BIOSPHERE SMART INITIATIVE

Biosphere Smart is a global observatory created to share ideas, knowledge, best-practices, and experiences among Biosphere Reserves on issues related to climate change, green economies, and sustainable development.

The Biosphere Smart Initiative was approved during the 24th Session of the International Co-ordinating Council (ICC) of the Man and the Biosphere (MaB) Programme (2012), which highlighted the "need of the MaB Programme and its networks to be a substantial tool for the implementation of the Rio+20 follow up and for this purpose on the need for the improvement of the communication by using tools like Biosphere SMART on green economies and by using biosphere reserves as study sites for all UNESCO Programmes".

Biosphere Smart Initiative is an open platform of cooperation supported, among others, by the Observatory of Sustainability and Global Change (OSCG), UNESCO Centre of the Canary Islands, Fuerteventura BR, Santana BR, Canary Islands Government-ITC, Principe Island Regional Government, El Hierro BR, Spanish MAB National Committee, Purtuguese MaB National Committee, University of La Laguna, University of Murcia, , OSE (Observatory on Sustainability in Spain), REN21 (global renewable energy policy multi-stakeholder network), Plan Avanza, and operated by TEYDE.

EMPOWERING
SMART BIOSPHERE RESERVES

The Biosphere Smart Initiative is based on the idea to maximise the use of new information technologies to build a covenant for a sustainable future and a transition to green societies based on knowledge.

Citizens become both beneficiaries and key actors of the information and participation tools of the Initiative. They can also be sensors able to provide information about their spatial experiences, improving their capacity of participation and co-design.

Biosphere Smart provides this web-based platform linked to UNESCO-MaB for Biosphere Reserves and similar territories, with the aim of:

  • Sharing experience and lessons in using biosphere reserves in green economic development;
  • Sharing ideas and best practices on issues related to sustainable development and climate change;
  • Promoting sustainable urban futures issues within biosphere reserves and their surroundings;
  • Providing an educational tool with mapping and advanced communication services;
  • Empowering sustainable communities to improve their access to information and decision-making capacity;
  • Improving information and response capacity for managers and scientific community in biosphere reserves;
  • Strengthen partnerships within the World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR).

  1. Visit our Foundation

    Click on each image and visit the website of the partnership and find out all information about the Biospheresmart tool.

  2. Mega Menu

    Contains different elements in which, you can find out a summary explanation of the functionality and scope of the project Biospheresmart. Move your mouse over each tab and check out the information of each tab.

  3. Switch the Menu

    Press button to change the Mega Menu to Multilevel Menu View and viceversa.

  4. Tool Bar

    To access different viewer options related to map tasks and GIS tools. Show & hide dialogs and map complementary elements.

  5. Identify and Zoomer

    By clicking on the map, the identify feature retrieves current layer information related to clicked position. The left slider provides the hability to change the default map zoom level.

  6. Lateral Panels

    These panels shown information related to the Biospheresmart platform, in which, you can find out objectives and the scope of the platform, information associated with partners, a brief description about the nature of the platform as well as different tools and links to related sites.

  7. Tool Bar

    To access different viewer options related to map tasks and GIS tools. Show & hide dialogs and map complementary elements.

  8. Base Maps

    The base maps gallery dialog provides functionallity to switch base tiled map layer. The actual base map is the "Imagery Tiled Service" and you can change by clicking the base map image.

    This dialog can be hidden by clicking the button located in Toolbar options.

  9. Legend

    The legend dialog contains information related to map displayed layers. You can find out a description of selected layers, encoded legends by colors related to the information shown on the map and different links to other interesting websites.

    This dialog can be hidden by clicking the button located in Toolbar options.