Seite - 358 - in Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate Change

358 15.4.3 Conditions An important condition for successful networking initiatives is the availability of structural resources including supporting infrastructure. Even when informal in character, structural, financial or other, support is important to keep momentum and activities going. Most networks seem to flourish best in an informal setting for exchange and collaboration, but some initiatives also require a more formal element such as development of joint action plans or other forms of recommendations. Another important element is the contribution of network members and  experts: without commitment or a sense of ownership, and without a broad range of membership beyond the usual suspects, they may struggle to survive and to reach their goals. Several network initiatives mention multi-scale activities, which may also be mutually supportive. For example, it may help local or national initiatives to link to or mention international developments supporting the direction of local propositions. Further, local cultural institutional conditions may promote or hinder the functioning of network initiatives. For example, the complex institutional constellation of Belgium is perceived to be a challenge, whereas the more intensive nature- connectedness of the Finnish lifestyle helps to trigger a positive response to nature– health activities. 15.4.4 Ways Forward Several network contributions to this chapter mention future plans and needs. Clearly, they support significant capacity building and mainstreaming work, the importance of which is underlined at different occasions and steps. The existence of a diversity of nature–health network initiatives is mainly a strength, and even on an international scale, they all have their own history and context in which they are relevant. More structural support for these initiatives and strengthening inter- network collaboration offers a strong way forward. Acknowledgements We thank all funding bodies supporting the different initiatives outlined in this chapter for their important contributions. We also thank the reviewers for their insightful com- ments and the editors of this book for making this publication possible. References CBD (2018) Decision adopted by the conference of the parties to the convention on biological diversity, 14/4. Health and biodiversity. CBD/COP/DEC/14/4 Charron DF (ed) (2012) Ecohealth research in practice: innovative applications of an ecosystem approach to health. Springer, Ottawa H. Keune et al.