BioAgora hosts a parallel session at the Scientific Advice Mechanism 2025 Conference

Between 26 and 27 May, the Austrian capital of Vienna played host to the 2025 edition of the annual conference organised by the Scientific Advice Mechanism (SAM) to the European Commission. At its core, SAM is meant to generate “independent scientific evidence and policy recommendations to the College of European Commissioners on any subject.” In 2023, this definition was expanded to also encompass scientific issues relevant to the policy priorities of the European Parliament and Council of the EU. In this context, the annual conference serves as a physical point of intersection between crucial stakeholders in European governance and research alike.

Under the theme "Building Bridges: Shaping Europe's Science-For-Policy Landscape", a comprehensive two-day agenda was put together for the event. Among the multitude of insightful showcases, BioAgora partnered with INRAE and the Montpellier Process to organise a parallel session on the conference’s second day. It was titled “Making the case: Forward-looking science-policy-action interfaces for tackling nexus challenges across scales, sectors and actors”. 

Within it, models for science–policy–society interfaces operating across the feed-care-protect nexus were highlighted, showcasing the practical tensions and opportunities in designing impactful, inclusive and adaptive frameworks in this respect. Through participatory formats (fishbowls and live sensemaking), the session also generated insights into overcoming institutional lock-ins as well as identifying actionable paths toward more effective, equitable and impactful science-policy interfaces. A central question guiding proceedings was: Why invest in interfacing when it’s so difficult — and what’s at stake if we don’t?

The session’s featured speakers were:

• Fabrice De Clerck (CGIAR)

• Sélim Louafi (CIRAD)

• Marie Vandewalle (UFZ)

• Nils Ferrand (INRAE)

• Amanda Harding (Convene)

• Karen Fabbri (European Commission)

Find out more about BioAgora’s efforts to build a workable interface between researchers and policy-makers in the form of a Science Service for Biodiversity on this page.