Oxford is set to host a global conference on nature-based solutions for the planet's future, with experts soon arriving from across the world. 

Leading experts will gather in Oxford next week to develop an action agenda for scaling up community-led nature-based solutions – approaches that involve working with nature, as part of nature, to tackle grand challenges and build a world where all life can thrive.

The conference will be based at the university's Museum of Natural History from Tuesday, June 18, to Thursday, June 20. 

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Scientists, artists, Indigenous leaders, wisdom keepers, governments, and economists are set to share advancements and best practices in nature-based solutions to societal challenges, supporting human wellbeing and biodiversity. 

Professor Nathalie Seddon, the Director of the Nature-based Solutions Initiative and the Agile Initiative at the University of Oxford, said she was pleased to be welcoming everyone to the important event. 

Professor Seddon said: "It is a very great honour to be welcoming an extraordinary group of people from diverse cultures, sectors, and disciplines to our interdisciplinary conference in Oxford.

"Here, we will explore how to weave together different forms of knowledge and connect and collaborate more deeply to address the challenges we face.

"Our aim is to emerge with an action agenda for scaling nature-based solutions to support social and ecological flourishing globally whilst helping to transform the economy so that it enhances the web of life.”

A key mission for the conference is to co-create an action agenda that will form a roadmap for scaling community-led nature-based solutions worldwide.

This will form the groundwork for policy discussions, in particular in the build-up to the 2025 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 30), being hosted by Brazil.

Panel topics are set to include how solutions can build resilience for human and ecological communities, including climate change adaptation and food security, and how to ensure that governments, markets, and finance support rather than degrade nature. 

Alongside the main sessions, a cultural programme will explore our intrinsic connection with nature through a range of different activities, many being led by local or Indigenous artists from different parts of the world.

These include musical performances, a mural made in real-time, films about nature-based solutions, weaving, artworks, and guided walks. In addition, the conference will open and close with a traditional fire ceremony to hold delegates’ intentions and hopes for the week.

Examples of nature-based solutions likely to be discussed through the conference include restoration of river and coastal ecosystems to protect against flooding and erosion; implementing agroforestry to make crops more resilient to unpredictable growing conditions; and establishing native forests, parks, and wetlands within and around urban areas for cooling and to reduce flood risk. 

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