. The selected candidates shared experiences with short inspiring presentations, and had an interactive session, all while enjoying the magnificent 180° view on Ghent City from the 21th floor.

The event ended with a "speed nerding" round : questions, debate and exchange on impact of research lines on policy and practice, in short personal face-to-face speed dates between participants. This session aimed at finding new collaborations, joint research topics and linkages to policy and practice between disciplines and regional contexts.

We hope to see you for next year's edition ! Until then, here are the event pictures.
 
 3 | Towards testing and implementing ESMERALDA’s flexible methodology

For nearly two and a half years to date, the Horizon2020-funded EU project ESMERALDA has been working hard towards the development of a flexible methodology in support of pan-European and regional Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystem Services (MAES).

From 2 to 5 October, in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, the ESMERALDA project met with key stakeholders from the EU member states, the European Commission and Science-Policy-Society Advisory Board members to present a final version of its ecosystem services mapping and assessment methodology, and collect feedback and ideas for improvements and implementation. Altogether 70 participants attended the meeting, and the BEES community was well represented and heard: our experiences in Belgium helped determining the purposes and formats of several Esmeralda products in development.

More information here.
 
4 | PhD study assessing the forest cover impact on water related ES at the regional scale







Among Ecosystem Services (ES), those related to water are of prime importance, yet many questions regarding the effect of forests on water regulation remain unanswered.    

The PhD study ran by Delphine Brogna (University of Namur and member of the BEES community)  assessed the impact of forest cover on water related ES at the regional scale (Wallonia, Belgium). In particular, the effect of forest cover on instream water supply and flood protection was studied in terms of quantity, quality and timing. In parallel, easily replicable methods and were developed and insight for water and forest management policies provided. 

Using large public datasets (from the Public Service of Wallonia) and  multivariate statistical analyses,  high forest cover  was shown to correlate with water volume (see this article in Ecological Indicators). Further analysis highlighted the influence of factors other than land cover and call for caution when simple land cover proxies are used in ES assessment and mapping. Regarding water quality, the study showed a clear positive link between forest cover and higher physico-chemical and biological water quality (see this article in Water). 

This works was undertaken under the supervision of Nicolas Dendoncker (University of Namur, BEES coordination team) and Caroline Vincke (Université Catholique de Louvain). This Phd is actually kind of a “BEES” baby as several chapters were co-authored by long time BEES members (Marc Dufrêne and Sander Jacobs). 

 
5 | Ecology Across Borders: Joint Annual Meeting 2017

This is the first time the BES, GfÖ and NecoV have held a conference together, delivering a meeting of 1,200 leading ecologists from around the world in Belgium. The joint meeting aims to build closer ties between the vibrant academic ecological communities in Europe, and meets the strategic objectives of all three of the ecological Societies. The meeting will bring together ecologists to discuss the latest advances in ecological research across the whole discipline and will focus on the major environmental challenges at the European level. The meeting will be held in association with the European Ecological Federation (EEF).

More information here

 
 6 | Put yourself on the BEES map
The Belgian Community of Practice on ecosystems & society unites researchers, policy makers and practitioners to learn from each other. Many of us are active in local cases, practically, policy-wise or performing research. To stimulate exchange and mutual learning, one of BEES member suggestions was to create a map with all case studies on ecosystem services or related issues in Belgium. And well, here it is!

You can add your cases through here. Just takes a minute!

Please don’t hesitate to contact the BEES secretariat for any questions or suggestions!
 
 7 | Join and share our brand new Facebook Page
BEES has recently set up a Facebook page. Its aim is to keep you updated about BEES news & events, to provide thought-provoking articles and to keep you in touch with the community.

Allow us to become a part of your Facebook life here :)
 
 8 | "3 Questions to" Evy Ampoorter, Postdoctoral Researcher, Ghent University


“How are you involved in BEES?”

I was involved in BEES since the BEES Xmas Market in 2016. BEES decided to co-organize this event with the Natural Capital Platform of Ghent University. This platform develops innovative, credible, and use-driven approaches to better map, understand, manage and value the world’s natural capital, i.e. goods or services that originate in ecosystems. The Forest & Nature Lab, where I have been working for years now, is actively involved in the Natural Capital Platform. BEES asked us for some helping hands to organize the Xmas Market and as I only heard positive comments about BEES and about past editions of this event, I offered to help. Afterwards, BEES was looking for extra people to help out with the daily organisation throughout the year and since the Xmas Market was really a very nice experience, I decided to stay within the team on behalf of the Natural Capital Platform and Ghent University. 

“What are the challenges you face in your research?”

A common problem within the academic (and probably also other) world is to work out the puzzle how to combine all tasks within the provided amount of time (apart from the combination private versus work life). Prioritization is thus crucial. Second, publication pressure is very high, although a publication list cannot embody all the skills that are needed to be a good researcher (and not only a good writer). It would be better to evaluate people skill-based instead of output-based.

“What has BEES brought to you?”

Three keywords: network, experience and a lot of joy! During meetings and BEES events, you get to know a lot of new people with all sorts of backgrounds, professions and skills. The fact that interaction between people is one of the principle ideas behind each BEES-event makes it very easy to broaden your network and to learn from other people’s research ideas, methods and realizations. It is simply a pleasure to be part of the BEES community. The people in this team are one by one very nice and enthusiastic personalities, that tackle every problem that is encountered, which brings every event to a successful end. 
 
© 2017 Belgian Biodiversity Platform, All rights reserved.

“BEES Newsletter” is published whenever the need arises to inform the Belgian ecosystem services community on new developments in ecosystem services research, practice and policy-making.

The Belgium Ecosystem Services (BEES) network is supported by the Belgian Biodiversity Platform.

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