The global community is facing a number of urgent challenges, such as emerging diseases, epidemics, antimicrobial resistance, food safety, water scarcity, environmental contamination, and severe changes in biodiversity. All of them are intensified by the widespread impact of climate change. These interconnected threats demand "a fundamental shift towards systemic, integrated solutions," a systemic change of perspective in risk management, and a long-term, action-focused strategic vision, point out representatives of Europe's leading biodiversity, ecology and engineering communities, coordinated by the LifeWatch European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC).