Presentation short abstract

Engaging with and valuing diverse knowledge systems can help guide processes of transformative change, but how do we do this in practice within nature conservation? This paper argues that a greater understanding of, and reflection on, values, power and context could cultivate such processes.

Presentation long abstract

It is argued that foregrounding plurality and inclusion can help guide processes of transformative change for social-ecological justice. One aspect of this involves engaging with and valuing diverse knowledge systems. Within the context of nature conservation, this could not only transform conservation itself but also enable conservation to enact transformative change: a fundamental, system-wide reconfigurations of human-nature interactions. Existing frameworks attempt to reconcile plural knowledges in a conservation context but are often formulated by academics and do not engage with how power relations are interwoven with, and emerge from, such processes in practice. Thus, this research asks what practices could enable UK nature conservation to better engage with diverse forms of evidence and varied knowledge systems while engaging with power relations? A Participatory Action Research and decolonial approach was used to explore this with a major UK conservation programme involving conversations, interviews, observations, reflective journalling and a Forum Theatre workshop. Preliminary analysis shows how a web of values, dimensions of context and frames of power influence what and how diverse knowledges are engaged. Dimensions of context include structural, social, and embodied contexts; frames of power refer to epistemological understandings of power. Cultivating greater awareness, understanding and reflection on this web in which conservation practitioners and their partners operate could facilitate intentional actions that value plural knowledges. Additionally, the analysis shows that relational, process-oriented working practices must be foregrounded to enable meaningful dialogue between epistemic communities. These shifts would enable nature conservation to embody the transformative changes needed for socio-environmental justice.