“Involving young researchers in the assessment process was a key lesson learned” – An interview with Prof. Dr. Mersudin Avdibegović, Co-Chair of the Bosnia and Herzegovina National Ecosystem Assessment
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The Bosnia and Herzegovina National Ecosystem Assessment (hereinafter BiH NEA) is a comprehensive assessment of the state of nature and management of natural resources in the country. Framed around key policy questions aligned with national policy priorities, the findings of this country-driven interdisciplinary assessment will support decision-making in the country for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystem services. In this interview with the co-chair of BiH NEA, Prof. Dr. Mersudin Avdibegović talks about some of the challenges, lessons learned and the involvement of young researchers in the assessment process.
NEA Initiative: Good afternoon, first of all, we would like to congratulate you and the entire BiH NEA team for finalizing the national ecosystem assessment.
Mr. Avdibegović: Thank you very much. This is a really huge achievement for our entire team, and we are all very proud and happy about it.
NEA Initiative: How has your journey been as the co-chair of the BiH NEA?
Mr. Avdibegović: Let me put it this way – I wouldn’t call it a journey, because every journey has a beginning and end. I’d rather call it a process, and I think we are just at the end of the beginning of an important process which I believe is going to continue into the next stage, where I hope the assessment’s findings will support policymaking and inform future science-policy agendas in Bosnia and Herzegovina. But of course, it has been an amazing four-year experience as well as a great opportunity for all of us to learn new methodologies, multidisciplinary approaches and new concepts on assessing ecosystems and biodiversity.
NEA Initiative: You’ve talked about the importance of young researchers in national ecosystem assessments here at the NEA Global Workshop. Can you tell us more about why do you think young researchers are important to be involved in national ecosystem assessment processes? And how did you include them in the BiH NEA?
Mr. Avdibegović: Thank you for this question and I think this is very important aspect of a complete assessment. For me personally, the importance of involving young researchers in the assessment process was a key lesson learned as we developed our assessment. We included young researchers and some of them were in the early stages of their careers. I am convinced this was a good approach because they made a significant contribution, but being part of the assessment process, contributed also to their professional growth. I believe that by including young researchers in BiH NEA, we have created a strong national network of scientists who may be capable of undertaking future similar projects in a better way based on their experience from BiH NEA. So, I would encourage all other NEA Initiative’s country partners to rely on young, highly motivated people who bring new energy, commitment and new knowledge to the assessment process.
NEA Initiative: Thanks a lot for sharing that. We are sure country partners will take a leaf out of your book to engage young researchers in their assessment process.
Let’s talk about challenges now. From your experience, what were some of the challenges faced during the BiH NEA process?
Mr. Avdibegović: There were a lot of challenges. But I always like to think of challenges as a way of learning. The big challenge is how to establish a science-policy platform and how to ensure that the findings from the assessment inform this platform to make it long-term, sustainable, effective and transparent. We learned that based on the approach of Trialogues and the shared responsibilities of stakeholders within science, policy and the private sector – we can achieve positive outcomes. Another challenge was the pro-bono involvement of authors. But this gave us a better overview of the fact that within the scientific community, there are people who are ready to work pro-bono as well as people who are not. Ultimately, I think, both groups of people have the legitimate right to participate or not in such a kind of projects.
NEA Initiative: National ecosystem assessments help unpack critical knowledge on biodiversity and ecosystem services. So, what has been the biggest finding of the BiH NEA?
Mr. Avdibegović: The biggest finding has been the crucial importance of ecosystem services and biodiversity for our society in terms of economic development, quality of life, livelihoods and nature stability. Yes, we knew this before, but now we have systematized literature and science-based evidence. I believe such findings can be used to influence policy realities and decision-making processes. For me as a scientist it was important to confirm the applicability of IPBES (Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) methodological and conceptual framework (which includes some new ideas) for complicated ecosystem assessments at the national level. We are looking forward to using these approaches in future exercises that require an assessment of ecosystem services and natural resources. We also identified knowledge gaps, particularly those related to the science-policy interface and social science applications in the area of natural resources. In the future, these knowledge gaps can help develop research agendas and prioritise topics of interest for policy and science. Let’s hope that in the future, a new generation of scientists, policymakers and businesspeople will repeat this exercise again. Hopefully, they’ll be able to learn from the BiH NEA.
NEA Initiative: And how do you expect policymakers to utilise the assessment?
Mr. Avdibegović: This is difficult to predict but I hope that the impact of our assessment is recognised at the national and international level, and is reflected within national commitments and global agreements such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. So, let’s hope that our national commitments and international processes will benefit from the findings of our assessment.
NEA Initiative: Thank you for your time, Prof. Dr. Avdibegović. It has been a pleasure speaking to you. We wish you all the best for the next stage of the assessment.
Mr. Avdibegović: Thank you.
The National Ecosystem Assessment Initiative (NEA Initiative) at UNEP-WCMC is part of the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Network (BES-Net), working in partnership with UNDP and UNESCO. Financial support for the NEA Initiative is being provided by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety, and Consumer Protection, the Norwegian Environmental Agency, the Japan Biodiversity Fund, and SwedBio.