!! Frontlines of Urban Conservation and Restoration - the Urban Sustainability thematic mission holds a public event at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA)
__Date:__ 22 March 2023, 10:30-14:30 hrs (CET)\\
__Venue:__ Palace of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

!European experts of urban conservation, environmental biology and ecology gather to picture an eco-friendly future for cities.

__On 22 March 2023__, the "Urban Sustainability" thematic mission of the [AE Budapest Knowledge Hub|https://mta.hu/aebudapest/budapest-knowledge-hub-111313] organizes a special session at the [Hungarian Academy of Sciences|https://mta.hu/english] (MTA) where experts from Germany, Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary will share their latest findings in the area of urban conservation and restoration of natural habitats. The title of the event is: “__Frontlines of Urban Conservation and Restoration__”, it will be held in hybrid format, that is with in-person attendance in the __Small Lecture Room (2nd floor) at the Palace of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (address: 1051 Budapest, Széchenyi István tér 9.)__, and online. Some of the speakers will join via Zoom, while the online audience can follow the event through live streaming on the [Youtube Channel of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences|https://www.youtube.com/c/MTA1825/featured].
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[Registration for the event|https://forms.gle/CWNgsFNnhw4RxLHw9].\\
Download the [invitation|Frontlines of Urban Conservation and Restoration workshop by AE Budapest Hub_22 March 2023.pdf].
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The abstract of the session provided by co-organizers __Prof. Péter Török__ (DSc., University of Debrecen, AE Budapest Knowledge Hub) and __Prof. Péter Batáry__ (DSc., Centre for Ecological Research):
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Urbanisation is one of the most important challenges for natural communities in the 21st century. Urbanisation – as a process in which there is an increase of concentration of human population in cities – leads not only to the change of land use and cover but involves a set of demographic, sociocultural, economic, technological, and environmental changes. Urbanisation is considered one of the most pressing human activities, which causes the homogenisation of flora and fauna, provides space for plant and animal invasions, and also changes the local climate through the heat island effect. Urban green spaces play a decisive role in the mitigation of these negative effects towards suburban and rural habitats and also provide a set of ecosystem services for cities. Thus, habitat conservation and restoration actions focusing on cities and understanding urbanisation effects on natural communities are vital. With this special session, we would like to invite researchers from Hungary and abroad to facilitate their networking and communication by highlighting hot topics in urban conservation and restoration.
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!!Schedule of the program:

__10:30-10:35 Welcome by the AE Budapest Knowledge Hub – Prof. Péter Török__, Co-chair, Urban Sustainability Thematic Mission, Academia Europaea Budapest Knowledge Hub

!Section 1

__10:35-12:15__ Presentations of the foreign researchers with discussion (15+5 min. each) - Moderator: Prof. Péter Batáry
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__10:35-10:55__ Land sharing in urban gardens: ecosystems for biodiversity conservation and health restoration – __Prof. Monika Egerer__, Urban Productive Ecosystems, School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, München, Germany - ONLINE
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__10:55-11:15__ Colourful ribbons for our cities: The importance of flower patches along traffic roads as temporary habitats for pollinators – __Prof. Christina Fischer__, Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Bernburg, Germany
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__11:15-11:35__ Quantifying the plant functional specialization of urban habitats using Grime’s CSR strategies – __Prof. Carlo Ricotta__, Department of Environmental Biology, University of Rome 'La Sapienza', Rome, Italy
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__11:35-11:55__ Urban landscapes as a habitat for pollinator communities – __Dr Weronika Banaszak-Cibicka__, Department of Zoology, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Poznań, Poland
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__11:55-12:15__ Exploring bird's responses to urbanization in European cities: From community metrics to individuals' behaviour – __Prof. Federico Morelli__, Community Ecology & Conservation, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Czech Republic – __ONLINE__
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__12:15-12:45__ Lunchbreak (Sandwich lunch)

!Section 2

__12:45-14:25__ Presentations of the Hungarian researchers with discussion (15+5 min. each) - Moderator: __Prof. Péter Török__
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__12:45-13:05__ Effects of land use on streams: traditional and functional analyses of benthic diatoms – __Dr Csilla Stenger-Kovács__, Limnology Research Group, University of Pannonia, Veszprém, Hungary
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__13:05-13:25__ Evolutionary ecology of anthropogenic habitat conversion in amphibians: stress and sex – __Dr Veronika Bókony__, Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Plant Protection Institute, Centre for Agricultural Research, Eötvös Loránd Research Network, Budapest, Hungary
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__13:25-13:45__ What did we learn from urban ecological meta-analyses? – __Prof. Péter Batáry__, “Lendület” Landscape and Conservation Ecology Research Group, Centre for Ecological Research, Vácrátót, Hungary
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__13:45-14:05__ Urban biodiversity and the urban homogenization hypothesis – __Prof. Béla Tóthmérész__, University of Debrecen, Department of Ecology, Debrecen, Hungary
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__14:05-14:25__ Urbanization effects on the cognitive abilities and behaviour of birds – __Dr Ernő Vincze__, Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden; ELKH-PE Evolutionary Ecology Research Group, Centre for Natural Sciences, University of Pannonia, Veszprém, Hungary - __ONLINE__
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__14:25-14:30__ Closing remarks (__Prof. Péter Batáry__) 
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