The Biodiversity Foundation has participated in the opening of the Summer Course “Assessment of millennium ecosystems in Spain: exploring the links between nature and society”, organized by the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) at the La Cristalera Residence, Miraflores de la Sierra, Madrid.

As part of the reflection and dissemination actions of the International Year of Biodiversity, this course, which is being held until next Wednesday 7, will explain the progress of the project that the Biodiversity Foundation and the UAM have been carrying out since 2009 on “Assessment of Millennium Ecosystems”.

The main objective of this project is to diagnose and evaluate the consequences that the change in Spanish ecosystems has on the well-being of the population. as well as present possible response options. To this end, tasks have been undertaken to coordinate existing scientific knowledge in order to generate useful tools for the management of Spain’s natural capital.

Directed by Carlos Montes del Olmo, professor of the Department of Ecology at the UAM and Ignacio Torres, director of Studies and Projects of the Biodiversity Foundation, the course is aimed at both professionals trained in environmental issues who want to work on biodiversity issues, as well as people from other disciplines who are interested in the role that biodiversity plays in human health and quality of life. Experts and professors of Philosophy, Economics and Ecology from the most prestigious Spanish universities will participate in this dialogue between different technical and scientific perspectives towards a sustainable society (the full programme can be consulted in http://www.uam.es/cursosverano).

It should be noted that, as part of the agenda of the International Year of Biodiversity Campaign “Talk about Biodiversity”, developed by the Biodiversity Foundation, the program scheduled for Wednesday 7 includes a Table on “Experiences for action ‘Talk about Biodiversity’ and the challenges of communication of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment of Spain”. in which Javier Benayas del Álamo, professor of the Department of Ecology of the UAM; Concepción Piñeiro, researcher of the Research Team in Communication, Education, and Environmental Participation of the UAM, and Julia Vera, Director of the Department of Training, Communication and Awareness of the Biodiversity Foundation.