How can challenge funds advance knowledge, learning, innovation and technology to support biodiversity and development?

This session is around challenge funds and their role in supporting biodiversity and development. There will be a discussion from a range of experts involved with the challenge funds: members from the Darwin Expert Committee and Illegal Wildlife Trade Advisory Group, a government partner from one of the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund projects in Malawi, and a Darwin Initiative project recipient in Nepal. This will focus on a range of different aspects, including the ability of challenge funds to highlight solutions to long-standing problems; their ability to scale up projects and build the evidence base; testing innovative approaches and driving partnerships between the public and private sector; and the importance of local actors and capacity building. There will be plenty of opportunity for questions after the panel session.