Biodiversity: Building with Giants

At a glance A three-hour exploration of biodiversity as the quiet giant that underpins resilient societies. Why is biodiversity named by many as the planet’s largest challenge, what is it exactly and how is business, policy and industry related to it? This session shifts the view from plants and greenery toward biodiversity as living infrastructure. Expert Tom Bosschaert guides participants through how ecosystems function, where they fracture, and how thoughtful design and strategy can help them regenerate. Course Insight Drawing from Except’s work across cities, industries, and landscapes, the session builds a practical understanding of how soil, water, species, habitats, and human activity form one intertwined system. Instead of seeing biodiversity as a visual layer, participants learn how it drives value: reducing climate risk, improving health, generating ecosystem services, strengthening identity, lowering operational costs, and opening long-term opportunities for organizations and communities. The course explores what it means to design and manage with life as the central organizing principle. Through conversation and structured reasoning, participants learn to read their surroundings as a network of relationships that can be supported, repaired, and expanded. Key Outcomes By the end of this course, participants will: • Understand biodiversity as a systemic foundation rather than a decorative feature • Recognize the links between ecological health, business performance, and community resilience • Identify leverage points to strengthen ecosystems in their own contexts • Gain practical inspiration to integrate biodiversity into design, strategy, and daily decision-making