Project on biosphere reserves

SMARTBIOSPHERE RESERVES

DIGITAL BROBSERVATORY ON SUSTAINABILITY AND GLOBAL CHANGE

(Fuerteventura Biosphere Reserve)INTERRA

2012

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• UNESCO’s biosphere reserves are ideal places to test, evaluate and implement comprehensive policies regarding climate change, sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity, and transition towards green economies.

• A Smart Biosphere Reserve aims to make the most of the available information to evaluate and address decision-making on BR resource management,  for citizens, managers, and local administrations. 

• A Smart BR makes maximum use of new information technologies to help build a covenant for a sustainable future and a transition to green societies based on knowledge and life-quality improvement in a low CO2

emissions scenario. 

• I n o r d e r  t o a d d r e s s t h e e m e r g i n g environmental  challenges, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, alteration of ecosystem services and urbanization pressures, green societies need to equip

themselves with tools to  design innovative solutions, generate new knowledge and  deliver real-world change.

• The Smart BR project is set against the need to promote innovation in the field of sustainable development in biosphere reserves, increasing knowledge about the potential of green jobs and economies and, at the same time, contributing to provide information on environmental conservation trends.

• In the Smart BR project, citizens become both beneficiaries and key actors of the management of information and of the knowledge and participation tools of the digital platform.

Refences: Atlantic Declaration - 2011Shanghai Declaration - 2010 From Green Economies to Green Societies (UNESCO-2012)

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Definition - Concepts

• Use Smart BR as monitoring sites for assessing the capacity to respond to the impact of climate change and the local commitment to reduce emissions.

• Develop an accessible, reliable and interactive Digital BR platform for wide-ranging collaboration, which provides intelligent services and integrates GIS, remote sensing, Web 3.0 resources and information-based instruments.

• Incorporate a diverse array of BRs which would perform as a reference model in a common intelligence platform. 

• Improve the role and work of the observatories of sustainability and global change in Biosphere Reserves, strengthening their logistic function.

• Facilitate a covenant for sustainability in Biosphere Reser ves by means of information and real-time monitoring tools, referring to measurable goals in areas such as energy sustainability, b i o d i v e r s i t y u s e a n d management, and climate change mitigation actions.

• P r o v i d e u s e f u l a n d accessible tools that help improve the level of social participation of BR through knowledge and management of attractive and easily accessible advanced digital resources.

• Provide and test a system of geo-referenced indicators to monitor Smart BRs, which allow extracting useful and reliable information on key factors related to sustainable development, green economies, climate

change, and the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

• Identify and help develop best practices, solutions, and smart technologies applied to BR, measuring their real impact, the expected benefits and possibilityof replication.

• Open an interactive window able to mobilise science and local knowledge resources for sustainable development.

• Provide digital tools and instruments for education in sustainability within the BR.

• Provide a useful tool to evaluate BR’s action plans and to monitor their objectives.

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Objectives of the project

Tools for Smart BR

The resources of the BR Digital Platform are designed to

promote maximum use of Information and Communication

Technologies (ICT) applied to the sustainable management of resources and services in Biosphere Reserves.

WEB

The Web Site “Smart Biosphere Reserves” will provide a selection of available information by thematic areas and resources related to the vision of Smart BR.

Contents:

• Description of resources and thematic areas.

• Access to each Smart BR.

• Proposal of sustainability indicators for each thematic area related to the functions of Biosphere Reserves.

• Documentation and major references.

• Best practices in BRs classified by thematic areas and including cases in similar territories.

• Access to the main related GIS thematic viewers.

• It will also host forums and document repository linked to the FINDER Smart BR Viewer.

VIEWERS

BR Digital provides a general Viewer (FINDER SMART BR) for the World Network of Biosphere Reserves and a number of specific viewers for each Smart BR integrated into the platform.

The General Viewer enables to contextualize the World Network of Biosphere Reserves on a GIS map based in function of the thematic information available and the big scenarios related to climate change and global change processes.

The General Viewer integrates the possibility to receive feedback from biosphere reserve users, to improve and update online information and contribute to the identification of best practices and collaborative experiences.

The chapter on geo-referenced best practices is an important aspect of the functionality of the tool, allowing comparison of results and information on solutions and technologies used.

Specific Viewers of each Smart BR, in addition to thematic information and scenarios, integrate features such as:

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BR Digital Platform

• Spatial integration of sustainability indicators.

• Remote sensing and GIS.

• Results of the intelligent modules.

• Display of scenarios and trends.

• Integration of Gauges of Sustainability.

• Oriented guide to the demand for information.

Sustainability Indicatorsand Climate Change

Digital BR comes with a specific tool for analysis, feeding, control and treatment of the information resulting from BR’s key indicators that:

• Allows comparison between indicators.

• Includes trends.

• Allows inclusion of aler ts upon surpassing of admissible thresholds or limits.

Intelligent Modules

Digital BR includes a set of specific modules that provide integrated information for planning and decision-making in the Biosphere Reserves, dealing with scenarios related to:

• Sustainable Energy (including energy efficiency and renewable energy sources assessment)

• Sustainable Mobility

• Territorial Intelligence (BR functions, zonation, land occupation, and urbanization process)

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• Ecosystem Services

• Biodiversity

• Marine resources

• Water and waste

• Urban Metabolism (approaches the key issues of sustainability in BR’s urban systems).

• Sustainable Tourism

Integrating dynamic simulation models and GIS.

Natural resources and environmental management are inherently spatially distributed problems.

Integrated assessment of sustainability requires overcoming the concept of “catalogue of indicators” or thematic maps (GIS) and proposing integrated systems of sustainability indicators. One way for this integration is the use of dynamic models that adequately represent sustainability.

Digital BR includes dynamic simulation models aimed at providing scenarios in the medium and long term, which integrate social, economic, and environmental factors.

Gauges of Sustainability

Allow displaying in real time and in an attractive manner the evolution of key factors of sustainability in the BR, including: CO2 emissions, water and electricity consumption, wildlife watching, environmental problems, waste generation, etc.

Given the participatory nature of this project, it is considered the possibility to set up gauges of sustainability to monitor case studies and best practices, based on data provided by communities, institutions, and local economic stakeholders.

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Participatory system

This project aims at a final scenario where existing resources (indicators, modules, reference best practices, GIS maps) are used by all social groups, citizens, scientific community, BR managers, local authorities, and local economic stakeholders.

The project aims not only that the platform resources are used and taken into account, but also to create an opportunity for the local population and the scientific community to participate in its design, improve the available information or provide new criteria.

First Smart BR

Fuerteventura, Galapagos, El Hierro, Santana (Madeira), Gran Canaria.

Promoters:

Fuerteventura Biosphere Reserve(Observatory of Sustainability and Global Change )

INTERRA

In collaboration with:

OSE - Observatorio de la Sostenibilidad de España

UM - Universidad de Murcia

ULL - Universidad de La Laguna

ULGP - Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Universidad de Salamanca

Plan AVANZA - Ministerio de Industria y Turismo. España.

FORMAPLAN

In cooperation with:

HIST - International Centre on Space Technologies for Natural and Cultural Heritage (Centro UNESCO - Pekín).

Supported by UNESCO-MAB

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