Developing sustainable operational models to meet the scale of environmental challenges in a post-Covid future

I currently lead two global programmes of capacity development, research, advocacy and conservation action focused on strengthening grassroots conservation organisations and on the linkages between biodiversity, well-being and human rights as the Head of Partnerships, Capacity and Communities at BirdLife International. A founding member of the Cambridge Conservation Initiative (a unique collaboration between leading internationally-focused biodiversity conservation organisations and the University of Cambridge) and headquartered in the David Attenborough Building on Pembroke Street, BirdLife International is a global partnership of conservation civil society organisations (CSOs) which strives to conserve global biodiversity by using birds as ambassadors for nature. Our approach is grounded in rigorous science and in our belief that local people, working for nature in their own places but connected nationally and internationally through a global partnership, are key to sustaining all life on this planet. We have a unique local to global approach which delivers high impact and long-term conservation for the benefit of nature and people.

2020 has been a real wake up call for many of us working in conservation, with the Covid-19 pandemic being the latest episode in a long string of environment-borne human tragedies, catastrophic in its scale and repercussions. The upheaval in just about every aspect of society highlighted the deep social inequities and the scale of complex environmental problems many CSOs, such as the ones I work with, are trying to address. CSOs on the frontline of nature conservation and social justice have a long history of driving extraordinary social change around the world. While often referred to as the third sector, in my experience, it is really the first sector when it comes to satisfying some of the more fundamental needs of humanity. 

In the current context, CSO resourcing and the ability to continue delivering relevant social and environmental impact over the long term is becoming even more of a priority for civil society leaders. I therefore felt like this is a particularly important time to explore and try to address the resourcing gap in the sector (globally, less than 5% of charitable giving goes to nature conservation), given the pandemic backdrop of a zoonotic disease caused by the consumption of wildlife. The interconnection between the health of humans, animals and ecosystems has never been clearer nor the business case for protecting and restoring nature greater. I turned to the MSt in Social innovation as I believe the lessons from social innovation can help conservationists like me think beyond the reinforcement investments and immediate needs of the sector and use this once in a lifetime opportunity to think ahead, adapt and develop novel, more resilient and sustainable operational models which can meet the scale of environmental challenges faced in a post-Covid future. 

I grew up and started my career in community-based conservation in Transylvania, Romania, a biodiversity hotspot of international importance. I have a background in natural resource management and before joining BirdLife International, I worked extensively on developing conservation organisations in Eastern and Southern Europe, Central Asia and the Mediterranean. I also spent some time working with the research–focused Global Sustainability Institute at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, which was a great experience. I am a Fellow of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and an author of the IPBES’s first Global Assessment on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, a landmark report launched in 2019 which highlighted the unprecedented decline of Earth’s biodiversity over the past half-century due to human impact and the critical importance of nature in trying to achieve the world’s Sustainable Development Goals. 

I have an Mphil in Conservation Leadership from the University of Cambridge (Trinity Hall, 2012) and I am a 2013 Kinship Conservation Fellow in market-based instruments for conservation.

Although catastrophic, the ongoing global crisis is not unique in its repercussions and resulting costs to humanity. For decades now, environmentalists have warned about climate change, the unprecedented rate of species extinctions, and subsequent social and economic disenfranchisement of millions of people in developing biodiversity-rich countries. Hopefully, this pandemic has brought broader realisations beyond the conservation sector regarding the connections among humans and their environment, the grave consequences of causing imbalances in natural processes shaped over millennia, and the unpreparedness of humanity in dealing with such events. The MSt in Social Innovation is a unique opportunity to understand global, ‘wicked problems’ such as biodiversity loss from a multi-disciplinary, multi-sectoral perspective and construct possible joint solutions with the involvement of policy, industry and the wider public. My goal over the next few years is to develop innovative and ambitious resourcing approaches to close the critical resourcing gap in my sector and generate more impact, bringing in perspectives from the field of social innovation and beyond.

I was honoured and thrilled to be chosen for the Leigh Stoeber Studentship at Lucy. Dr Stoeber’s contribution to the field of life sciences as well as her legacy within the Lucy community is legendary. Although there is a pressing need for it, it is relatively rare from individuals from the charity sector to attend world-class business schools such as the Judge at Cambridge. I will forever be grateful for Lucy’s commitment to providing opportunities for individuals from under-represented sectors such as conservation to have access to world-leading education – without which my journey to the MSt in Social Innovation course would not have been possible.

Lucy has a long history of female pioneering scientists paving the way for other women’s academic journeys in Cambridge (including co-founder Anna Bidder, a marine biologist) and I feel privileged to benefit from their legacy in this wonderful College. Furthermore, I love how Lucy breaks preconceptions of what studying at Cambridge means – by embracing and supporting part-time degrees and students. The access to resources as well the opportunities to connect to people interested in a variety of disciplines is truly amazing – even if working full-time alongside the MSt in Social Innovation means I spend less time than I would like at College.