France's biodiversity research foundation coordinating pan-European ERA-NETs on ecosystem services, restoration, and science-policy dialogue across 35 countries.
FRB is France's national foundation dedicated to biodiversity research coordination, acting as a bridge between scientific communities, policymakers, and society. They specialize in organizing and funding transnational joint programming initiatives (ERA-NETs) that align European biodiversity research agendas across dozens of countries. Their core work involves synthesizing scientific evidence on biodiversity loss, ecosystem services, and nature-based solutions to inform EU and national policy decisions. They also build knowledge-sharing platforms and facilitate science-policy dialogue on conservation and ecological restoration.
Coordinated three successive ERA-NET Cofund actions — BiodivERsA3, BiodivScen, and BiodivRestore — each building on the previous to expand the European biodiversity research agenda.
Key participant in EKLIPSE (knowledge mechanism for policy) and contributor to evidence-based policy frameworks across BiodivERsA3 and BiodivScen.
Involved in ThinkNature (NBS dialogue platform), NetworkNature (NBS community building), and integrated NBS into the BiodivScen research agenda.
BiodivRestore (2020-2026) and BiodivClim focus on restoring degraded ecosystems with inter- and transdisciplinary governance approaches — a clear shift toward restoration practice.
Participated in BISON (2021-2023), their largest single grant at EUR 243K, addressing biodiversity impacts of European transport networks.
FRB's early H2020 work (2015-2018) centered on establishing biodiversity research frameworks — consolidating the European Research Area, building science-society-policy interfaces, and defining ecosystem service concepts through BiodivERsA3 and EKLIPSE. From 2019 onward, their focus shifted toward applied outcomes: ecological restoration of degraded ecosystems, climate-biodiversity crossover research (BiodivClim), and practical governance processes for socio-ecological systems. They also expanded beyond pure environment into transport infrastructure biodiversity through BISON, signaling a move toward mainstreaming biodiversity across sectors.
FRB is moving from research agenda-setting toward applied restoration and cross-sector biodiversity mainstreaming, making them increasingly relevant for projects that need to integrate ecological considerations into infrastructure, climate, or land-use planning.
FRB operates as both a consortium leader and an active partner, coordinating 3 of their 8 projects — all three being ERA-NET Cofund actions that require managing large networks of national funders. Their 133 unique partners across 35 countries reflect their role as a network hub rather than a specialist contributor. Working with FRB means access to an extensive pan-European network of biodiversity researchers and national funding agencies, but their strength is coordination and synthesis rather than laboratory-level research execution.
FRB has built one of the broadest biodiversity networks in H2020, collaborating with 133 unique partners across 35 countries. This reach is driven by their ERA-NET coordination role, which connects national funding agencies and research communities across virtually all of Europe and beyond.
FRB occupies a rare niche as a national-level biodiversity research foundation that also coordinates pan-European joint programming — very few organizations can mobilize national research funders across 35 countries simultaneously. Their sequential ERA-NET coordination (BiodivERsA3 → BiodivScen → BiodivRestore) gives them unmatched institutional memory on how European biodiversity research priorities evolve. For consortium builders, FRB brings not just biodiversity expertise but an existing governance infrastructure for multi-country research coordination.
