What is the Earth and Biosphere Institute?
Why was the Institute created?
The need for global-scale research
Connectivity in EBI research themes
Leeds has internationally-recognised research capabilities in three broad themes relevant to enhancing environmental stewardship:
(1) biodiversity and conservation
(2) catchments and natural hazards
(3) environmental change
It is becoming increasingly clear that the environmental stewardship that comes from these isolated research is no longer acceptable, whether from the perspective of supra-governmental and governmental policy (e.g. the Water Framework Directive precludes the possibility of managing a river catchment only to reduce flood risk), non-governmental organisations (e.g. the National Trust), the general public or the funding bodies that determine where resources to support research should be directed. A holistic approach is demanded by the existence of global scale processes, notably climate change and the globalisation of society, which are driving earth surface and ecological processes at new spatial scales and which result in strong connectivity between system components.
A framework for Enhanced Environmental Stewardship
Earth and Biosphere Institute