The EquitES project is funding by the European Union’s Horizon 2020
research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant
agreement No 101104374.

Context

Ecosystems and biodiversity contribute to our society in numerous ways — from the production of food and timber to the regulation of air and water quality, as well as through outdoor recreation opportunities and the cultural value of species and landscapes. These benefits, also known as ecosystem services or nature’s contributions to people (NCP), are fundamental to human well-being.

However, access to these contributions and the ability to benefit from them vary among individuals depending on their geographic location, personal preferences, and mobility. As a result, significant disparities may arise between social groups, particularly in terms of age, gender, and income.

Climate change further compounds these challenges, threatening the management and conservation of ecosystems and altering their capacity to provide benefits to society. For instance, the increasing frequency of droughts and heatwaves may lead to reduced food and fodder production in many European regions. Yet, how these changes affect nature’s contributions to different people — and how they are distributed among social groups — remains largely uncertain.

The EquitES project aims to better understand how climate change impacts nature’s contributions across different social groups.

More specifically, our objectives are to:

* Identify the key socio-demographic factors driving disparities in access to, and benefits derived from, nature — and assess their impact on quality of life;

* Evaluate how different climate change scenarios may influence these disparities;

* Develop nature-based solutions that help mitigate these impacts while preserving biodiversity.

Our study area covers the broader Grenoble region in France.

Project Activities and Results

The project ran from October 2023 to November 2025. The results are still being finalised and this page will be updated more results become available.