An agenda for research and action toward diverse and just futures for life on Earth

Wyborn, Carina; Montana, Jasper; Kalas, Nicole; Clément, Sarah; Davila, Federico; Knowles, Natalie; Louder, Elena; Balan, M.; Chambers, J.P.; Christel, Lucas Gabriel; Forsyth, Tim; Henderson, G.; Tort, S. Izquierdo; Lim, Michelle; Martínez‐Harms, Maria José; Merçon, Juliana; Nuesiri, Emmanuel O.; Pereira, Laura; Pilbeam, Victoria; Turnhout, Esther; Wood, Stephen C.; Ryan, Melanie

doi:10.1111/cobi.13671

Cited by 53 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…The practice of co-production is often the focus in projects involving indigenous communities (Tengö et al, 2017;Hill et al, 2020;Zanotti et al, 2020;Wyborn et al, 2021). In recent years multi-scalar research initiatives such as the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have all attempted to engage with various instances of co-production with indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) to varying degrees of success (Ford et al, 2016;Tengö et al, 2017;Schröter et al, 2020).…”

Section: Knowledge Co-production In Sustainability Sciencementioning

confidence: 99%

Pursuing Plurality: Exploring the Synergies and Challenges of Knowledge Co-production in Multifunctional Landscape Design

Chakraborty¹,

Jayathunga²,

Matunga³

et al. 2022

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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Knowledge co-production has emerged as an important conceptual and processual tool in sustainability research addressing the needs of equity and inclusion. Indigenous communities and local people have engaged with the process of knowledge production, foregrounding their historical relationships with landscapes, based on their unique worldviews and knowledges. However, knowledge co-production, especially for multi-functional landscapes remains a contentious and complicated affair with enduring issues of power-sharing related to the different socio-political positions of stakeholders. This work explores the synergies and challenges in knowledge co-production for landscape re-design in the south Island of Aotearoa NZ through an assessment of the work done at the Centre for Excellence, Lincoln University. At this center, a multi-stakeholder team is grappling with designing a farm, through a transdisciplinary framework that attempts to include multiple worldviews. This work explores the various stages of the co-production process, analyzing the exchanges between various members as they prepare for co-production, the knowledge produced through this engagement, and how this knowledge is being utilized to further the goal of sustainability. Our results show that significant gaps remain between co-production theory and co-production practice which are a result of the mismanagement of the co-production process, the mismatch in the time and spatial scales of project goals, and the differences in the values and objectives of the different stakeholders. However, the process of co-production, though flawed, leads to the building of more open relationships between the stakeholders, and leads to some very meaningful knowledge products that address the multi-temporal and multi-spatial aspirations of multi-functional landscapes in Aotearoa NZ, while contributing to the broader scholarship on co-production in sustainability. Finally, both synergies and challenges prove meaningful when challenging the roadblocks to the inclusion of a diversity of worldviews, by clearly highlighting the places of engagement and why they were made possible. We suggest that knowledge co-production attempts in multi-functional landscapes around the world should attempt a similar assessment of their process. This can help build better relationships between scientists and IPLC, address disciplinary bias and marginalization of non-expert opinions, while also ensuring the relevance of the research to the multiple stakeholders of the land.

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Section: Knowledge Co-production In Sustainability Sciencementioning

confidence: 99%

Pursuing Plurality: Exploring the Synergies and Challenges of Knowledge Co-production in Multifunctional Landscape Design

Chakraborty¹,

Jayathunga²,

Matunga³

et al. 2022

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Scientific knowledge, actors and institutions are but small components of global systems that must be transformed to reverse biodiversity loss (IPBES 2019), yet they are far more within the control of the conservation science community than powerful global economic, social and political factors. It is this spirit of self-reflection, humility and curiosity that has motivated the Biodiversity Revisited process and its collective outputs (Wyborn et al 2020a, 2020b, 2021b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Re-conceptualizing the role(s) of science in biodiversity conservation

Evans

2021

Envir. Conserv.

