Thread by @sim_patrickwest

Can we build close, sustainable connections btw ‘humans’ & ‘nature’ when our basic concepts are based on their separation?

In this paper @JamilaHaider @SStlhammar @StephenWoroniec & I show how relational thinking is changing #sustainability science: bit.ly/2Jw3VoV

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Systems theorist Donella Meadows suggests that challenging dominant concepts + paradigms is one of the most powerful systemic #leveragepoints towards sustainability.

This extends even - perhaps especially - to the concepts we use in sustainability research

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The use of #systemsthinking in sustainability science to highlight the connections between humans and nature has been revolutionary + hugely useful.

But it still often requires us to identify separate 'human' and 'natural' entities before linking them back together

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The ongoing separation between 'human' and 'natural' aspects risks accidentally continuing harmful interventions that hinder rather than help #sustainability and #biodiversity, especially in agricultural, #biocultural and #Indigenous places (see e.g. debates in @IPBES)

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A new wave of #sustainability science is attempting to avoid separating humans and nature, by using concepts from #relationalthinking - such as continually unfolding processes, embodied experience, and ethics/practices of care - to nurture #transformations to sustainability

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Relational thinking attempts to move beyond distinctions between 'human' and 'natural' components by arguing that all entities are created and sustained through their (changing) relationships. Humans are nature, and vice versa.

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In our paper we highlight a trend towards more relational thinking in sustainability science, identify inspiring examples in the literature, and reflect on our own challenges in applying relational approaches in different places and policy contexts around the world

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@SStlhammar reflects on how relational thinking helped her to rethink notions of ‘cultural values’ in #ecosystemservices assessments in Sweden (bit.ly/culturalES)

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I discuss my work on how a relational, practice-based approach revealed the importance of improvisation, experience and judgment in scientific #monitoring for adaptive management in Australia (bit.ly/practicethinki…)

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@StephenWoroniec reflects on how a relational conception of ‘empowerment’ revealed the contested nature of #EcosystemBasedAdaptation in Sri Lanka (bit.ly/powerEbA)

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@JamilaHaider describes how relational thinking helped highlight the importance of sharing, reciprocity, hospitality and respect for maintaining #biocultural practices in the Pamir Mountains, Tajikistan (bit.ly/bioculturalPam…)

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Relational thinking is no panacea. We identify critical issues:
⚠️ Better demonstrating its value for research-practice arenas
⚠️ Better articulating the political possibilities of relational thinking
⚠️ Extending relational thinking to quant data and methods

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But relational thinking is already contributing to transformative sustainability research + action:
✅ More dynamic accounts of human-nature connectedness
✅ More situated + diverse knowledges for decision-making
✅ New approaches to intervention rooted in place + practice

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@sthlmresilience @ESandPeople @FutureEarth @ideas4sust @ANUFennerSchool @LevPoints4Sust @LUCSUS_LU @SESLeuphana @sesync @LucHoffmannInst @SustSci @SustSciLab @HELSINKISUS @IPBES @stepscentre