Intertwined people–nature relations are central to nature-based adaptation to climate change

Adaptation to climate change is a social-ecological process: it is not solely a result of natural processes or human decisions but emerges from multiple relations within social systems, within ecological systems and between them. We propose a novel analytical framework to evaluate social-ecological relations in nature-based adaptation, encompassing social (people-people), ecological (nature-nature) and social-ecological (people-nature) relations. Applying this framework to 25 case studies, we analyse the associations among these relations and identify archetypes of social-ecological adaptation. Our findings revealed that adaptation actions with more people-nature relations mobilize more social and ecological relations. We identified four archetypes, with distinct modes of adaptation along a gradient of people-nature interaction scores, summarized as: (i) nature control; (ii) biodiversity-based; (iii) ecosystem services-based; and (iv) integrated approaches. This study contributes to a nuanced understanding of nature-based adaptation, highlighting the importance of integrating diverse relations across social and ecological systems. Our findings offer valuable insights for informing the design and implementation of adaptation strategies and policies.This article is part of the discussion meeting issue 'Bending the curve towards nature recovery: building on Georgina Mace's legacy for a biodiverse future'.

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Publication Details

Journal
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences
Published
2025-01-09
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2023.0213
Citations
10
Primary Topic
Land Use and Ecosystem Services
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
11.05

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article

Intertwined people–nature relations are central to nature-based adaptation to climate change

Bruno Locatelli, Matthew J. Colloff, Tobías Plieninger, Claudia Múnera‐Roldán et al.
10 citations
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences
Land Use and Ecosystem Services
11.05
article

Intertwined people–nature relations are central to nature-based adaptation to climate change

Bruno Locatelli, Matthew J. Colloff, Tobías Plieninger, Claudia Múnera‐Roldán, Nicolas Salliou, James Butler, Fabien Quétier, Titouan Dubo, Gretchen Walters, Adrienne Grêt‐Regamey, Margot Neyret, Sandra Lavorel, Émilie Crouzat, Erik Andersson, Enora Bruley, Tahia Devisscher, Houria Djoudi, Alberto González‐García, Giacomo Fedele, Mick Abbott, Paulina G. Karim
article en
10 citations

Abstract

Adaptation to climate change is a social-ecological process: it is not solely a result of natural processes or human decisions but emerges from multiple relations within social systems, within ecological systems and between them. We propose a novel analytical framework to evaluate social-ecological relations in nature-based adaptation, encompassing social (people-people), ecological (nature-nature) and social-ecological (people-nature) relations. Applying this framework to 25 case studies, we analyse the associations among these relations and identify archetypes of social-ecological adaptation. Our findings revealed that adaptation actions with more people-nature relations mobilize more social and ecological relations. We identified four archetypes, with distinct modes of adaptation along a gradient of people-nature interaction scores, summarized as: (i) nature control; (ii) biodiversity-based; (iii) ecosystem services-based; and (iv) integrated approaches. This study contributes to a nuanced understanding of nature-based adaptation, highlighting the importance of integrating diverse relations across social and ecological systems. Our findings offer valuable insights for informing the design and implementation of adaptation strategies and policies.This article is part of the discussion meeting issue 'Bending the curve towards nature recovery: building on Georgina Mace's legacy for a biodiverse future'.

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological SciencesVol. 380(1917)
University of Kassel (DE), Institut polytechnique de Grenoble (FR), University of Geneva (CH), Australian National University (AU), Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (AU), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (FR), Conservation International (US), University of Helsinki (FI), Stockholm Resilience Centre (SE), University of British Columbia (CA), Stockholm University (SE), Lincoln University (NZ), Université de Montpellier (FR), North-West University (ZA), National Dong Hwa University (TW), ETH Zurich (CH), Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (FR), Institut des Géosciences de l'Environnement (FR), Forests and Societies (FR), Laboratoire d'Écologie Alpine (FR), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR), Cawthron Institute (NZ), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (FR), University of Göttingen (DE), Université Grenoble Alpes (FR), Center for International Forestry Research (ID), University of Lausanne (CH)
Université Grenoble Alpes, Biodiversa+, European Commission, National Research Foundation, National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Branco Weiss Fellowship – Society in Science, Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, Singapore University of Technology and Design
Openalex Percentile: Top 1%
Land Use and Ecosystem Services
11.05
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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