The hot summer of 2026 has once again brought climate change sharply into focus. Yet alongside the climate crisis, there is a second environmental crisis that receives far less attention but poses no less of a threat to our society: the silent loss of life in fields, forests, and meadows, the rapid disappearance of species and ecosystems, and with it the irreversible loss of an awe-inspiring diversity of life that has evolved over millions of years.
Our society depends on the services provided by these species and ecosystems, yet we remain far too unaware of this dependence. This is why the scholars Katrin Böhning-Gaese, Jens Kersten, and Helmuth Trischler call for a “biodiversity transition” in their 2025 Manifesto for a Biodiverse Society. But what might such a transition look like? How would society, politics, the economy, infrastructure, and academia need to change in order to preserve diversity, enable it to thrive, and create a convivial and sustainable society?
Together with Heike Vesper, Executive Director at WWF Germany, and sociologist and bestselling author Sighard Neckel, author of Katastrophenzeit, the authors of the manifesto will discuss the vision of a biodiverse society as well as perspectives and possible pathways towards a biodiversity transition.
The panel discussion takes place as part of the conference “Living in Diversity: Vision and Practice of the Biodiverse Society” and is organised by the Leibniz Institute of European History (IEG), the Leibniz Research Alliance “Value of the Past”, and the Natural History Museum Mainz.
Venue: Natural History Museum Mainz, Reichklarastraße 1, 55116 Mainz
Participation: Admission is free. No registration is required.
