How can we transform our societies to live in harmony with nature?
On Monday, April 7, 2025, a half-day session was held to present the findings of the IPBES assessment on Transformative Changes. This event, organized since 2022 by the assessment’s technical support unit within the University of Montpellier’s Structural Programs Directorate, provided an opportunity to present this report, which was adopted last December at the11th IPBES plenary session in Namibia following three years of intensive collaboration with approximately 100 international authors.
Following the opening remarks by Philippe Augé, President of the University of Montpellier, the morning featured two panel discussions featuring contributors to the assessment on Transformative Changes, two authors of the IPBES Nexus Report, and interdisciplinary researchers from Montpellier.
Panel Discussion: “Transformative change is necessary, urgent, and difficult, but possible: What strategies should we adopt?”
The strategies for transformative change developed in the evaluation were presented in conjunction with the Nexus evaluation, highlighting the importance of implementing solutions tailored to their specific contexts, evaluating them, and adjusting them as needed.
Speakers:
- Sebastian Villasante, lead author of Chapter 2, researcher in applied economics at the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain);
- Stephen Woroniecki, contributing author of Chapter 3 and head of research at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (United Kingdom);
- Sandra Luque, lead author of Chapter 1 of the Nexus Assessment and Senior Research Director at INRAE, within the TETIS Joint Research Unit in Montpellier;
- Florence Palpacuer, lecturer and researcher in management at MOMA, MRM, University of Montpellier;
- Yves Zinngrebe, lead author of Chapter 5, deputy head of the Department of Conservation Ecology and Socio-Ecological Systems, and head of the Working Group on Biodiversity Governance and Nature Conservation at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ (Germany).
Panel Discussion: “Fostering Transformative Change: Roles for Everyone”
Presentations were given on pathways toward sustainable food systems, the role of research in transformative change, and the knowledge gaps identified during the report’s preparation. The concept of the scale at which transformative change occurs was discussed, as was the importance of synergies among various societal stakeholders.
Speakers:
- Timothée Fouqueray, contributing author of Chapter 2, Ph.D. in Ecology, IODE, postdoctoral researcher at the CNRS (Rennes);
- Fabrice Declerck, lead author of Chapter 5.3 of the Nexus Assessment, food systems researcher at CGIAR (Montpellier);
- Gabriela Demarchi, researcher in environmental economics, MoISA, CIRAD (Montpellier);
- Niki Frantzeskaki, lead author of Chapter 4 and full professor of Urban Governance at Utrecht University (Netherlands);
- Coline Léandre, Project Officer for the “French Committee for IPBES” at the Foundation for Biodiversity Research (Montpellier).
Amarys Preuss, IPBES Stakeholder Engagement Officer, gave a presentation on the various ways to participate in IPBES activities. This was followed by Stephen Woroniecki’s account of his experience as an author “fellow,” that is, a young researcher.
The morning concluded with remarks by François Pierrot, Vice President for International Relations at the University of Montpellier. The event was also punctuated at various points by sketches by Guillaume Monnain, which served as visual summaries of the discussions and the event itself.
