Li Li is a landscape ecologist at XJTLU, whose research interests relate to the human aspects of biodiversity conservation and ecological restoration. My previous studies focused on land-use change, the degradation of the Tibetan grasslands and the adaptations of local communities – including nomadic groups. My current research explores social–ecological mechanisms and social innovations that enhance synergies between biodiversity conservation and the Sustainable Development Goals in human-dominated landscapes, including cities and farmlands. I have led NSFC funded projects, supervises PhD and Master’s theses, teaches Environmental Sociology, Ecology and Conservation, and Environmental Management, and has won teaching and supervision awards. My research has been featured by media like CCTV, CGTN and The Conversation. I obtained my PhD from the University of Freiburg in Germany, then was a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Life Sciences at Peking University.

Yassine Rachidi is a multi-disciplinary artist and researcher, living and working between Casablanca (MA) and Basel (CH). Splitting his practice between the academic and the artistic, he questions – through writing, photography, and filmmaking – the emerging materialities, temporalities, and spatial identities that unfold through processes of construction, speculation and adaptation on the African continent.

Dr. Haozhi Ma’s research focuses on macroecology and global change biology, with an emphasis on plant functional traits, biomes, and ecosystem carbon cycling. He has published 14 scientific papers with over 1,800 total citations, including first/corresponding-author papers in top journals such as Nature Ecology & Evolution and Nature Plants. His work has revealed that approximately one-quarter of global vegetation biomass is distributed belowground, and has quantified the distribution of forest types and their contributions to the terrestrial carbon sink. He was a recipient of the 2022 National Award for Outstanding Self-Financed Students Abroad (China Scholarship Council), and has served as a core member of an Advanced Research Project funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.

I am an agronomist and landscape ecologist. Until retirement in 2025, I led a research group at Agroscope Zurich, Switzerland. My expertise is on farmland biodiversity, agri-environmental policies, and agroecological systems / agroforestry. I have collaborated with international partners in Asia (China CAS, CAAS), Africa (Côte d’Ivoire), FAO and OECD. Currently, I am active as a Senior Researcher in the Swiss Academy of Science and as a managing editor of several Springer Nature journals. I do voluntary work on the boards of Agrecol e.V., Sinzénou Djanfouè and Agroforestry Switzerland. I divide my time between Zurich (Switzerland) and Suzhou (China).