LBSAP Studios 2026
Description: Fifteen universities from eight countries have joined the LBSAP Studios 2026 initiative to hold studios focused on Local Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans (LBSAPs).
The studios, led voluntarily, are held as standalone offerings or integrated into the universities’ existing undergraduate or graduate curricula.
Instructors work with students to define the geographical scope (one area of the city or the whole city; urban, peri-urban, or rural) and the thematic scope (health, buildings, business, law, climate change adaptation, NBSs, etc.). The studio exercise aims to:
— Develop conceptual and practical approaches to better integrate biodiversity into the local planning process.
— Carry out an exercise of developing a Local Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (LBSAP) for a specific local context based on available guidelines published by ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability.
— Provide constructive feedback on the LBSAP guidelines and ways they can be improved.
Duration: Start by June 2026. End by September 2026.
To Join: To participate in this global studio exercise, please contact us by clicking on the Request to Join button and completing the short questionnaire.
Expected outputs from the studios may include:
- Report summarizing the main findings and recommendations of the studios
- Joint papers for practitioners and possibly for academic publications
- Presentation of the results for key local, national, and international audiences (including potentially at the side event of COP17 of the Convention on Biological Diversity, CBD, to be held in Yerevan, Armenia, from October 19-30
The studios consist of the following parts:
- Collection and assessment of the existing data and information on biodiversity in the case study area
- Identification of relevant institutions and review of the associated governmental documents, including laws, regulations, policies, and programmes
- Assessment and mapping of local biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, as well as threats and opportunities
- Formulation of the Local Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plan (LBSAP) report for the case-study city
EXISTING PARTNER UNIVERSITIES AND FACULTY MEMBERS
ARMENIA (Yerevan) — American University of Armenia [contacts Alen Gasparian Amirkhanian and Taleen Mahseredjian]
BRAZIL (Belem) — Federal University of Para (UFPA) [contact Professor Claudio Szlafsztein]
BRAZIL (Belo Horizonte) — Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) [contacts Professors Janise Bruno Dias, Heloisa Soares de Moura Costa, Waleska Teixeira Caiaffa, and Doralice Barros Pereira]
BRAZIL (Curitiba) — Federal University of Technology – Paraná (UFTPR), [contact Professor Tatiana Gadda]
BRAZIL (Salvador) — Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) [contact Professor Andrea Ventura]
BRAZIL (São Paulo) — Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV EAESP) [contact Professor José A. Puppim de Oliveira]
CHINA (Beijing) — Beijing Forest University (BJFU) [contact Professor Fangzheng Li]
CHINA (Beijing) — Beijing Normal University (BNU) [contacts Professors Gengyuan Liu and Fanxin Meng]
CHINA (Nanjing) — Southeast University [contact Professor Gaochao Zhang]
CHINA (Shanghai) — Tongji University [contacts Professors DONG Nannan and Gan Jing]
GHANA (Wa) — Simon Diedong Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development (SDD-UBIDS) [contact Professor Ibrahim Abu Abdulai]
INDIA (Bhopal) — School of Planning and Architecture [contacts Professors Kshama SPA Bhopal, Surabhi Mehrotra, Manmohan Kapshe, and Richa Raje]
PAKISTAN (Islamabad) — Fatima Jinnah University [contact Professor Muhammad Mumtaz]
PHILIPPINES (Manila/Quezon City) — Ateneo de Manila University [contact Professor Emma Pourio]
UNITED KINGDOM (Manchester) — University of Manchester [contact Professor Deljana Iossifova]