• Biodiversity

One of the main concerns to tackle biodiversity loss and protect natural heritage is related to communication and awareness. It is argued that if the information is not conveyed in an understandable way, decision makers may overlook or fail to comprehend the seriousness of any particular environmental crisis.

Academic and scientific institutions provide a significant opportunity to forge strong and long-lasting collaborations, particularly in technical areas like data sharing, biodiversity monitoring and information sharing. The potential of current projects that involve academic, corporate and governmental institutions in information-sharing processes is illustrated by this case study.

About Prismàtic

Prismàtic is an online knowledge platform created to share the latest scientific developments about natural heritage and biodiversity in Catalonia, following European Union indications.

The project aims to strengthen collaboration between Public Administration and research centres, bridging the gap between science and its implementation.

The project also focuses on promoting dialogue between managers, public agencies and scientists in order to identify challenges, needs and common solutions.

Environmental impacts

The results obtained to date (September 2022) are summarized in the following performance indicators:

• Prismàtic has signed agreements with 22 research centres, which actively participate in the platform.
• There are currently 386 files published and uploaded to the platform.
• The website receives 8,500 visits annually, with an average duration of 2 minutes and 10 seconds per page.

The platform follows the indications coming from the European Union that aim to encourage the participation of end-users of research with editors and researchers. This, on the one hand, makes it easier for researchers to focus on obtaining useful results and, on the other, for proposals that come from the community to be better accepted and adopted in future environmental policies.

Similarly, managers are required to make decisions based primarily on the latest scientific evidence and to do so in an agile manner. Prismàtic is the first platform in which 22 research centres work together publishing information with a shared objective. It is the only portal where managers can access the most relevant and innovative information in their fields, based on proven and carried out scientific studies. It is a space in which to channel the needs and practical demands of information. In relation to environmental impacts, in particular, it is difficult to measure them since there is no set of indicators or metrics of the project to measure its environmental impact. However, considering the objective of theproject to support the design and implementation of more robust, effective and evidence-based natural environment and biodiversity management policies, its positive impact on environmental policies is assumed through the scope of information.

Through Prismàtic’s Annual Impact Report, it can be determined that the platform has provided environmental information to a large number of people. In total, the platform has had almost 9 thousand unique visits in 2021 (8,935) and more than 800 subscribers to the monthly newsletter.

The environmental themes of the most visited articles from the beginning of 2020 to the end of 2021, and therefore with the most impact, have been:

• Forestry, including:
– Collection of the habitats of Catalonia (359 views)
– What should we do with the burned forests (319 views)
– Placement of bat shelter boxes (336 views)
– The goshawk as an indicator of old and threatened forests (315 views)
– Invasive plague of an Asian beetle in Catalonia that kills mulberry trees (316 views)
– How to differentiate the indigenous peninsular pines (241 views)
• Pollinators:
– Measures to favor pollinators in environmental restoration (164 views)
• Soils with organic and mineral residues (159 visits) • Invasive pests (163 visits)

Visit Prismàtic’s official website: https://urbanklima2050.eu/en/

Also, learn about the project’s enablers, key activities and innovations, impacts in several areas, partnerships and replicability in the Case Study Database at www.regions4.org/csd/prismatic/