Irish Wildlife Trust - Green Drinks

In 2015, Dublin Bay was designated as a UNESCO Biosphere. Dr Jenni Roche, Biosphere Coordinator, will speak about the biodiversity of Dublin Bay, the UNESCO Biosphere designation and the work being undertaken by the Dublin Bay Biosphere Partnership. This event is organised as part of the Irish Wildlife Trust - Dublin Branch Green Drinks Programme.

The conference will take place on Wednesday October 26th 2016 at the George Moore Lecture Theatre, O'Brien Centre for Science (East), University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4.

The conference will feature both international and local speakers who will give us insight into UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves and what Biospheres stand for as well as highlighting the work that is being done by a wide range of stakeholders within Dublin Bay Biosphere.

The conference will include sessions of talks on:

• Biospheres from the World Network to Dublin Bay,
• Education for Sustainable Development,
• Conservation & Research in Dublin Bay,

as well as parallel workshops on:

• Communication: Tell your powerful story about people and nature,
• Supporting sustainable communities: A guide to resources available including local authority funding,
• Research networking.

Keynote speakers

Setting priorities: the World Network of Biosphere Reserves and the Lima Action Plan 2016-2025

Professor Martin Price is Director of the Centre for Mountain Studies, Perth College, University of the Highlands and Islands, Scotland, where he holds the UNESCO Chair in Sustainable Mountain Development. He has been involved with UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme since the mid-1980s, including chairing the UK national committee, serving on the International Advisory Committee for Biosphere Reserves, and acting as rapporteur of the International Coordinating Council from 2014-16. He led the preparation of the 10-year Strategy and Lima Action Plan for the MAB Programme and its World Network of Biosphere Reserves. He has published widely on mountain and tundra ecosystems and biosphere reserves.

The Biosphere brand: starting a global movement

Jeff Melnyk and Laurie Bennett are the founding partners of Within People - an international partnership that helps organisations find their purpose and grow. For the past decade, they have been helping consumer brands and NGOs around the world to find and tell powerful stories about who they are and what they stand for. And over the last five years, they have been working with the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere programme, including Dublin Bay Biosphere, to build a global movement that can inspire positive change for people and nature.

Bird conservation and research in Dublin Bay Biosphere

Dr Olivia Crowe is the Head of Conservation and Science at BirdWatch Ireland with specific responsibility for ensuring delivery of two key national bird monitoring programmes, the Countryside Bird Survey and the Irish Wetland Bird Survey. She leads the strategic development of BirdWatch Ireland’s conservation and scientific work taking particular responsibility for providing development and support for work informing on the status of Ireland’s birds. This has included key research projects within the Dublin Bay Biosphere region, most notably the Dublin Bay Birds Project and the Dublin City Urban Birds Project.