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According to the latest Global Risks Report of the World Economic Forum (2026), on a ten-year spectrum, the decline of biodiversity is ranked as the second most severe risk facing humankind. The intertwined combination of biodiversity decline and climate change do not only represent an ecological disaster but, at heart, an existential crisis, and a crisis of humanity (Amel et al., 2017). Unless addressed, biodiversity decline threatens the health and viability of all kinds of ecosystems and civilizations. 

Over the last years, several important international reports on the reduction of biodiversity and its critical implications to the future of humanity have been published (e.g., IPBES, 2019; Dasgupta, 2021; IPBES, 2021; Pörtner et al., 2021; IPBES, 2022; IPBES, 2024; IPBES, 2026). Combined, these reports recommend transformative – i.e., paradigm-breaking – change to halt biodiversity decline in the short-to-medium term, shifting toward nature-positive approaches and living in harmony with nature in the long term (Maes et al., 2013; Dasgupta, 2021). In other words, the prevailing paradigm of economic growth and overconsumption, disconnected from nature, accelerating biodiversity loss, needs overhauling. 

Nevertheless, transformative change does not occur by itself. In order to be enacted, it calls for leadership at multiple levels (Bulkeley et al., 2020; Díaz et al., 2019; IPBES, 2019; Maes et al., 2013; Teerikangas et al., 2025). The aim of the International research workshop ‘Leadership for biodiversity’ is to spark and further the scholarly interest of academics, across sciences and disciplines, toward biodiversity decline as well as means of addressing it via individual, organizational, and institutional action, agency and leadership, whether this occurs at local, regional, national or global levels of analysis. 

In 2026, we take the call to action one step further and as the conference’s annual theme, we ask, are sustainable futures enabled (or forced) by collapse, transformation, and/or regeneration? As the need for action toward sustainable futures has been reverberating for decades, the required urgency acknowledged for years, while the results continue to materialize as modest, we call for reflection on what genuine change requires, and further, what kind of leadership is needed. Is there a need to go through a collapse of the societal structures before learning to act in a biodiversity respectful manner, as some scholars claim (Bendell, 2023; Servigne & Stevens, 2020)? Can business become a force for transformation through biodiversity strategies, new management practices or business models (IPBES, 2026)? Or can we change our values, activities and ourselves and engage in regenerative (Muñoz & Branzei, 2021)action before more is lost?

We welcome critical analyses, deep reflection and tentative thoughts about the avenues of change possible. Are we looking at an end of an era, and if so, how radically will that end alter what we presently consider as ‘normal life’? Should the possibility of a societal collapse be taken seriously? Or are we (also) looking at change in business practices and structures, also at the level of the economy and the entire civilization? Further, do we understand what truly regenerative business, action and life require? What values and, further, what kind of a perception of human nature should we embrace? What is and should be the role of humans in the web of life called biodiversity to enable the flourishing of life, in all its forms?

The workshop calls for submissions, across sciences, addressing the connection between biodiversity and leadership, broadly defined. Conceptual, empirical and methodological submissions are welcome, related, but not limited to the following themes:

Business and biodiversity

• Companies’ biodiversity strategies, business models, management practices and actions
• Comparing nature-positive vs. biodiversity respectful business approaches
• Businesses’ approaches to biodiversity in specific sectors, such as e.g. food, mining, oceans
• Circular economy, climate-neutral business, degrowth and/or regenerative business
• Measurement of biodiversity footprints
• Biodiversity reporting and compensation schemes
• Inter-organizational collaboration and forms of ownership
• The role of supply chain management
• Consumers, consumption culture and biodiversity

Leadership 

• Exploring connections between biodiversity and leadership at/across different levels of analysis
• Forms and dynamics of sustainable leadership 
• Exploring connections between biodiversity and governance at/across different levels of analysis
• Actors and change-makers in pursuit of sustainable futures
• Private and public sector’s role at local, regional, national and international levels of analysis
• Personal growth and leader development
  • Values
  • Meaningfulness and motivation
• Ontological, epistemological and methodological considerations
  • Multi-species and more than human perspectives
  • Post Homo Economicus

Transformation

• Transition vs. transformation, i.e. can we change within the system or do we need to change the system itself
• Systemic transformation
  • Food system
  • Geopolitical issues

Regeneration

• From regenerative agriculture to regenerative business, use cases
  • Regenerative supply chains
  • Regenerative farming
  • Regenerative firms
  • Regenerative strategies
• Conceptualizing regenerative
• Philosophy of regeneration approaches – views to values, individuals and systems

Collapse

• Collapsology and deep adaptation – making sense of the approaches
• Civilization collapse as research field from historical insights to current events
• Survival and adaptation
  • How do we adapt to changes (in biosphere and geopolitics) that are already happening?
  • Collaboration and other survival skill sets
  • How and should we prepare
  • How does the decline of biodiversity impact our everyday life
• Biodiversity-respectful futures and other modes of hope in collapsology

Target Audience

Academic faculty, from PhD researchers, post-doctoral fellows, early-career researchers, to professors and practitioners with an interest in the current state of academic research connecting biodiversity and leadership.

Workshop Schedule

The conference is held on Thursday, May 21st from 9 am to 4 pm. The possibility of closing the day with a conference dinner will be decided on site on Thursday. The informal conference dinner scheduled for Wednesday, May 20th has been cancelled.

Location

The event is held onsite (no online participation available). The workshop will be held on the campus of University of Turku, at the premises of Turku School of Economics (Rehtorinpellonkatu 3). 

Event Description

The workshop connecting leadership and biodiversity aims to offer a friendly, safe and constructive space in which academic research at the intersection of natural and social sciences can be supported and developed. In parallel, it aims to develop a networking platform wherefrom colleagues, across countries, can get to know one another and connect. The event is geared toward faculty and PhD researchers.  

The event has been initiated in 2025, and is curated by the transdisciplinary BIODIFUL (Biodiversity-respectful leadership) consortium, funded by the Strategic Research Council (2022-2027) under the Finnish Research Council. In an interdisciplinary spirit, the workshop is co-hosted by the School of Economics and the Biodiversity Sciences Department at University of Turku.

Conference Organizing Committee

Conference scientific committee: Prof. Satu Teerikangas (School of Economics, University of Turku), Prof. Ilari Sääksjärvi(Biodiversity Unit, University of Turku), Dr. Matti Salo (Finland Natural Resource Centre), Adj. Prof. Juulia Räikkönen(Biodiversity Unit, University of Turku), Prof. Tiina Onkila (University of Jyväskylä), Prof. Ville Uusitalo (LUT University), Dr. Sari Puustinen (Finland Futures Research Centre, University of Turku), and Dr. Milla Unkila and Ass. Prof. Anne Quarshie (School of Economics, University of Turku).

Conference organizing committee: Prof. Satu Teerikangas, Dr. Milla Unkila, Dr. Mia Salo, Dr. Maria Pecoraro, Behnam Pourahmadi. For any queries, please contact biodiful@utu.fi

Why Finland?

Given its history and geopolitical position, Finland is exceptionally poised to host a workshop at the intersection of biodiversity and business. As a country, it has a tradition of being and finding one’s identity in-between, regardless of circumstances. It is among the most northern countries in the world, where resilience is gained from enduring four very different seasons and exposure to stark seasonal differences in light, combining nightless summer days with a long, arctic winter. 

Despite its size, it is a sparsely populated country. This means that despite experiencing biodiversity loss, Finnish citizens experience a relative closeness to nature, be it in cities or the countryside. We hope that you take the opportunity to enjoy Turku and its archipelago during your visit, or see Helsinki on the weekend after the workshop, exploring its history and seaside walks.