Seite - 339 - in Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate Change

339 mitigation and adaptation activities are carried out. On the other hand, climate change can negatively influence human health via the spread of allergenic plants and vector-borne diseases. Both issues were tackled at the European  Conference on “Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate Change  – Challenges, Opportunities and Evidence Gaps”, on 27–29 June 2017  in Bonn/Germany. The joint conference was held by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) and the European Network of Heads of Nature Conservation Agencies (ENCA) in collabo- ration with the Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) /  German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv). The event was co-sponsored by the WHO Regional Office for Europe. 15.2.4.2 Main Activities The European conference in Bonn brought together 220 experts from science, policy and practice to highlight and discuss the importance of biodiversity’s positive contribution to human health in the face of climate change  (Marselle et  al. 2018). Indirect negative impacts of climate change on human health (e.g. the spread of allergenic plants or vector-borne diseases) were also discussed. The aim of the conference was to increase knowledge, share experiences and foster nature-based solutions to meet the challenges of climate change and health issues. In this context, health was considered in its physical, psychological and social dimension, including socio-environmental equity. The latest scientific findings on the impacts of climate change on European biodiversity and links to human health were discussed. In addition, the implementation of nature-based solutions towards health and climate goals were outlined. Interactive sessions focused on case studies of successful demonstration projects and lessons learned. Resulting discussions led to recommendations for creating synergies between ongoing policy processes, scientific programmes and practical implementation. These recommendations were formally adopted by the ENCA network at its plenary session in October 2017. At the conference, the WHO Regional Office for Europe  (2016) launched a publication on “Urban green spaces  – a brief for action”, in which experiences from interventions to promote human health by fostering green spaces in urban areas are summarized. 15.2.4.3 What Works Well The conference incorporated and stimulated close interaction between different scientific disciplines (interdisciplinarity) and between scientists and practitioners (transdisciplinarity) such as from policy institutions. It was attended by participants from more than 30 countries, with diverse professional backgrounds (e.g. biology, psychology, medicine, city planning, economy, law) and working on different levels ranging from local and community levels to the EU level. The conference results were distributed via various channels (e.g. the ENCA network) to reach several 15 European Nature and  Health Network Initiatives