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Summary Science, as both a body of knowledge and a process of acquiring new knowledge, is widely regarded as playing a central role in biodiversity conservation. Science undoubtedly enhances our understanding of the drivers of biodiversity loss and assists in the formulation of practical and policy responses, but it has not yet proved sufficiently influential to reverse global trends of biodiversity decline. This review seeks to critically examine the science of biodiversity conservation and to identify any hidden assumptions that, once interrogated and explored, may assist in improving conservation science, policy and practice. By drawing on existing reviews of the literature, this review describes the major themes of the literature and examines the historical shifts in the framing of conservation. It highlights the dominance of research philosophies that view conservation through a primarily ecological lens, changes in the goal(s) of conservation and a lack of clarity over the role(s) of science in biodiversity conservation. Finally, this review offers a simple framework to more clearly and consistently conceptualize the role(s) of science in biodiversity conservation in the future. Greater critical reflection on how conservation science might better accommodate multiple knowledges, goals and values could assist in ‘opening up’ new, legitimate pathways for biodiversity conservation.

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“…Futures thinking is a key competency in sustainability studies (Clark andHarley 2020, Brundiers et al 2021) and is imperative given the urgency to solve persisting sustainability challenges such as environmental degradation, poverty, and inequality. Although participatory scenario approaches are not new for development practitioners, there has been a strong surge recently for participatory scenario development and normative visioning in research (Beck and Forsyth 2020, Fazey et al 2020, Rana et al 2020, Wyborn et al 2020. In this context, participatory futures thinking (including explorative scenario development and normative visions) has gained growing popularity in the search for alternatives to persistent sustainability challenges, especially since the Brundtland Report was released in 1987 (Kishita et al 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Participatory futures thinking in the African context of sustainability challenges and socio-environmental change

Johansson¹

2021

E&S

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Futures thinking is a key competency in sustainability studies, and the field is currently experiencing a strong surge in participatory scenario development and visioning approaches. Sub-Saharan Africa has a particularly long history of participatory approaches to development; however, the same participatory approaches have often faced critique for lacking the potential to stimulate empowerment and social change. To explore these contradictions, I systematically review the use of participatory scenario development and visioning in sustainability and socio-environmental change research in the region between 2011 and 2021. The analysis is structured around three key questions: Who participates, in what, and for whose benefit? Of the 23 reviewed studies, most focused on exploratory scenarios and aimed to understand trade-offs and future risks to identify sustainable pathways to alternative futures. Fewer scenarios were normative and aimed to imagine futures beyond current societal structures and values, and thereby radically challenge the status quo (e.g., business as usual, current socioeconomic systems) by including solutions to power imbalances and injustice. Most scenario development processes engaged a wide range of participants (in terms of power and agency) because this strategy was meant to facilitate knowledge co-production and understanding between (sometimes) conflicting stakeholders. In the end, most scenario development processes strived for consensus and compromise regarding which futures were wanted and which futures were to be avoided. Based on this review, I challenge what is often considered "best practice" in sustainability discussions by raising some limitations of mixing a wide range of stakeholders in the futures thinking process. Although such mixing is considered to enhance mutual understanding and conflict resolution, it might also limit the potential to stimulate radically different futures that would benefit the vulnerable and marginalized through challenging the status quo. My findings provide guidance for researchers and other actors who intend to use or develop methods for exploring innovative solutions for more just and sustainable futures in different areas and contexts of sustainable development.

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An agenda for research and action toward diverse and just futures for life on Earth

Cited by 53 publications

References 73 publications

Pursuing Plurality: Exploring the Synergies and Challenges of Knowledge Co-production in Multifunctional Landscape Design

Pursuing Plurality: Exploring the Synergies and Challenges of Knowledge Co-production in Multifunctional Landscape Design

Re-conceptualizing the role(s) of science in biodiversity conservation

Participatory futures thinking in the African context of sustainability challenges and socio-environmental change

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