Two months in front of our next URBIO conference we can provide you the following news

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1 20 th URBIO newsletter August 13 th, 2012 Dear colleagues, Two months in front of our next URBIO conference we can provide you the following news 1 URBIO 2012 conference in Mumbai: Urban Biodiversity and Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Haripriya Gundimeda and her team have prepared a wonderful program with excellent key note speakers and very interesting sessions where many colleagues and numerous young researchers will present and discuss the latest themes There are also exiting mid and post conference tours to hot spots and best practise projects of Mumbai and India Please note that we will have a public URBIO Advisory Board meeting on the 11. October, where will discuss and decide all URBIO related affairs and especially the next conference 2014 in South Korea. All participants are warmly invited to attend this meeting 2 Progress of the City Biodiversity Outlook The Cities and Biodiversity Outlook (CBO) - a collaborative project between the Secretariat of CBD and the Stockholm Resilience Centre, at Stockholm University- is the first global assessment of the links between urbanization, biodiversity and ecosystem services (see former URBIO letters). Combining science and policy, scientists from around the world will analyze how urbanization and urban growth impacts biodiversity and ecosystems, delivering key messages on the conservation and the sustainable use of natural resources to decisionmakers. Cities, local authorities and sub-national governments will have the opportunity to showcase their practices on sustainability and biodiversity and learn from existing experiences how to incorporate those topics in their agendas and policies. In the moment the second draft of the CBO Synopsis is in review. The CBO Scientific Foundation, which will underline the key messages of the Synopsis, is in preparation. Several URBIO members have contributed to the CBO and Norbert Müller is representing our network in the Advisory Board. Thomas Elmquist from Stockholm Resilience Centre will present at the oncoming URBIO conference in India a key note on the progress of the CBO. In October 2012 the CBO Synopsis will be presented at the City Summit and COP 11 in Hyderbad. Please read more

2 3 Funds from the German Government for URBIO President Norbert Müller and the work at the URBIO Head Office (University of Applied Sciences Erfurt) The German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation are funding the scientific work and exchange at the URBIO Head Office related to the preparation of the City Biodiversity Outlook and the Plan of Action on Sub-national Governments, Cities, and other Local Authorities for Biodiversity until We are especially grateful to Nicola Breier (Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Bonn) and Dr. Horst Korn and Ute Feit (Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, Vilm) and are looking for a fruitful collaboration. From July 2012 Martin Kümmerling - former PhD Student at the Department of Norbert Müller will work as research fellow at the URBIO Head Office. 4 The Nature of Cities collective Blog with URBIO members This Blogspace is a collective of writers, an essay site devoted to conversation about cities as ecological spaces about the nature of cities. Founded and edited by Dr. David Maddox (Sound Science LLC, New York City) it was launched on June, 12 th in The Blog publishes one essay per week, with a schedule of topics up till December 2012 already. Get more info, subscribe as author, read and discuss the already published essays at 5 New corresponding networks: Chicago Wilderness We warmly welcome our newest corresponding network from the USA: Chicago Wilderness. Chicago Wilderness is a regional alliance that connects people and nature. The alliance consists of more than 260 organizations working together to restore local nature and improve the quality of life, by protecting the lands and waters on which the region depends. The members of Chicago Wilderness include local, state and federal agencies, large conservation organizations, cultural and education institutions, volunteer groups, municipalities, corporations, and faith-based groups. Please read more at 6 World Wide Views on biodiversity project WWViews on biodiversity is a global citizen participation project designed to provide policymakers with information about citizens views on biodiversity issues. On September 15th 2012, citizens all over the world will meet in their countries to debate the same themes and questions with their fellow countrymen. At the end of the day it will be possible to compare the result from all the countries and a month later the results will be presented at the UN Biodiversity conference, COP11, in India. Thus, WWViews on Biodiversity gives policymakers the opportunity to take citizens views into account, when deciding on policy measures and awareness raising initiatives to deal with the decline of biodiversity. The coordination of the project is sponsored by the VILLUM Foundation and The Danish Ministry of the Environment. It is further supported by in-kind contributions from The Danish

3 Board of Technology and the CBD Secretariat. It is to be co-implemented by countries worldwide with coordination support from the Danish Board of Technology and with full support from the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Please find more information at 7 PhD position available at UFZ Leipzig on urban ecosystem services The Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research UFZ in Leipzig offers a PhD student position on the influence of urban form on urban ecosystem services and biodiversity. The PhD project investigates the influence of the spatial configuration of urban structures (builtup area, green and blue infrastructure) on selected urban ecosystem services and biodiversity. Applicants should have a degree in geography, landscape ecology, geoecology, environmental sciences or related subjects. Experience in GIS and advanced statistics is an advantage. The full job offer is available at ite]=detail 8 Upcoming Conferences Symposium "Designing nature as infrastructure" November 29th-30th 2012 in Munich, Germany Describes the notion "Green Infrastructure" a new paradigm for the design of social relations to nature or just a current synonym for landscape? This question shall be answered by the symposium "Designing nature as infrastructure" that proposes a platform on which researchers and practitioners working in landscape-related disciplines can engage in a discussion about a current main topic: infrastructure. It asks participants to examine potentials of multidisciplinary approaches and interplays between design and ecology in current debates on infrastructures in urban and landscape restructuring. Organized by Technische Universität München. Read more at VII Southern Connection Congress January 21st-25th 2013 in Dunedin, New Zealand Information on symposium 25: Change, disaster, resilience and future-proofing of urban environments New Zealand sits precariously on the edge of tectonic plates and vast oceans and thus is prone to earthquakes and sea level rise as well as the background anthropogenic and successional changes. Urban environments are key to the future of human-kind in terms of commerce, importance of green space to health, happiness, equity and productivity, to lowland biodiversity (Erfurt Declaration), and lessons on limits to growth and sustainability. This symposium will review current knowledge of urban change ecology,

