News

TRANSPATH participates in the first cluster event on Transformative Change for Biodiversity

11 Sep 2023


On March 17, 2023, Unit B.3 “Biodiversity, Circular Economy and Environment” of the Research Executive Agency (REA) and the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD) organised the first in-person cluster event on Transformative Changes for Biodiversity at REA premises in Brussels, where representatives of all Transformative change cluster (TCC) Horizon Europe projects and representatives of additional relevant EU-funded projects met to identify synergies and common areas of work.

The 11 Horizon Europe Projects on Transformative Change for Biodiversity, forming the cluster, are intended to provide outputs, options and evidence for policymakers to accelerate transformative change for biodiversity, supporting the implementation of the actions and commitments under the EU Biodiversity strategy that contribute to transformative change. These projects are BAMBOO, BIONEXT, BIOVALUE, BIOTraCes, BIOTRAILS, CLEVER, PLANET4B, RAINFOREST, SUSTAIN, TC4BE, and TRANSPATH.


The event had three main objectives:

  • Bringing together the selected 11 Horizon Europe projects on transformative change for biodiversity and identify synergies and common areas of work;

  • Facilitating the exchanges between these projects and other relevant EU projects and initiatives in the field, fostering the sharing of knowledge and best practices and identifying R&I needs and gaps;

  • Discussing actions to take place in the future in order to maximise the impact of selected projects on EU policies and feed the European biodiversity knowledge framework.


The TCC projects, amongst which TRANSPATH, were distributed into three different working groups, that were established with the aim of maximising synergies and joint work to increase impact in certain key thematic areas present across those projects:

  • Towards a nature positive society: the Biodiversity Nexus. Strengthening links between biodiversity, water, food, energy, transport, climate, and health [Working Group 1];

  • Production, consumption and global trade, including Business and Financing. How can the private sector contribute to Transformative Change? [Working Group 2];

  • Values, norms, justice and societal agency to accelerate transformations for biodiversity. Democratic decision-making, Intersectionality, Behaviours, Gender, Beliefs and Community knowledge for biodiversity [Working Group 3].


Apart from the TCC projects, key representatives from 6 flagship projects and initiatives and policy officers from the Directorate General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD) and the Directorate General for Environment (DG ENV) also participated in the meeting.

A key takeaway from the event was REA's strong support for collaborative actions among the participating projects, including joint deliverables, tools, and events.