Practical training teaches close connection between biodiversity and climate

Eddy Schabbink, biodiversity expert at training institute IPC Groene Ruimte, can talk for hours about the complex structure of our ecosystem and how we radically disrupt this balance. We generally don't understand much about nature, he thinks. With the new learning line Biodiversity & Climate, he hopes to have participants look at the interplay between nature and the design of our living environment through a different lens. For Schabbink can also become gloomy: "You only have to look outside to see that we are not doing well. That can make me despondent at times."

For years, IPC Groene Ruimte has organized two-day training courses on biodiversity, using natural processes to explain how our ecosystem works. "The biotics, everything that lives and its survival, depends primarily on 4 simple conditions; food, moisture, safety and reproduction. The soil, the soil ecosystem, is essential in this. Know the type of area you are dealing with. Know the physical geographic background of your area. Inventory the abiotics (light, air, water, soil, temperature) as the basis for a functioning ecosystem. Course participants loved it, but afterwards asked me the question; how do I apply this in practice?"

This led to the development of this 16-day course in which in-depth theory is translated into an actual case study. "Each participant brings in this case study, in which all the theory from the course must be covered. We ask people to do an ecological area analysis of their own area. The journey from geomorphology of the area to the associated vegetation and fauna. They have to present that at the end of the course." For the trainee, this is quite a challenge, Eddy says. "How are you going to turn your plans into a new form of work and achieve the intended effect? This is often a real stumbling block." A well-functioning ecosystem also requires a different way of looking at things. "Ecology is leading, then economics. So you examine the area first, what type is it, what does it need? Soil and water become steering, a mindset that also fits with the new Environment Act in which a healthy physical environment is central."

Theoretically, too, the course is tough for the student, because the level is high. "Because we really go into depth, the course material is at HBO level. Especially the subject of soil is difficult material." Because of its practical nature, the course is ideally suited for professionals working at the strategic, tactical level. "People who work on policy and have to translate policy into plans from provinces, municipalities and water boards, but also from consulting firms or even banks." The best thing about the training is the integrated approach from all these different disciplines, Eddy believes. "You also bring together people outside your own domain, who start thinking about solutions together. That is what participants are most enthusiastic about."

After a fully booked and successful pilot, the course will start in September. IPC Groene Ruimte offers the course twice a year and has room for a maximum of 16 participants. Various lectures from biology, ecology and biodiversity will be given with internal and external experts. 

 "Participants learn the close connection between biodiversity and climate. I often hear back that they have rarely viewed nature in this way. One participant told me afterwards; I can never walk through the forest in a normal way again. Once you know how it is, you can't see it any other way."