BIOGAIN

BIOGAIN brings together consultants, public authorities, NGOs, and SMEs working in AI and biodiversity data science to investigate how the quality, availability, and interpretation of novel data can contribute to two key goals.

First, the project explores how improved access to accurate biodiversity data can reshape power dynamics by increasing transparency and reducing reliance on outdated or incomplete information. Second, it examines how transparent biodiversity-impact predictions can support nature-positive planning by helping decision-makers understand trade-offs and make balanced choices that advance both biodiversity and climate objectives.

BIOGAIN focuses on actors operating at multiple planning levels, with particular attention to subnational and regional contexts, where spatial energy planning often remains insufficiently informed by digital technologies. The project specifically addresses planning for wind and solar energy infrastructure and investigates how these renewable energy sources interact with and affect biodiversity.

To support better decision-making, BIOGAIN uses AI-enabled integration of up-to-date biodiversity data and ecosystem models. These tools provide information on current ecological conditions (baseline data) as well as evidence on the effectiveness of mitigation measures implemented in previous energy infrastructure projects.

A serious game allows participants to explore realistic planning scenarios in a safe environment, learn from simulated outcomes, and compare alternative options side by side. In parallel, structured workshops based on collaborative decision analysis, together with a Discrete Choice Experiment, examine how stakeholders evaluate and prioritize different objectives when presented with forecasted consequences of alternative planning decisions.