State Secretary Sander Dekker receives national research agenda Nature4Life
State Secretary Sander Dekker of Education, Culture and Science received the national research agenda Nature4Life on 31 January. This research agenda, in which Leiden University is involved, focuses on research on biodiversity, ecology and evolution.
Biodiversity will preserve our future
‘Our future is dependent on how we handle biodiversity,’ said Koos Biesmeijer, initiator and scientific director of Naturalis Biodiversity Center. ‘In the research agenda we bring together answers to such social issues as climate change, sustainable food production and the transition to a green circular economy.’ The agenda also addresses problems of population growth and plague and disease resistance.
Focus
According to the agenda, biodiversity research is crucial in dealing with these issues. However, in general this is barely acknowledged at all. This the main reason why the national knowledge institutions in the field of biodiversity research have established the Nature4Life research agenda. This agenda focuses attention on the key issues and unites the field, according to the introduction.
Strong support Leiden University
Dean Geert de Snoo attended the presentation of the knowledge agenda on behalf of the Faculty of Science. He is closely involved in the programme, together with Arnold Tukker and Peter van Bodegom from the Institute ofEnvironmental Sciences (CML). ‘Leiden University believes strongly in the importance of biodiversity and sustainability. A common knowledge agenda is a major step forwards, and we will give our full support to this initiative,' De Snoo confirmed.
Read more in the Dutch article.