4 the nature of chronic and catastrophic disruption, and the mechanisms of and management for living and recovering within the context of dynamic physical, social and biological systems. Rationale: Urban Resilience to Disasters is a very important and timely topic for the Southern Connection Congress, given all the earthquakes, fires, floods, tsunami s, dust storms that have occurred, particularly around the Pacific Rim in the past few years. The symposium will include topics like: exploring a COMPARISON of the extent to which engineered infrastructure and engineered GREEN infrastructure in cities have performed in response to various types of disasters, the extent to which both have been incorporated into resiliency-focussed urban design in different cities. Has that happened yet? how Natural Components (as opposed to engineered green components) of cities responded to disasters- anything we can learn from these responses that would improve urban design for resilience? Contact: Glenn Stewart, glenn01@xtra.co.nz First announcement of LE:NOTRE Landscape Forum 2013 "Meeting in the Middle - A point of contact for different landscape cultures" - April 17th-21st 2013 in Rome, Italy The Rome Forum will continue to investigate the individual themes which we started to consider in Antalya in dialogue with colleagues from other landscape disciplines and from landscape practice. The themes for the 2012 Forum will be 1 Urban growth and peri-urban sprawl Urban form and the contemporary city 2 Sustainable tourism Landscape structure and the urban panorama 3 Heritage and identities Strengthening identity: permanence and transformation 4 Rural change: landscapes and lifestyles Fragmenting the rural: cultural landscape and infrastructure Organized by LE:NOTRE Institute & La Sapienza University Rome. Further information can be found at 9 New Journals Ecosystem Services (Elsevier) Ecosystem Services, associated with the Ecosystem Services Partnership (ESP), is an international, interdisciplinary journal that deals with the science, policy and practice of Ecosystem Services in the following disciplines: ecology and economics, institutions, planning and decision making, economic sectors such as agriculture, forestry and outdoor recreation, and all types of ecosystems. The aims of the journal are to improve our

5 understanding of the dynamics, benefits and social and economic values of ecosystem services... More information available at Urban Climate (Elsevier) Launching in 2012, the journal Urban Climate will provide a platform to share results and insights on all aspects of urban climate. Urban Climate is under the editorship of Professor Matthias Ruth and Professor Alexander Baklanov. Urban Climate serves the scientific and decision making communities with the publication of research on theory, science and applications relevant to understanding urban climatic conditions and change in relation to their geography and to demographic, socioeconomic, institutional, technological and environmental dynamics and global change. Please find more information and submit your papers at 10 New Literature GBIF-ICLEI Best Practice Guide for Biodiversity Data Publishing by Local Governments GBIF, 2012 Global Biodiversity Information Facility, 62 p. A best practice guide published by Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability, supported by Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), as guidance for local authorities on publishing through the GBIF network: Helping preserve knowledge about biodiversity. It specifies tools, standards and infrastructures available to practitioners in local government for publishing biodiversity data, as well as explanation when and how to use them. It also sets out to make local governments aware of the benefits to them of being able to access biodiversity data via the GBIF network, and highlights the important role they can play as contributors of biodiversity data. It is explained how data publishing can be incorporated into planning, policy development and decision-making processes in local government. The Best Practice Guide is available for free download at The Green Leap: A Primer for Conserving Biodiversity in Subdivision Development Mark Hostetler, 2012 University of California Press, 205 p. Written for anyone interested in green development including policy makers, architects, developers, builders, and homeowners this practical guide focuses on the central question of how to conserve biodiversity in neighborhoods and to minimize development impacts on surrounding habitats. The Green Leap specifically helps move green

6 development beyond the design stage by thoroughly addressing construction and postconstruction issues. Incorporating many real-world examples, Mark Hostetler explains key conservation concepts and techniques, with specific advice for a wide variety of stakeholders that are interested in creating and maintaining green developments. He outlines the key players and principles needed to establish biodiverse communities and illustrates eight key design and management strategies. The Green Leap not only offers essential information for constructing new developments but also helps existing communities retrofit homes, yards, and neighborhoods to better serve both people and nature. Urban Mammals: A Concise Guide David Wembridge, 2012 Whittet Books, 112 p., ISBN-13: Over twenty species of mammals make use of the green spaces and the brick and timber habitats of our towns and cities--from bats and wood mice, to muntjac and badgers--and, when we take the time to look, it can be surprising who we find our wild neighbours to be. David Wembridge of the People's Trust for Endangered Species has compiled this introduction to the mammals we can see without even venturing out of the garden. Best wishes from Germany and Japan Norbert and Mahito Norbert Müller 1 - URBIO, n.mueller(at)fh-erfurt.de and Mahito Kamada - URBIO, kamada(at)ce.tokushima-u.ac.jp 1 President Office URBIO Prof. Dr. Norbert Müller Fachgebiet Landschaftspflege & Biotopentwicklung Dep. Landscape Management & Restoration Ecology University of Applied Sciences Erfurt, Faculty LGF P.O. Box , Erfurt, GERMANY Phone: or 269 (Office) (Please be aware that some of the links may not be working anymore.)