Natural Assets Definition Workshop

The first of a series of Future Earth Natural Assets Knowledge Action Network (KAN) workshops was held September 12-13, 2017, at the University of Bern, Switzerland. Co-organized by the Swiss Future Earth Global Research Projects (GLP, GMBA, BioDISCOVERY and PAGES), the Swiss Future Earth National Committee hosted by the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT), and the Future Earth Secretariat, the 1.5 day meeting brought together 18 highly respected scholars from across the sciences to further develop the concept of Natural Assets such that various scientific communities and societal actors can work together to mobilize and further agendas for transformative research and action. The workshop aimed to serve as a contribution to ongoing efforts by the Natural Assets KAN development team to lay the foundation of KANs activities and to serve as a catalyst for discussion and co-design via future follow-up events in the coming months including the II Conference of the Programme on Ecosystem Change and Society and the Future Earth SDGs and the Anthropocene meeting tentatively planned for June 2018 in Cape Town, South Africa.