Policy, biodiversity and conservation – Scotland 2014

Looking to find out more about the role of monitoring in conservation? Want to know how your research can influence decision making in Scotland? Our events in Edinburgh in October are a great opportunity to learn more about policy, biodiversity and conservation. With tickets from just £10 and travel bursaries available for early career researchers, it’s an opportunity not to be missed!

Our series of events kick off on 2 October, with our policy training day at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, Edinburgh Zoo. Over the course of the day you’ll gain an understanding of how decision making works in Scotland and how scientific evidence feeds into this process. You’ll hear how it really works from those in government and its agencies and will have the opportunity to talk to policy makers, scientific advisors and academics who work closely with government.

It won’t just be about listening to the experiences of others though; you’ll get the chance to develop your communication skills for a non-academic audience and to develop your own personal action plan for engaging with policy, under guidance from individuals who have experience this themselves.

If you stay on in Edinburgh, you’ll have the chance to hear Bill Sutherland introducing our biodiversity conference with an evening lecture at the Royal Botanic Garden. If you’ve had the chance to hear Bill speak before, you’ll know this is likely to be both a lively and enlightening talk. The lecture will be followed by a convivial networking reception, with the chance to meet and chat to a wide range of individuals.

Both the lecture and reception are free to attend, but registration is required to confirm attendance.

All this will be followed by the BES Scottish Policy Group’s annual biodiversity conference, in collaboration with CIEEM and the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy’s Science and Technical Group on Friday 3 October.

Monitoring is at the heart of Scotland’s 2020 targets for biodiversity. Over three sessions, you’ll discover why we need monitoring for biodiversity, how monitoring has made a difference for conservation, and how innovative techniques that may signal a new frontier for biodiversity data collection and analysis.

There’s also the opportunity to join in the discussion through workshop sessions, as well as the chance for students to submit posters. Attendees at this event will be from a variety of sectors – academia, NGO, government, agencies – giving a number of interesting opportunities for networking.

Registration is available from just £10, with discounts for members of the BES and CIEEM. More information, including draft programmes and booking forms, is available on the BES website.