The last meeting of the project advisory group of the BR Quality Assurance project took place on Monday, September 28, 2020. During the last two years, different aspects of sustainable development in biosphere reserves were examined. An evaluation framework with a set of indicators for the operationalization of the recognition and evaluation criteria 21-25 on sustainable management of the MAB National Committee was developed and tested in the biosphere reserves Berchtesgadener Land, Spreewald and Southeast Rügen. Based on these criteria, working tools were developed to support biosphere reserve administrations in planning, implementing, reviewing and handling management practices. Specifically these are
- a self-check on sustainable development and management,
- a format for a sustainability workshop,
- proposals for target indicators for biosphere reserve framework concepts,
- an assistance for filling out he UNESCO periodic review and
- indicators for communicating contributions to the UN's sustainability goals (SDGs)
At the last meeting, the members of the project advisory group emphasized the high relevance of the research and development project for the management of biosphere reserves. Like the Institute for Rural Development Research (IfLS), they would like to see a broad application of the working tools in biosphere reserves. To this end, the results will be published in the BfN script series after completion of the project and the working materials made available for download. The IfLS will inform you once the materials are published.
Contact persons at IfLS: Dr. Ulrich Gehrlein (gehrlein[at]ifls.de) and Christoph Mathias (mathias[at]ifls.de)
