Discussion
Working on sustainable development of the biosphere, whether it is
towards desired futures of local environments or achieving international
goals, requires action-oriented approaches that are pluralistic and
integrated (Bai et al. 2016; Jacobs et al. 2020; Caniglia et al. 2021).
We present a novel approach to exploring desirable nature futures and
what it takes to get there that we applied in National Park Hollandse
Duinen. Our aim was to test the NFF at the regional scale and inform the
development trajectory of NPHD. Here, we reflect on what we learned by
applying the approach and present pointers to future research.
Reflections on the
approach
As people’s decisions and actions are underpinned by their values, the
role of values in sustainability transformation is increasingly
discussed (Bieling et al. 2020), whereby plural valuation is recognized
as key for inclusive and fair decision making (Muradian and Pascual
2018; Jacobs et al. 2020; Hensler et al. 2021). Yet approaches that show
how different values, and their combinations, drive the unfolding of the
future remain scarce (Harmáčková et al. 2021). The NFF proved an easy to
use tool that is effective for eliciting and discussing diverse and
plural value perspectives of nature as a basis for a place-based
visioning process. As one of the first field tests of the NFF, the
application in NPHD showed that all three value perspectives, includingNature as Culture , can resonate in a densely populated area in
northwestern Europe.
The process in NPHD yielded rich discussions that serve as a source of
inspiration for stakeholders. Tellingly, the three group names embody
and hence point to important strategies for dealing with identified
challenges, that is, a hard coupling between housing development and
nature development (How Green is Red?), making connections, physical and
relational, for new partnerships (The Bridge Builder), and strengthening
local identity as a leverage point for collective action (Our Park
Hollandse Duinen). The process helped participants discuss how not
everything is possible, but a lot might be, especially when underpinned
by a joint sense of what the overall direction should be.
Collaboratively created visions serve as a boundary objective to have
constructive conversations about what that direction should be (van
Rooij et al. 2021). Such visions can, and even should, be pluralistic
(McPhearson et al. 2016); they do not have to be fully shared among
actors to provide a target space for collaboration. Importantly, the
participants identified a critical need of a shared set of key values
and principles, the “DNA of NPHD”, to structure a boundary process
towards the desirable futures for NPHD (Fig. 6), to fly as a “flock of
starlings”. To a large extent the pluralistic vision and shared
principles are already formed by the national park partners, as
presented the official ambition document (NPHD 2017) and landscape
strategy (Veenstra 2020), following extensive stakeholder engagement.
Yet, in support of the first working program of NPHD 2021-2025 (NPHD
2020b), these can be further evolved, enriched and operationalized.