Penny Downes placement – Kew Gardens
Between January and March 2025, I undertook an Envision funded placement at the Global Centre on Biodiversity for Climate (GCBC) based at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. The GCBC funds research into how the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity can help address climate change and improve livelihoods in countries eligible for Official Development Assistance (ODA). The programme contributes to the UK Government’s commitment to spend £3bn of its £11.6bn of International Climate Finance on nature and biodiversity over 5 years to March 2026, and to the realisation of national and international commitments (e.g. UN Sustainable Development Goals; Paris Climate Agreement).
The aim of my placement was to produce a report containing a comprehensive analysis of the key challenges, opportunities and evidence gaps for biodiversity conservation, climate change adaptation, and sustainable livelihoods to help GCBC refine its future grant competitions. The project involved four PhD interns focussing on different geographic regions, with myself focussing on sub-Saharan Africa.
We wanted our regional reports to be demand-driven and focused on issues deemed most important by in-country stakeholders. Therefore, through personal contacts and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, I organised webinars with government officials, academics and practitioners. Participants highlighted difficulties surrounding water provision for agriculture as droughts increase under climate change, as well as the issues of land use conflicts that arise between local communities and ecotourism ventures in sub-Saharan Africa.
To supplement the workshops, we conducted a scoping review of literature and identified relevant policy documents relating to climate change (National Adaptation Plans and Nationally Determined Contributions), and biodiversity conservation and sustainable resource use (National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans, and National Reports to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity) from the last 5 years.
Our regional reports were submitted to DEFRA and the ODA. My work was also published as part of a report by the Institute for Development Studies commissioned by the UK cross-government Environment and Nature Research Working Group. During the placement, I gained skills in synthesising research and communicating it in a suitable way for government. I also obtained insight into how governments decide on the direction of their research funding, which will be useful as I move forward in my academic career.
I particularly enjoyed visiting Kew Gardens for our in-person team meetings and the Annual GCBC Symposium. During the symposium I was able to hear about ongoing GCBC projects, meet key stakeholders and lead in-person workshops.
Overall, I am extremely grateful for the experiences and knowledge I gained from my three-month placement funded by Envision. It has offered invaluable insights that I will take with me into the next steps of my career.