Nature Data Unlocked: Open innovation to transform biodiversity data products
Vizzuality is co-hosting the Nature Data Unlocked Workshop, where experts from different disciplines will come together to tackle the biodiversity data gap.
Access to high-quality, useful data is a major missing component for measuring and reducing our society's impact on biodiversity.
‘Society needs information about nature because, to survive, it must build that information into practically all decision-making,’ says Michael Harfoot, Senior Ecosystem Scientist at Vizzuality.
While organizations worldwide want to measure their impact and monitor changes, they face data limitations. Usually, the data:
- Is licensed, so it is inaccessible to widespread decision making
- Lacks spatial, temporal, or taxonomic detail or is difficult to interpret or utilize.
- Is fragmented across different data providers, each with different resource constraints, hindering collaboration and data production.
An Urgent Call For Open Nature Data
The Nature Data Workshop aims to address these issues by inspiring a new, hyper-collaborative model for producing global, open, and operational products that shift the baseline of expectations for what can be monitored and measured today.
This workshop is supported by Vizzuality and the Future of Marine Ecosystems Research Lab at Dalhousie University. It brings together experts from academia to industry to tackle the biodiversity data gap.
Through this initiative, we aim to unlock:
- Nature data so that it is open, accessible and usable for widespread, actionable use.
- High-quality biodiversity data products that meet the needs of various stakeholders and enable informed decision-making.
- Biodiversity data integration into decision-making processes across sectors to enhance understanding and address environmental challenges effectively.
‘The main benefit of open or public datasets is that anybody can use data as a de facto baseline, whether incorporated into government or corporate decision-making, used by NGOs, etc.,’ explains Mike. ‘The other side of that coin is the ability of open data to promote collaboration, which can speed up our ability to make nature-positive decisions.’
The Nature Date Unlocked Initiative
Mike Harfoot, Senior Scientist at Vizzuality, and Francis Gassert, Head of Impact and Strategy, will be at this workshop alongside other leading experts and professionals in the industry from World Resources Institute (WRI) Land & Carbon Lab, Dalhousie University, University of Edinburgh, Google Deepmind, Conservation International, CSIRO, WWF, University of St Andrews, McGill University, Natural History Museum, iDiv, Microsoft Research, Birmingham University, iNaturalist, University of Zurich and Purdue University.
During the upcoming workshop, they will determine the priority activities to transform the generation and distribution of open and actionable datasets so that society can make better-informed decisions now rather than in a decade. If you want to keep up with how the Nature Data Unlocked initiative evolves or want to get involved, contact Vizzuality through our website.
About Vizzuality
Vizzuality is an impact-driven design and technology agency that creates bespoke, science-based data visualizations and digital tools that inspire learning, catalyze decisions, and improve our world. We collaborate with proactive organizations to create a sustainable future for our planet and society. We have over 15 years of experience working with world-changing organizations, building platforms like Global Forest Watch, Aqueduct, and Trase.
To find out how you can participate in Nature Data Unlocked or to explore possibilities with Vizzuality, contact us here or alternatively write to us at hello@vizzuality.com.
Read more about how unlocking nature data can fast-track the sustainable transition in our recent interview with senior ecosystem scientist Mike Harfoot.
