Reconnecting with nature for sustainability

Christopher D. Ives; David J. Abson; Henrik von Wehrden; Christian Dorninger; Kathleen Klaniecki; Joern Fischer

doi:10.1007/s11625-018-0542-9

Reconnecting with nature for sustainability

^*Corresponding author for this work

University of Nottingham

Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

478 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Calls for humanity to ‘reconnect to nature’ have grown increasingly louder from both scholars and civil society. Yet, there is relatively little coherence about what reconnecting to nature means, why it should happen and how it can be achieved. We present a conceptual framework to organise existing literature and direct future research on human–nature connections. Five types of connections to nature are identified: material, experiential, cognitive, emotional, and philosophical. These various types have been presented as causes, consequences, or treatments of social and environmental problems. From this conceptual base, we discuss how reconnecting people with nature can function as a treatment for the global environmental crisis. Adopting a social–ecological systems perspective, we draw upon the emerging concept of ‘leverage points’—places in complex systems to intervene to generate change—and explore examples of how actions to reconnect people with nature can help transform society towards sustainability.

Original language	English
Journal	Sustainability Science
Volume	13
Issue number	5
Pages (from-to)	1389-1397
Number of pages	9
ISSN	1862-4065
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-018-0542-9
Publication status	Published - 01.09.2018

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research has been supported by Volkswagen Foundation (Grant Number A112269). Two anonymous reviewers are thanked for their comments, which helped to improve this article. Handled by Carolyn Lundquist, University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Funding Information:
Acknowledgements This research has been supported by Volkswagen Foundation (Grant Number A112269). Two anonymous reviewers are thanked for their comments, which helped to improve this article.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, The Author(s).

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Research areas and keywords

Human–nature relationship
Social–ecological systems
Sustainability
Transformation
Sustainability Science
Sustainability Governance

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

Ecology
Health(social science)
Global and Planetary Change
Nature and Landscape Conservation
Geography, Planning and Development
Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Sociology and Political Science

Access to Document

10.1007/s11625-018-0542-9Licence: CC BY

DownloadFinal published version, 826 KBLicence: CC BY

Leverage Points for Sustainability Transformation: Institutions, People and Knowledge
Vilsmaier, U. (Project manager, academic), Lang, D. J. (Project manager, academic), Newig, J. (Project manager, academic), Fischer, J. (Project manager, academic), Schomerus, T. (Project manager, academic), von Wehrden, H. (Project manager, academic), Sieveking, A. (Project staff), Klaniecki, K. T. (Project staff), Dorninger, C. (Project staff), Clarke, E. A. (Project staff), Horcea-Milcu, A. I. (Project staff), Lam, D. (Project staff), Patru-Duse, I. A. (Project staff), Jager, N. W. (Project staff), Derwort, P. (Project staff), Patru-Duse, I. A. (Project staff), Apetrei, C.-I. (Project staff), Freeth, R. C. (Project staff), Engbers, M. (Project staff), Peukert, D. (Project staff), Berkau, A. J. (Project staff), Lutz, L. M. (Coordination), Leventon, J. (Project manager, academic) & Abson, D. (Project manager, academic)
Ministry of Science and Culture of the state of Lower Saxony in Germany
01.04.15 → 31.03.21
Project: Research

Cite this

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title = "Reconnecting with nature for sustainability",

abstract = "Calls for humanity to {\textquoteleft}reconnect to nature{\textquoteright} have grown increasingly louder from both scholars and civil society. Yet, there is relatively little coherence about what reconnecting to nature means, why it should happen and how it can be achieved. We present a conceptual framework to organise existing literature and direct future research on human–nature connections. Five types of connections to nature are identified: material, experiential, cognitive, emotional, and philosophical. These various types have been presented as causes, consequences, or treatments of social and environmental problems. From this conceptual base, we discuss how reconnecting people with nature can function as a treatment for the global environmental crisis. Adopting a social–ecological systems perspective, we draw upon the emerging concept of {\textquoteleft}leverage points{\textquoteright}—places in complex systems to intervene to generate change—and explore examples of how actions to reconnect people with nature can help transform society towards sustainability.",

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note = "Funding Information: This research has been supported by Volkswagen Foundation (Grant Number A112269). Two anonymous reviewers are thanked for their comments, which helped to improve this article. Handled by Carolyn Lundquist, University of Auckland, New Zealand. Funding Information: Acknowledgements This research has been supported by Volkswagen Foundation (Grant Number A112269). Two anonymous reviewers are thanked for their comments, which helped to improve this article. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018, The Author(s).",

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N2 - Calls for humanity to ‘reconnect to nature’ have grown increasingly louder from both scholars and civil society. Yet, there is relatively little coherence about what reconnecting to nature means, why it should happen and how it can be achieved. We present a conceptual framework to organise existing literature and direct future research on human–nature connections. Five types of connections to nature are identified: material, experiential, cognitive, emotional, and philosophical. These various types have been presented as causes, consequences, or treatments of social and environmental problems. From this conceptual base, we discuss how reconnecting people with nature can function as a treatment for the global environmental crisis. Adopting a social–ecological systems perspective, we draw upon the emerging concept of ‘leverage points’—places in complex systems to intervene to generate change—and explore examples of how actions to reconnect people with nature can help transform society towards sustainability.

AB - Calls for humanity to ‘reconnect to nature’ have grown increasingly louder from both scholars and civil society. Yet, there is relatively little coherence about what reconnecting to nature means, why it should happen and how it can be achieved. We present a conceptual framework to organise existing literature and direct future research on human–nature connections. Five types of connections to nature are identified: material, experiential, cognitive, emotional, and philosophical. These various types have been presented as causes, consequences, or treatments of social and environmental problems. From this conceptual base, we discuss how reconnecting people with nature can function as a treatment for the global environmental crisis. Adopting a social–ecological systems perspective, we draw upon the emerging concept of ‘leverage points’—places in complex systems to intervene to generate change—and explore examples of how actions to reconnect people with nature can help transform society towards sustainability.

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Reconnecting with nature for sustainability

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Research areas and keywords

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Projects

Leverage Points for Sustainability Transformation: Institutions, People and Knowledge

Cite this