The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is offering and exciting opportunity for youth involvement in international science-policy collaboration!

It will host a youth workshop on the Isle of Vilm, Germany, from 19 to 23 October 2022.

“The workshop aims to strengthen the engagement of young people in the work of IPBES, and to support the uptake of assessments among young people, other individuals and organizations. Participants will also be invited, in collaboration with the task force on scenarios and models, to explore possible nature futures and to contribute to the work on scenarios and models”.

Support for travel, meals, and accommodation will be provided.

What is IPBES? IPBES is an intergovernmental body that produces scientific assessments on the state of knowledge regarding biological diversity, ecosystems, and ecosystem services. The goal of IPBES is to, “…strengthen the science-policy interface for biodiversity and ecosystem services for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, long-term human well-being, and sustainable development.”

The US is seeking applications for candidates to participate in this youth workshop.

Eligibility:

• Between the ages of 18-30 years old.
• Actively engaged in relevant work on biodiversity and ecosystem services, including work on assessing values and the sustainable use of wild species.
• Be nominated by a government or an organization/network with a letter of recommendation in support of the nomination.
• Be committed to participate in person in the youth workshop.  Participants are expected to actively contribute to the workshop and to report on its outcome and on the work of IPBES to their home institutions and other relevant organizations.
• Have very good speaking, reading and writing skills in English as the workshop will be held in English.
• Have demonstrated ability to respectfully interact with people from other disciplines and work effectively and efficiently in a multicultural team.

Deadline for Applications: 10 August 2022

Application and Nomination Process:

1. Candidates are invited to complete the application form through the dedicated web portal at https://ipbes.net/application/youth_workshop_2022 (to access this page you will need to log in with your IPBES website login credentials. Candidates not yet registered on the IPBES website will need to do so at https://ipbes.net/user/register). Please note that the application form is in English only, as the workshop will be held in English.
2. The nominating Government, organization or institution indicated by the candidate will receive an email with a link to the nomination form and will be invited to approve and submit the nomination in the web portal.
3. Nominators and candidates will receive a confirmation via email once the nomination has been duly submitted.
4. Suitable candidates are selected by the management committee of the IPBES capacity-building task force, based on the above-mentioned criteria with a view to achieving disciplinary, gender and geographic balance. All candidates will be notified of the results via email by the technical support unit on capacity-building.

Online application by the candidates

As part of the online application, candidates will have to submit a letter of motivation stating:

• A brief introduction to the candidate's past and ongoing engagement in topics related to biodiversity and ecosystem services within and outside the nominating organization and the candidate's motivation for this involvement
• The candidate's relevant network (organizations, individuals etc.) and expertise that the youth workshop's other participants could benefit from
• A short and personal description why the candidate wishes to participate in the workshop, what they can contribute to it, and how they and their organization/network could benefit from it personally and professionally
• Any information that demonstrates abilities expected from successful candidates listed above

Online nomination process by the U.S. Government

The U.S. will select candidates based on the qualifications set out above and support the candidate’s nomination with a letter that describes the individual's organization/network in supporting engagement of younger generations in biodiversity and ecosystem services related topics. Sarah Weiskopf, the National Focus Point for the U.S. Government and the National CASC Biodiversity Lead, is overseeing the U.S. nomination process.

NOTE: The U.S. will only nominate one candidate per youth organization or network.

More information on the workshop, application and nomination process, and selection criteria can be found on the IPBES website: https://ipbes.net/ipbes-youth-workshop-2022

Questions regarding the application process should be directed to: tsu.capacitybuilding@ipbes.net. Questions regarding the U.S. application process should be directed to Matt Leslie (mleslie@usgs.gov).