The Edu-BioMed project has published a new document to strengthen the role of the partner Universities as policy advisors, by providing policymakers with objective critiques to the legal and Biosphere Reserves governance status quo on a scientific evidence-base.

The clear understanding of the legal framework and governance mechanisms that influence a Biosphere Reserve is a hard task, given the layers of institutional complexities behind this figure. Given the novelty of the MAB programme, surely at policy level there is margin of improvement towards a sustainable territorial management.

The Policy Review and Recommendations in Frameworks and Governance Mechanisms in Biosphere Reserve Management starts with an assessment about gaps, inertias and opportunities at the level of legal frameworks and governance mechanisms that influence Biosphere Reserves management and reality.

The assessment has been performed in the four countries where Edu-BioMed partner Higher Education Institutions are based: i.e. Lebanon, Morocco, France and Spain. This allows a comparison between different policy systems, and enables the sharing of learning experiences between different territories.

The document aims to provide evidence/demand-based policy recommendations that can facilitate the work of public administrators at local, regional and national levels to spot scenarios for policy upgrading in the long term.

The publication of this document follows the previous publication with a set of guidelines for higher education in Mediterranean Biosphere Reserves. Furthermore, next Monday January the 31st, Edu-BioMed partners will present some of the project results in more detail during the webinar Tools for Education & Research in & on Mediterranean Biosphere Reserves. Participation is free and more information about the program and registration can be found here.