Welcome to Beskydy2024
Julia Leventon is a professor in sustainability science, and is the Head of Department of social dimensions of global change, in the Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences. She is an environmental social scientist whose expertise is in societal transformations for sustainability, with a particular focus on how we create spaces for democratic decision-making in response to global change. Her current work includes leading the European-wide project PLUS Change (Planning Land Use Strategies: Meeting climate, biodiversity and social goals in a changing world), and chairing the COST Action TransformERS (Transformations international Experience and Research network for Sustainable futures). She is currently serving as a coordinating lead author to the Transformative Change assessment.
In this presentation, I will reflect on what nature based governance needs to be in the context of transformative change. I will consider the scope of societal transformation needed for sustainable futures, noting the interconnections between biodiversity, climate change and injustice. This scope then provides space to consider the (possible) role of nature-based governance, and what it needs to include to fulfil that role. Having set up this framing, I will then draw on emerging results from ongoing research into planning and decision making for sustainable land use (the PLUS Change project). Examples will be used to explore how meeting this transformative role poses challenges to citizens and decision makers at all levels of governance, relating to justice, path dependencies, and capacities. I’ll also point towards promising ideas for addressing such challenges, including transformative learning and co-creation, and their embedding within decision-making cultures.