Knowledge co-production and human-nature connections – implications for transformative change

The PhD project is with the Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group, connected to the Special Chair of Human–Nature relationships in the Anthropocene. The ways in which societies perceive, value, interact with, and know about nature are essential dimensions for achieving transformative change towards sustainable development. The PhD project will focus on how human-nature relationships are evolving in knowledge co-production around ecological restoration. While the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of co-production of knowledge in a sustainability context are emerging, much more work is needed to understand the conditions for successful knowledge generation that can drive agency for transformative change. Drawing on principles of relationality and pluralism, the PhD project will, first, review practical methods and experiences of eliciting and nurturing human–nature connectedness in science–society collaborations. Subsequently, it will engage closely in a small set of case studies of ecological restoration to evaluate knowledge generation, potential for enhanced nature connectedness, and agency for change. The work on this PhD project will be conducted in close collaboration with the Stockholm Resilience Centre.