Page - 345 - in Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate Change

345 15.3 National Initiatives Within Europe 15.3.1 Austria 15.3.1.1 Introduction The initiative “Biodiversity and health” led by Umweltdachverband (Austrian NGO and environmental umbrella organization) in cooperation with several partners started in 2012.3 The aim of this Austrian project is to raise awareness for the benefits of biodiversity and nature for human health and well-being. By pointing out to the correlations and relationships between biodiversity and health aspects, the attention of decision-makers and the general public is drawn to the intrinsic value of unspoilt ecosystems, landscapes and services they provide for free. The aim is to promote acceptance and commitment for the conservation of biodiversity in order to facilitate achieving the national biodiversity goals along with the Biodiversity Strategy Austria 2020+. Another objective is to bring together the various stake- holders across all relevant sectors in order to enable mutual regard for their interests and to integrate biodiversity conservation in other sectoral policies and networks. 15.3.1.2 Main Activities A ‘Biodiversity and health’ forum was established in 2015 as a cross-sector platform with the goal of mainstreaming issues of biodiversity conservation into other sectors, including the sense of health promotion. Stakeholders from various fields such as science, nature conservation, health, medicine, psychology, education as well as representatives from authorities participated. The forum meets annually and discusses priorities for cross-sector collaboration and possibilities on how to engage the general public. As an outcome, an action plan has been drafted with active support of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Sustainability and Tourism, and also in coordination with the Austrian Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Health and Consumer Protection. Another important part of the initiative consists of public relations work in order to encourage the general public to include actions for biodiversity conservation in their daily life. This was realized by producing an animated short video, which explains biodiversity and its benefits for health and well-being (www.youtube.com/ watch?v=JWP4EEJ-l9k). The message of the short video was designed to be easy to understand. It is suitable for introducing people to the topic and for visualising the multiple associations of biodiversity and health. Furthermore, a book “Good for you and me. How Biodiversity promotes our health” (German) was published to enable a more detailed look at this complex relationship. The book draws attention to vari- 3 This contribution has been drafted within the project “BIO.DIV.NOW II  – Mainstreaming von Biodiversität erfolgreich umsetzen”, funded by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Sustainability and Tourism and the European Union. 15 European Nature and  Health Network Initiatives