Framing natural assets for advancing sustainability research: translating different perspectives into actions

Maria Jose Martinez-Harms,Archi Rastogi,Hannah Moersberger,Fleur J F Maseyk,Cornelia B Krug,Rainer M Krug,Unai Pascual,Eva M Spehn,Stefan Gelcich,Geoffrey Wambugu

doi:10.1007/s11625-018-0599-5

Abstract

Sustainability is a key challenge for humanity in the context of complex and unprecedented global changes. Future Earth, an international research initiative aiming to advance global sustainability science, has recently launched knowledge–action networks (KANs) as mechanisms for delivering its research strategy. The research initiative is currently developing a KAN on “natural assets” to facilitate and enable action-oriented research and synthesis towards natural assets sustainability. ‘Natural assets’ has been adopted by Future Earth as an umbrella term aiming to translate and bridge across different knowledge systems and different perspectives on peoples’ relationships with nature. In this paper, we clarify the framing of Future Earth around natural assets emphasizing the recognition on pluralism and identifying the challenges of translating different visions about the role of natural assets, including via policy formulation, for local to global sustainability challenges. This understanding will be useful to develop inter-and transdisciplinary solutions for human–environmental problems by (i) embracing richer collaborative decision processes and building bridges across different perspectives; (ii) giving emphasis on the interactions between biophysical and socioeconomic drivers affecting the future trends of investments and disinvestments in natural assets; and (iii) focusing on social equity, power relationships for effective application of the natural assets approach. This understanding also intends to inform the scope of the natural asset KAN’s research agenda to mobilize the translation of research into co-designed action for sustainability.

Highlights

Handled by Marcin Pawel Jarzebski, The University of Tokyo, Japan.Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.Extended author information available on the last page of the articleGlobal efforts to achieve the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs) require an understanding of how nature and biodiversity will be impacted by global environmental change
This paper aims to clarify the natural assets concept for the global Natural Assets knowledge–action networks (KANs) community discussing challenges that the KAN will face in operationalizing the natural assets concept
The natural assets approach could play a key role by emphasizing the role of human actions aiming to connect knowledge systems and actors engaged in reshaping nature

Summary

Introduction

Extended author information available on the last page of the article. Global efforts to achieve the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs) require an understanding of how nature and biodiversity will be impacted by global environmental change. The consequences of biodiversity loss for ecosystem functioning, Sustainability Science (2018) 13:1519–1531 the provision of an array of regulating ecosystem services, and for human well-being have been identified as a major concern amongst the scientific community (Hooper et al 2005; Balvanera et al 2006; Dıaz et al 2006; Worm et al 2006; Cardinale et al 2012; Rasmussen et al 2018)

Objectives

Conclusion