South-East Europe regional session O2 at the 4th ESP conference

ESP South-East Europe Regional Chapter and its leads, Stoyan Nedkov and Jeroen Arends supported by Hristina Prodanova and Vanya Stoycheva organized a regional session at the 4^th ESP Europe Regional conference that took place in Heraklion, Greece from 10 to 14 October 2022.

The session O2 – “Biodiversity and ecosystem services in South-East Europe: Research challenges and application issues towards a community of practice” include participants from several countries (Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Turkey) and affiliations (academic, private sector, and students). The outcomes of the session include an idea to prepare a proposal for cross-walking and improving ecosystem mapping and ecosystem services; the development of a community of practice towards the exchange of knowledge and capacity building; interrelationships between different aspects of ecosystems mapping.

The session identified some of the strongest points in the studies in SEE, such as well-developed methodologies for mapping and assessment in the countries presented in the session; well-advancing ecosystem accounting in some countries, as well as highly developed capacity building for policy and decision-makers.

All of the outcomes of the session will be used to further develop collaboration and a research agenda within the South-East Europe regional chapter through the concept for Community of Practice.

A Topical collection “Biodiversity and ecosystem services in South-East Europe: Research challenges and application issues towards a community of practice” in the Journal of the Bulgarian Geographical Society (https://jbgs.arphahub.com/) will be open for papers following the topic of the O2 session. The feasible time for submission is 30 November 2022.