Speaking out about biodiversity

For the layperson, engaging in scientific discussions can be intimidating. The viewpoints of experts and policymakers on important scientific issues, such as biodiversity, are often the only ones that make it into the public sphere — even though such issues affect everyone.

The Worldwide Views on Biodiversity Project (WWViews) is a one-day global event that aims to change this. Organized by the Danish Board of Technology, the project is designed to provide policymakers with a broad understanding of how citizens everywhere in the world feel about protecting the earth’s biodiversity.

Meetings of about 100 people will take place simultaneously in countries all around the world. Concordia will host one of three-day-long meetings taking place in Canada; the others are in Calgary and Toronto.

The meetings will begin with a video presentation, after which the assembled citizens arrange themselves in smaller groups to discuss specific themes under the umbrella topic of biodiversity. At the end of each discussion, the teams will vote on a response that most closely resembles their consensus view. The results are then uploaded to a main site.

The results of the global project will be shared with delegates at the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) Eleventh Conference of Parties (COP11) being held in India October 2012.

Journalism professor and Director of the Concordia Science Journalism Project, David Secko, has a specific interest in finding new way to engage the public in meaningful scientific discussion. With this in mind, a fellow academic at the University of Calgary suggested he host a WWViews event at Concordia.

“We do public engagement already, but I love the idea of doing simultaneous engagement around the world,” Secko says. “I think biodiversity is one of the big issues of our time, it’s super important. So to be able to debate this and help people go through this was something that I’m very interested in.”

Journalism graduate students Shirley Tran and Ernest Hoffman, members of the Concordia Science Journalism Project, are handling the logistics for the Montreal event. “The Danish Board of Technology gives you the videos, the information, and the structure, and everything else — venue, speakers, recruitment, food, and anything that might come up — is up to you,” says Hoffman.

The small Concordia team began organizing the event back at the end of March. Tran, whose master’s thesis looks at how environmental issues are represented in the media, says the experience has been very useful for her. “There are a lot of things I’m learning on the spot; a lot of things to think about that require a lot of coordination."

Hoffman says it’s important for people who are interested in participating to know that they cannot simply show up on the day of the event. There is a selection process designed to ensure that the group represents a good cross-section of the city. People who are interested in attending need to fill out and submit an application form.

The team is accepting applications right up until September 12, three days before the event. No scientific expertise is required — just a healthy desire to discuss a topic that will shape the future of our planet. “We’re really hoping that we end up with a pretty representative sample of Montreal,” Hoffman says.

This is the second WWViews event. The first, the WWViews on Global Warming, was held in 2009, and involved 4,000 citizens from 38 countries. The results were presented at the Climate Change COP15 in Copenhagen.

While climate change is definitely a hot topic, Secko says that the biodiversity event is likely to stir up some very interesting debate, particularly surrounding the issue of how we share the benefits of each nation’s biodiversity.

“If we’re going to ask Brazil not to cut down their rainforests, are we going to give them anything, or do they just have to protect it for the whole world?” he asks. “If we want to save these places in particular countries, let’s say very poor countries that have the most biodiversity, are we going to give them money and help them? Are we going to let them grow, or not? What are we going to do?"

One of the sessions during the daylong event will have a more local flavour, and include an art installation comprised of a 3D wiki, that will also be translated online. Participants will be able to walk into the installation and interact with it.

“I think the whole event itself is an exciting example of how we might do this kind of engagement differently and really give people a say,” Secko says. Instead of just (asking them to) come and learn a little, say something, eat a donut, and leave.”

Related links:

•    Concordia Science Journalism Project 
•    The WWViews on Biodiversity Project 
•    Canadian WWViews Events (includes Montreal) application form
•    David Secko