Aug

Grand Seminar: Nature’s Alarms — Connecting Biodiversity Loss to Preparedness and Societal Safety

27 August 2026 08:30 to 15:30 | Seminar

In times of accelerating biodiversity loss and the looming risk of ecosystem collapse emerge as direct threats to national security, food systems, and global stability - societies are confronted with an urgent dilemma: how to respond immediately to escalating crises while also building long-term resilience for a rapidly changing future.

Recent assessments by both Swedish and international intelligence and academia warn that collapsing ecosystems could trigger resource scarcity, price shocks, and geopolitical instability within just a few years, underscoring how deeply local vulnerabilities are tied to global environmental decline. Against this backdrop, this seminar explores how we can connect biodiversity loss to crisis preparedness and societal safety by examining:

how our research can better inform both “action now” and long-term strategies
how to understand societal risks from local communities to global systems
where critical system vulnerabilities lie
why policy responses so often address symptoms rather than underlying global drivers

Through cross-sector dialogue, we aim to strengthen the connection between scientific insight and real-world needs in a time of profound ecological and societal disruption.

Registration

Programme

08:30 Coffee and registration

9:00 Welcome and aim of the seminar
Moderator: TBA

09:15-10:15 Keynotes: Do we understand the scale of the challenges?
TBA

10:15 Coffee break

10:45 Panel: Consequences of biodiversity loss - critical system vulnerabilities across sectors and scales

Fredrik NG Andersson, Lund University
Pål Börjesson, Lund University, LTH
Lina Eklund, Lund University
Jesica Lopéz, Nature Development Company
Henrik Smith, Lund University

Moderator: TBA

11:50 Introduction to mingle lunch

12:00-13:30 Lunch with group discussion
What can research contribute with – and when?

13:30-14:30 Short talks: Actions now versus long-term resilience, local versus global

Security in creeping crises
Magnus Ekengren, Swedish defense University
Need for coordinating efforts across sectors – who does what?
Ulrika Postgård, Swedish Civil Defence and Resilience Agency
Food systems preparedness
TBA
Addressing symptoms not drivers: Why is policy often reactive?
TBA

Moderator: TBA

14:30-15:30 Concluding dialogue: From tensions to takeaways