Hello, COSA community!
The Center for Regenerative Solutions (CRS), the City of Boulder and partner organizations in Europe (ICLEI-EU) and Latin America (Humboldt Institute) are hosting a 2025 Fall Digital Dialogue entitled: Biodiversity’s Role in Resilient Communities: Why it Matters Now. In a time when local communities face so many significant issues, it is important that we directly consider if and how biodiversity is relevant to these challenges. The four organizations recently published a call to the field highlighting these issues and opportunities in a paper entitled Is Urban Biodiversity Relevant? From Counting Species to Measuring and Demonstrating Community Benefits.
North American communities are invited to join others from around the world in this critical conversation about the role of biodiversity in cities beginning with a series of exploratory Takes from the Field which highlight pioneering work from North and South America and Europe. These mini-case studies will serve as an introduction to a participatory four-part mini-series focused on the foundations of biodiversity-centered nature-based solutions. Specific topic areas to be explored include: Fire & Heat; Water; Community Food Security; and Human Health. The emphasis will be on examples with insights that inform actionable outcomes.
The first in the Takes from the Field series, profiles Boulder, Colorado’s innovative approach to Biodiversity-Centered Mosquito Management. This overview describes how the city has successfully managed wetlands to optimize for natural predator mosquito control to reduce the risk from West Nile virus. This initiative will be featured along with other European and Latin American city-based efforts linking biodiversity to public health in the third session of the mini-series launching the week of October 20th.
JOIN US! Lend your expertise, ask questions, share your perspective, and engage in discussions with your peers about the topics highlighted in the Takes from the Field. These conversations will grow as more cities share their successes throughout the mini-series seminars, providing a discussion platform to explore solutions to the common challenges facing cities all over the world. An active forum for interaction and exchange on these topics has been launched and can be reached here:
https://forms.gle/iNUWbQjHYNfgydry6
To sign up for the fall mini-series, please go here:
https://naturebasedclimate.solutions/biodiversity-and-urban-communities
Amy Yarger
Senior Director of Horticulture
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Schedule: Sun-Thurs
Butterfly Pavilion
6252 West 104th Avenue Westminster, CO 80020
P: 720.837.0588
E: ayarger
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We acknowledge that Butterfly Pavilion resides on the lands forcibly taken from the Arapaho, Ute, Cheyenne, Shoshone, Lipan Apache, and numerous other Native Nations. These tribal nations and their people are the original stewards of the land and habitats of invertebrates. The community fostered at Butterfly Pavilion commits to improving and enhancing engagement with Indigenous Peoples locally and environmental issues globally.