About the Event:
The talk will explore how urban systems can sustain functional and resilient biodiversity, focusing on three key factors identified in current ecological research: the presence of large green spaces, the quality of urban green areas, and their ecological connectivity. Using Zurich as a model system, it will also examine the opportunities and challenges of maintaining these conditions in the context of increasing urban densification, a strategy widely used to limit urban sprawl into surrounding rural landscapes.
The event is part of the Talk Series organized by the AUA Acopian Center for the Environment in collaboration with the WSL FORRACA, with support from the Government of Switzerland. The talk is also presented within the framework of the Road to COP17 Initiative, a year-long series of activities in Armenia aimed at boosting national awareness and capacities ahead of the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) of the Convention on Biological Diversity to be held in Yerevan in October 2026.
Join the talk online via this link on April 2 at 3:00 p.m. (Armenia time) | 1:00 p.m. (Switzerland time).
About the Speaker:
Marco Moretti is a biologist and head of the Conservation Biology group at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) in Birmensdorf. His research focuses on urban biodiversity and uses an interdisciplinary approach that brings together ecology, sociology, environmental psychology, and urban planning. He currently leads the PAPPUS project, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, which studies how managers of public and private green spaces choose plants and how these choices influence microclimate and insect biodiversity. The project aims to support better decisions in the context of urban densification, climate change, and biodiversity loss.