Materials and Methods
Our approach consisted of two phases. 1) We designed and applied a
participatory futures process in Nationaal Park Hollandse Duinen to
create a space for stakeholders to explore positive futures for nature
based on diverse desirable relationships with nature. Our process
strategically integrates the Nature Futures Framework (Pereira et al.
2020), to open-up people’s thinking about desired people-nature
relations, with the Three Horizons Framework (Sharpe et al. 2016) to focus people’s thinking about desired people-nature relations
into three distinct time horizons, and how these time horizons might
influence each other. 2) We developed and applied an analytical
framework that includes a thematic analysis as well as an SDGs target
analysis of workshop outputs to better understand the emerging visions
and their potential contribution to sustainable development. In the
following subsections we further introduce the case study area, present
the main frameworks used, provide a step-by-step description of the
workshop process and present the analytical framework.
Background
National Park Hollandse
Duinen
National Park Hollandse Duinen was created in 2016, when drinking water
company Dunea brought together 45 parties in the area to participate in
the ‘Most Beautiful Nature Area of the Netherlands’ election (NPHD
2017). This participation - and the election as one of the three most
beautiful nature areas by the Dutch public - initiated the development
process of one of the first Dutch ‘new style’ national parks: large
areas where high biodiversity, cultural-heritage and socio-economic
values co-exist and even reinforce each other (Nationaal Parken Bureau
2018; NPHD 2020a). The ecosystems of NPHD are heavily influenced by
humans, if not entirely shaped by them (Neefjes 2018), and yet no less
than 6974 species were counted by a citizen science project in the
natural areas of the park
(
https://hollandseduinen.waarneming.nl/5000.php).
An example of how nature and people work together is the protection and
management of a dune area by Dunea for provisioning of ecosystem
services, not least the natural filtration and storage of fresh water to
provide 1.3 million residents of the National Park and adjacent areas
with tap water. The human-inclusive approach to conservation developed
in NPHD builds on a long tradition of integrated landscape approaches in
Europe, such as the superseded ‘National Landscapes’ (Janssen 2009a, b;
Janssen and Knippenberg 2012), and shares common grounds with UNESCO
Biosphere Reserves (Winkler 2019), IUCN category V ‘protected landscape
or seascape’ (Borrini-Feyerabend et al. 2013), and urban national parks
(Roe et al. 2018), such as the London National Park City and Stockholm
Royal National City Park. Convened by the National Park, local actors
can work together to enhance biodiversity values by strengthening
ecological connectivity in the landscape; resolving scale mismatches;
enhancing landscape multifunctionality; alleviating existing trade-offs
between nature and human well-being; and bolstering the co-benefits of
integrated strategies. This may be achieved by aligning fragmented
management and planning practices; mobilizing investments in green
infrastructure and nature-based adaptation; promoting polycentric
governance; forging unconventional alliances across sectors; and
facilitating experimentation to challenge conventional practices, e.g.
through ‘living labs’. Twelve concrete projects are presented in the
implementation program 2021-2025 (NPHD 2020b)
The Nature Futures
Framework
The Nature Futures Framework is a heuristic tool designed to provide a
starting point for creating diverse nature-centered scenarios. The
framework engages people’s values to create narratives that can be
translated into collective action (Pereira et al. 2020). It
distinguishes three broad value perspectives (Figure 1):
- Nature for Nature , in which nature has value in and of itself.
Nature should maintain its ability to function autonomously, and the
preservation of nature’s diversity and functions is of primary
importance;
- Nature for Society , in which nature is primarily valued for the
benefits for humans;
- Nature as Culture , in which humans are perceived as an integral
part of nature, where societies, cultures, traditions and faiths are
intricately intertwined with nature, and relational values, such as
those that reflect cultural identities and ways of life, are dominant.
The Nature Futures Framework draws on other classifications of
people-nature relationships. For example, (Mace 2014) describes four
main phases in the modern framing of nature conservation: Nature for
itself, Nature despite people, Nature for people, People and nature;
(Chan et al. 2016) present three key value types underlying nature
conservation as instrumental, intrinsic and relational, which are also
central to IPBES’ guide on multiple values (IPBES 2015). The Nature
Futures Framework casts these ideas into three value perspectives that
are easy to communicate to a wide audience and positions them in the
vertices of a triangular space (Fig 1A). In that way the perspectives
draw attention for being different, without judgement of rightness or
wrongness, but emphasizing that when taken to the extreme, tradeoffs
among these perspectives are inevitable. At the same time, the centrally
featured space in between the vertices opens up for the discovery of
diversity, relativity and plurality. Indeed, most people will identify
with a mix of the three perspectives.
The development of the Nature Futures Framework is driven by IPBES’ task
force on Scenarios and Models through an iterative process involving
strong stakeholder engagement (Pereira et al. 2020). The underlying
mandate is to catalyze the development and application of new
nature-centered scenarios and models by the broader research community
to, ultimately, better inform upcoming assessment studies (IPBES 2019b).
The Nature Futures Framework is envisaged to be used flexibly and in
different ways, from structuring participatory visioning processes, to
quantitative modelling assessments, and ex-post assessments of existing
scenarios (IPBES 2021). In this paper we focus on unpacking the Nature
Futures Framework as a heuristic device to be used in participatory
visioning processes. A key promise of the Nature Futures Framework is to
help people identify and articulate their own desired relationship with
nature, understand the diversity and plurality of peoples perspectives
on nature, and identify and negotiate shared values as fertile grounds
for collective actions towards positive futures in which multiple nature
values are enhanced (Pereira et al. 2020). In many cases it will be
difficult for people to agree on tough decisions about how they engage
with nature in the present. It may be easier to jointly deliberate and
agree on desired relationships with nature in the future, as a basis for
making decisions in the present. This is where the Nature Futures
Framework is expected to be useful.