Promoting ecological solutions for sustainable infrastructure

Sustainable infrastructure needs ecological solutions – it’s time to work together! We, the participants of the IENE 2020 International Conference, acknowledge that: 1. We are facing a significant worldwide expansion of transportation networks; this is especially the case in countries with developing economies. 2. If no action is taken, this global expansion will entail a substantial increase in greenhouse gas emissions, wildlife mortality and landscape fragmentation and change, with devastating effects on climate, biodiversity and ecosystem services. 3. Globally, ecosystem services are estimated to yield more than the Gross World Product of 2019 (https://www.worldometers.info/gdp/). 4. Despite the development and implementation of environmental impact assessment legislation, many existing transportation infrastructure networks are not environmentally friendly. These impacts are far-reaching with a debt being paid daily through unnecessary risks extendable to human health and well-being. 5.The economic, social, and ecological consequences of biodiversity loss and the role of transportation infrastructure is increasingly acknowledged worldwide: •Conservation and restoration of ecological connectivity is a major flagship in the preparation of the upcoming United Nations “Post-2020 Global biodiversity framework” following the recognised failure of the Aichi Targets associated with the loss and fragmentation of natural habitats (Target 5) (https://www.cbd.int/gbo5). •The European Green Deal and the new European Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, adopted by the European Commission in May 2020, stresses the need to develop a resilient Trans-European Nature Network supported by ecological corridors allowing the free flow of genes and individuals (https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/communication-annex-eu-biodiversity-strategy-2030_en.pdf). •The Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) states that since 1970, transportation infrastructure is an important driver of land use change and associated loss of terrestrial biodiversity (https://ipbes.net/global-assessment). •The World Economic Forum 2020 recognised that biodiversity loss is one of the major threats with ‘plausible higher than average impact’ on Global Economies (https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-global-risks-report-2020). 6.To ahieve sustainability, infrastructure development must be decoupled from its negative effect on biodiversity. This requires immediate, stringent action and shared responsibilities from all stakeholders. 7.Regional, national, and worldwide networks of experts, including researchers, practitioners, landscape designers, and managers, address such concerns through knowledge-sharing platforms that promote effective ecological solutions. 8.The scarcity of collective and coordinated efforts, such as joint decision-making processes involving environmental, transportation, energy, policy and financing agencies, is still a major obstacle to achieve sustainability in transportation infrastructure projects.Comissão Europeia. Programa LIFE. Projeto LIFE LINES (LIFE14 NAT/PT/001081

Promoting ecological solutions for sustainable infrastructure

Linear infrastructure networks such as roads, railways, navigation and irrigation canals, and power lines have grown exponentially since the mid-20th century. Most of these networks built before the 1990s have a significant impact on the environment. While there is no doubt that humanity needs infrastructure to ensure safe, secure and sufficient access to food, water and energy, it is essential to prevent the loss of biodiversity and ecosystems which are also at the basis of the provision of such fundamental services. Those complex, interconnected issues cannot be tackled without research and innovation, both in the fields of biodiversity and of infrastructure.IENE (Infrastructure Ecology Network Europe) was set up in 1996 to meet this need. Its mission is to promote the exchange of knowledge, experience and best practice in safe and sustainable pan-European transport infrastructure. With a status of an association today, this independent network has more than 400 members consisting of researchers, engineers, decision makers and infrastructure operators. IENE functions as an international and interdisciplinary forum. It supports cross-border cooperation in research, mitigation, planning, design, construction and maintenance in the field of biodiversity and transport infrastructure.Every two years, IENE organises an international conference to present cutting-edge research, identify pressing issues and problems, discuss effective solutions and map out future activities in the field of transport ecology and infrastructure. We are very glad to present you in this special issue some of the best scientific outcomes of the IENE 2020 conference, hoping that it will contribute to further breakthroughs in science and uptake in policy-making and practices on the ground. We commend the organising team of the University of Evora, Portugal, for their excellent programming of the conference and for having gathered exceptional scientists on the topic of biodiversity and infrastructure. They managed to host a high-quality event, despite the many adjustments that had to be done because of the covid-19, including postponing the conference to January 2021 and holding it entirely online.The topic of IENE conference 2020 was “Linear Infrastructure Networks with Ecological Solutions” and the motto was “working together”. This means that every stakeholder has a role to play, and that biodiversity should be considered at all governance scales and during all phases of the set-up of infrastructure. The papers selected here are of particular interest to follow the path set forth in the conference’s final declaration, that is included in this issue

A Global Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Transport and other Linear Infrastructure

The current Global Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Transport and other Linear Infrastructure primarily sets up the objectives and principles for governments and organizations for mainstreaming biodiversity and ecological connectivity on transport infrastructure development. Additionally, it addresses the overall framework of stakeholders who must be engaged as key players in: • launching proactive policies, • establishing appropriate legal frameworks, • supporting better planning, • promoting multi-sector cooperation, and • encouraging innovative science-based solutions. We consider this as a living document as future versions may integrate additional elements with regards to governance, policy, and financing, in the attempt to develop a common comprehensive language and grounds for cooperation. This “Global Strategy” has been developed by an international working group coordinated by IENE and supported by an international coalition formed from the international conferences on transport and ecology and conservation organisations as IENE, ICOET, ANET, ACLIE, WWF and IUCN. The working group is drawn from global experts in transport and ecology and aims to work towards finding a ‘win-win’ solution for securing mainstreaming biodiversity and ecological connectivity and avoiding, mitigating, or compensating ecosystems’ fragmentation during transport infrastructure development or adaptation. This Strategy builds upon five years of development of the guidelines “International Guidance for Ecologically - Friendly Linear Infrastructure (IGELI)” initiated at the ICOET 2015 conference in North Carolina, USA. IGELI was an international debate with experts from all over the world continued during workshops held at the international conferences of IENE (Lyon, France, 2016 and Eindhoven, Holland, 2018), ICOET (Salt Lake City, USA, 2017 and Sacramento, USA, 2019), IUCN (Hawaii, USA, 2016) and ACLIE (Kruger National Park, South Africa, 2019). Summarising the Decision 14/3 on mainstreaming of biodiversity in the energy and mining, infrastructure, manufacturing, and processing sectors (CBD/ COP/DEC/14/3/30 November 2018) of 14th COP CBD (Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, Nov 2018) (Convention on Biological Diversity 2018), the international coalition of the working group, initiated to promote the Strategy at the CBD COP 15 in China. We hope, this Strategy provides a useful tool and roadmap for promoting the urgent need of supporting biodiversity conservation and securing ecological connectivity at all scales of governance, policies, planning and implementation of transport projects internationally. The creation of an International Observatory for monitoring the fragmentation status globally as an important threat for biodiversity loss is proposed as a common ambition of the working group members and their organizations.IENE, ICOET, ANET, ACLIE, WWF, IUCN, WWF, WCPA, Connectivity Conservation Specialist Grou

3D dose reconstruction in external beam radiotherapy using portal imaging

Congrès sous l’égide de la Société Française de Génie Biologique et Médical (SFGBM).National audienceThe verification of the dose delivered to a patient during radiation therapy is a particularly important step for ensuring treatment quality. This step, known as in vivo dosimetry can be realized using a bidimensional dosimeter named Electronic Portal Imaging Device (EPID). However, few methods enable the determination of an accurate and fully personalized 3D dose distribution for the most current state of the art irradiation techniques. In this work, we propose a 3D dose reconstruction method based on Monte Carlo simulations allowing an accurate and fully personalized dose estimation from EPID device