Biodiversity Revisited Symposium – Reflections

From September 11-13, IISAAK OLAM Foundation President and Co-Founder Eli Enns attended the Biodiversity Revisited Symposium in Vienna, Austria.

Organized by the Luc Hoffmann Institute, the symposium brought together 70 academics, professionals and researchers to critically evaluate why conservation efforts are failing to address the biodiversity crisis, and to identify alternative approaches. The Guardian’s John Vidal interviewed Eli as part of its reporting on the symposium.

In the Guardian’s article, Eli emphasizes the interconnectedness of all things that is a core principle in Indigenous Peoples’ worldviews. He notes how Indigenous knowledge provides a guide for living with nature, citing the fact that the world’s 350 million Indigenous Peoples conserve 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity. Read the full article here.

Eli also shared some thoughts on how the symposium influenced him in the video below.

Discussions were summarized visually thanks to graphic facilitation.

In one exercise, participants ripped out shapes of elephants from paper and were asked to write what they think are the elephants in the room that need discussing on the topic of nature conservation. First elephants to go on the board were related to justice, diversity, equity and power.

Thanks to the Luc Hoffmann Institute for the opportunity to participate in the #BiodiveristyRevisited symposium!