"biodivers": the NRP 82 podcast
In Switzerland, a third of the species assessed and almost half of the habitats are threatened. In its new podcast "biodivers", NRP 82 explores how biodiversity can be promoted and conserved.
The NRP 82 podcast
The National Research Programme "Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services" (NRP 82) has its own podcast: "biodivers" follows the programme and its projects, which have been investigating since autumn 2025 how biodiversity in Switzerland can be promoted and conserved. The podcast introduces the people who do this work, in research and in practice. It is aimed at everyone who wants to know how biodiversity research in Switzerland takes shape and what it achieves. Patricia Michaud and Christian Heuss host it in a German and a French version. The first episode has been available in German since 13 October 2026; the French version will follow on 27 October.
Research developed together with practice
In NRP 82, science and practice do research together. Researchers developed all 15 projects jointly with partners from cantons, federal offices, nature conservation organisations and companies. The partners contribute their questions and their experience and are to apply the results later on. Each project also sets out what impact it aims to have on society and how it intends to achieve it. "biodivers" goes to where this collaboration takes place: in the mountains, on the lake, in the municipality. The podcast asks what the partners expect from the research, where the collaboration works well and where it reaches its limits.
The first episode: "Business as usual geht nicht" (Business as usual is not an option)
If we already know so much about the loss of biodiversity, why do we as a society carry on as before? This question, asked by Markus Fischer, President of the Steering Committee, is what the first episode is about; it is the guiding question of the entire programme. Fischer and Daniela Pauli, also a member of the Steering Committee, explain why NRP 82 wants to do more than record which species are disappearing. It is looking for solutions that work in the partners’ everyday practice. This requires changes in the way we run our economy and make decisions.
What comes next
From the second episode onwards, each episode will focus on one topic. A new episode will be released about every three months. The topics come from the work of the projects and range from forests and peatlands to spatial planning and cities.
Listen and subscribe
The first episode is 26 minutes long and is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Deezer and at biodivers.podigee.io. Anyone who subscribes to "biodivers" receives every new episode automatically. The French version will be released from 27 October on a separate channel: biodivers-fr.podigee.io.