1 March 2023 marked the beginning of the Horizon Europe project B-Cubed (B3 [Biodiversity Building Blocks for policy]). To ensure the project starts off on the right foot, representatives of the project’s 13 partner organisations met up in Brussels for B-Cubed’s kick-off meeting. Partners were hosted on 13 and 14 March by the project’s coordinating institution Meise Botanic Garden, an internationally renowned centre of excellence for plant diversity research, conservation, and documentation and one of the largest botanic gardens in the world. 

B-Cubed partners at Meise Botanic Garden.

The meeting was opened by Steven Dessein, the CEO of Meise Botanic Garden, who introduced partners to the mission of the garden and its main activities, and project coordinator Dr. Quentin Groom, who officially launched the meeting. Following a series of insightful presentations on the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, the Global Biodiversity Framework and the Knowledge Center for Biodiversity, the local organisers gave the floor to B-Cubed’s partners to present their organisations and what type of unique expertise they bring to the project. With the stage set, partners then went into the details of their work in B-Cubed with a series of work package presentations. 

Dr. Miguel Fernandez (German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research) presents the landscape of European Biodiversity Initiatives.

Day 2 was dedicated to discussing how to answer stakeholder needs and maximise project impact, as well as several brainstorming sessions on how work packages can work together to boost B-Cubed’s development. Partners were also introduced to the project’s management procedures and ethics. 

So far, so good – we are excited about what’s to come!

And that’s a wrap for the #bcubed_KoM❕

After 2 days of exciting discussions & some serious planning, we feel confident that we are starting off on the right foot🚶‍♂️

Thank you @BGM_coll_res for having us and we already look forward to the next one👏 pic.twitter.com/DAT9foGRpk

— B-Cubed Project (@BCubedProject) March 14, 2023