Projects

CASCADE (Conservation and Sustainability Consortium of AcaDEmic Institutions)

Research Overview:

The Conservation And Sustainability Consortium of AcaDEmic institutions (CASCADE) brings together higher education institutions from across the UK working on finding sustainable and socially just solutions to the biodiversity crisis. We believe that only through sharing resources and knowledge, and acting in partnership with other research institutions across the world, government agencies, NGOs and industry, will we be able to work towards addressing the challenges we face as a global community.

Vision:

To use the UK higher education sector’s expertise and networks in cross-disciplinary conservation science to support the development of principles, policies and practices that meet the goals of the CBD’s Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework in an equitable, inclusive way that respects and protects human rights.

Mission:

We will achieve our vision through catalysing the development of an integrated network of UK and international partner institutions carrying out innovative inter- and transdisciplinary research and education on conservation policy and practice. This will allow us to generate and disseminate the evidence required for transformational change in rights-based biodiversity conservation, whilst helping train and support the next generation of conservation scientists.

Outline of project:

The UK’s higher education institutions have a wealth of knowledge in interdisciplinary conservation science; in research, training and capacity-building. This is bolstered by a concentration of international conservation NGO headquarters, and world-leading zoos and botanic gardens. This means that the UK’s research and training directly informs and builds the capability of international conservation policy and practice; CASCADE leverages this foundation to support wider academic engagement in international conservation policy.

CASCADE aims to be a multi-institution one-stop-shop to support the CBD secretariat and UK government’s priorities for knowledge exchange and capability-building in the area of socially-just biodiversity conservation, and provide a coordinated pathway for national and international transdisciplinary collaboration and innovation. CASCADE helps UK academics be more effective at engaging with end-users and international partners in providing evidence to support the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework.

Website

https://www.cascade.ac.uk/