Pre-conference trainings​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

The trainings will take place on Sunday 17 November, the day before the official opening of the conference. The trainings will be held at the same venue as the rest of the event - the Wageningen International Congress Center (WICC). The half day trainings (numbers 2 to 5) will begin at 14:00.

Training topics include:

1. Measuring Ecosystem Services for accounting purposes: from the macro-economic national perspective to the territorial site-level, to the business environmental reporting. Putting a Comparative Grid into practice

Organsied by: Joint Research Centre of the European Commission

Duration: Full day

Maximum participants: 50

Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) involves three basic spatially explicit accounting modules: extent and condition asset accounts and Ecosystem Services flow accounts. The two main features to be reconciled in NCA are (i) the accounting rules and mechanisms and (ii) the ecological characteristics of ecosystems and their services. The former cannot proceed independently of the latter and vice versa.

Depending on the rigour and degree of complexity with which they are processed, NCA results have the potential to be used for a variety of purposes by different groups of users:

• from a geographical perspective, it is possible to make assessments from the national to the local level;

• from an economic perspective, it is possible to structure the accounts so that they can be processed from macroeconomic to microeconomic levels.

The aim of this interactive training is to present and compile an Ecosystem Service measurement – Comparative Grid to show how to assess, value and account for ecosystem services according to their uses and users.

The training is structured as follows:

The morning session (3 hours) consists of a theoretical module which introduces

• accounting rules and mechanisms;

• the ecological characteristics of ecosystem services;

• how both are structured in the Comparative Grid.

The afternoon session (3 hours) will consist of a practical exercise where participants will put the Comparative Grid into practice and find out what kind of NCA results are suitable for what kind of uses.

2. ARIES for SEEA and the ARIES ecosystem of applications

This crash course will provide an overview of the different ARIES applications

Organised by: BC3 Basque Centre for Climate Change/ ARIES team

Duration: 2.5 hrs

Maximum participants: 30

ARIES is an open-source, AI-powered modeling platform designed to provide timely and relevant information for addressing major environmental sustainability challenges. It allows researchers worldwide to contribute data and models to a curated, human-driven semantic web. ARIES utilizes a semantic-driven approach, employing consistently labeled, machine-actionable data and models that can be automatically assembled from web services. The platform leverages the open-source k.LAB (Knowledge Laboratory) software stack, which enables: 1. Data and model developers to share and maintain their products as open web services. 2. The use of consistent semantic annotation practices for building modular models with proper documentation and reuse conditions. 3. A distributed peer-to-peer network that hosts interoperable data and model resources, accessible through web browsers and dedicated user interfaces (e.g., ARIES apps). One of the most widely used applications is the ARIES for SEEA Explorer, which enables users globally to generate rapid, standardized, scalable, and customizable ecosystem accounts for their area of interest, aligned with the SEEA Ecosystem Accounting framework. This crash course will provide an overview of the different ARIES applications and how to effectively use them.

3. The ediotr’s guide towards successful publishing

Organised by: Luis Inostroza, Mendel University

Duration: 2 hrs

How to increase your chances of publishing your manuscript in an indexed high-impact journal? Writing a scientific article is complex, and highly demanding. It can also be very frustrating and difficult to face and understand the rejection of a manuscript. There is an increasing demand for high-impact factor journals, while the scientific publication ecosystem is complex and can be overwhelming, especially at the beginning of the academic career. Nowadays, finding successful paths towards publishing research results in high-impact journals is fundamental. However, from the point of view of the epistemology of science, doing scientific research and communicating its results (publication) are different activities in their nature that do not necessarily share logic and objectives, and therefore require different approaches and specific training.

The objective of this workshop is to discuss the key publishing aspects from the editorial point of view, to improve the understanding of the complex publishing system, helping to develop strategies for a successful publication process. The workshop will present the fundamental aspects to assess a finished manuscript, from the point of view of the editor, which does not always coincide with that of the author of a manuscript.

4. Innovative tools for science communication: How to increase your research impact

Organised by PENSOFT

Duration: 1 hr

A communication and dissemination leader in a wide range of EU research projects, as well as an independent publishing company, Pensoft will introduce the participants to best practices in science communication, drawing examples from a project portfolio which covers ecosystems and biodiversity, agriculture and forestry, pollinators and more. This training activity will also highlight the integral role of open science in effective dissemination, showcasing the opportunities facilitated by Pensoft’s open-access journals, which promoting transparency, accessibility, and reusability of results. Overall, the session will provide an in-depth look into the interlinkage between effectively communicated research outputs and the benefits of openly published data.

The Pensoft team will share their experiences with projects such as SELINA and SpongeBoost, both of which will also be presented in the scientific sessions and via a shared booth at the event.

5. Communicating nature’s benefits in protected areas – from theory to practice

Organised by: Wageningen University and Research, Eurosite

Duration: 3 hrs (includes outdoor walk)

Maximum particpants: 25

The majority of professionals involved in natural area management struggle to assess the benefits of their sites and communicate these to stakeholders. The communication on nature areas is still focused on the biodiversity benefits while communication of the nature benefits of protected areas might ensure additional support. To help bridge the gap between the scientific knowledge and daily implementation the Erasmus+ project “Nature Benefits: from Theory to Practice (TUNE IT)” has started. Practitioners are exchanging experiences on how to communicate nature benefits to stakeholders. During this workshop we will provide you with practical insights and examples on how to communicate nature benefits of protected areas to stakeholders. After an introduction indoors, we will take you to a nature area near the conference centre where you will experience first-hand the do and don’t of communicating nature benefits during an excursion.

Registration is required for joining any of the trainings. Registration is available through the conference registration form (those who already registered for the main event are able to add a training to their registration by entering their registration form, using the link included in the registration confirmation email).

Training participation fees

Full day training, including participation, coffee, lunch:

50 EUR (full fee)

30 EUR (students/low-income participants)

Short training, including participation + coffee

25 EUR (full fee)

15 EUR (students/low-income participants)