Are you aware of what grows all around you? Come and explore!
From May 22 to June 30, 2023, Hochschule Geisenheim University will participate in the ICA Biodiversity Challenge/BioBlitz 2023 as a member of the Association for European Life Science Universities (ICA). The Bioblitz 2023 offers students, staff and visitors the opportunity to actively engage with biodiversity on university campuses and learn more about the topic by identifying and counting species.
What is the ICA Biodiversity Challenge (ICA BioBlitz 2023)?
A "BioBlitz" is an activity to detect as many species (animals, plants, fungi) as possible in a given area and time period. The ICA Biodiversity Challenge is a BioBlitz that counts the number of species found on campus. Anyone and everyone can participate and enter species into the apps "iObs", "Obsidentify" or "Obsmapp." Beginning May 22, observations made on university ground will automatically count for the ICA Biodiversity Challenge.The number of species recorded through the apps can be tracked in real time. In addition, the progress of the other participating institutions can be followed live.
How many species and which have we detected so far?
See the live results here: https://observation.org/bioblitz/categories/ica-biodiversity-challenge-2023/?
How to participate
Background
The ICA is a network of more than 50 universities from the EU and neighboring countries working on the circular bioeconomy (agriculture, forestry, food value chain and bio-based economy), sustainable use of natural resources, biodiversity, environmental protection and rural development.
In October 2022, member institutions issued a communiqué entitled "Bending the Curve for Biodiversity: challenges and opportunities for life science universities," in which ICA members committed to placing biodiversity conservation at the center of their activities.
To fulfill this commitment, 17 ICA universities are participating this year in the ICA BioBlitz 2023, which aims to motivate as many people as possible to discover and report species found on university campuses between May 22 (International Biodiversity Day) and June 30. On June 30, the results and highlights will be presented at an interactive (online) closing event and the experiences will be discussed.
Program
During the six weeks (May 22 to June 30, 2023) of the BioBlitz, a variety of participatory activities will be organized. In addition to the integration into courses, various events will be offered where interested people have the opportunity to determine species within the framework of Science Walks with experts and participate in the BioBlitz for Hochschule Geisenheim University. The program is regularly expanded and published here.
Contact Persons
The participation of Hochschule Geisenheim University is coordinated by a cross-departmental team from the Department of Applied Ecology, the Department of Landscape Planning and Nature Conservation and the Green Office. The aim is to enable participation and promote awareness of biodiversity with this participatory action. The results of the competition can be used to develop future biodiversity-promoting measures in a targeted manner as part of sustainable campus design.
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