What happened in our Q1, 2026 Community Network Call?

The Biodiversity and Food Systems Partnership community held a first-quarter network call on Thursday, March 5th. The call reflected the energy for our joint 2026 activities and facilitated an exchange on the progress so far, showing the growing momentum and collaboration within the community.

An update and short recap of our 2026 plans

Our call started with a quick overview of the agenda for this year. You can read more about our plans for 2026 in our blog. We also looked at relevant events that are already on our radar for the coming year. These events will soon be added to our community page as well!

Looking ahead to COP17 UNCBD

In the context of the run-up to COP17, Chiara Villani from the CGIAR Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT shared updates on emerging priorities and opportunities for engagement. Key themes highlighted:

The transition from commitment to action in implementing the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, with a strong emphasis on co-creating approaches with countries.
The growing attention on the nature–climate–food nexus, including the role of food systems in addressing climate and biodiversity challenges.
A continued focus on advancing biodiversity for food and nutrition, strengthening implementation of CBD initiatives.
And the relevance of the Gender Action Plan, alongside improved monitoring and accountability to track progress.

These updates sparked a lot of interest for collaboration within the community, including efforts to ensure food systems are central to COP17 discussions, contributions to policy briefs, and collaboration around side events or even potential pre-COPs. We are excited to see how this growing momentum within the community will translate into concrete collaborations and preparations in the months ahead.

From knowledge to action: new tools for dialogue

After the launch last year of the use cases Bundle Food & Biodiversity in Action: Learning from 10 journeys to sustainable futures, it was recognized that progress toward sustainable change often depends on champions: individuals and organizations who bring these topics into discussions, projects, and policy spaces. But how do we help more people start these conversations?

In response to this question, and in collaboration with KANDS Collective and Glocolearning, the partnership has launched the Food and Biodiversity in Action: Conversation Starter Toolkit. During the call, Sabrina Trautman from KANDS Collective shared insights into the development of the toolkit and practical tips on how it can be used to spark dialogue around biodiversity and food systems.

You can explore the toolkit and access the materials here. This link also includes a short blog that explains more about the “why” behind the creation of this toolkit. We encourage you to use it in your work and share your experiences and reflections!

Progress on the development of the incubator and our community shared messages.

Grace Maureen Wairimu, on behalf of the Wasafiri and Impact Hub team, shared an update on the progress of the development phase for a potential pilot programme aimed at supporting the articulation of and action on the biodiversity and food systems connections. Within this iterative process, we have learnt together from the different actors we have engaged with, adjusting our ideas to better fit the needs of potential users and capacities.

We closed our call with shared insights from the Convene team, about the current development process of the Community Shared messages on biodiversity and food systems. It was great to share about the massive efforts of the members who are actively co-shaping these messages through the Working Group and get the opportunity to gain additional input from all members during the call. At this stage we look forward to learning more about the possible areas of application and stories of progress from the community members!

A growing space for dialogue

The community keeps connecting actors, sharing experiences and learning from real world initiative, learning all together from different perspectives and experiences. Collaboration and co-creation remains key for 2026 planning! And… for that reason also a light online platform will be launched where the community members can find each other, engage, share ideas and opportunities - leading to more opportunities for collective action!

Are you interested in contributing to this growing community working toward connecting food systems and biodiversity? Join the community