TY - JOUR
T1 - The role of values in future scenarios
T2 - What types of values underpin (un)sustainable and (un)just futures?
AU - Harmáčková, Zuzana v.
AU - Yoshida, Yuki
AU - Sitas, Nadia
AU - Manetti, Lelani
AU - Martin, Adrian
AU - Kumar, Ritesh
AU - Berbés-Blázquez, Marta
AU - Collins, Rebecca
AU - Eisenack, Klaus
AU - Guimaraes, Ellen
AU - Heras, Maria
AU - Nelson, Valerie
AU - Niamir, Aidin
AU - Ravera, Federica
AU - Ruiz-Mallén, Isabel
AU - O’Farrell, Patrick
N1 - Funding Information:
Zuzana Harmáčková’s work was supported by the NPO " Systemic Risk Institute " number LX22NPO5101 , funded by European Union — Next Generation EU (Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, NPO: EXCELES), SustES — Adaptation strategies for sustainable ecosystem services and food security under adverse environmental conditions project (ref. CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_019/0000797), and the project Science in Action: intersecting pathways to the SDGs across scales in the drylands (XPaths), funded by the Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development — Formas (grant number 2020-00474 ). Yuki Yoshida was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists ( #19K13440 ) and the Climate Change Adaptation Research Program of the National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan. Lelani Mannetti was supported by United States National Science Foundation grant numbers SES-1444755 (Urban Resilience to Extremes Sustainability Research Network) and GCR-1934933 (SETS Convergence Network). Berbés-Blázquez was funded by United States National Science Foundation grant numbers DEB-1832016 and DEB-2224662 (Central Arizona-Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research Program) and SES-1444755 (Urban Resilience to Extremes Sustainability Research Network). Federica Ravera was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities through a “Ramón y Cajal” research fellowship ( RYC-2018-025958-I ). Isabel Ruiz-Mallén was supported by the Spanish State Research Agency through a “Ramón y Cajal” research fellowship ( RYC-2015-17676 ). We would like to sincerely thank our co-authors in the IPBES Values Assessment as well as three anonymous reviewers for their extremely helpful comments and guidance.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors
PY - 2023/10
Y1 - 2023/10
N2 - Values have been recognized as critical leverage points for sustainability transformations. However, there is limited evidence unpacking which types of values are associated with specific types of future scenarios. This paper builds on a review of 460 scenarios in the IPBES Values Assessment, synthesising evidence from academia, private sector, (non)governmental strategies, science-policy reports and archetypes of the future. The results demonstrate that futures related to dystopian scenario archetypes are mostly underpinned by deeply individualistic and materialistic values. In contrast, futures with more sustainable and just outcomes tend to be underpinned by a more balanced combination of plural values of nature, with a dominant societal focus. Consequently, the paper identifies research gaps and illustrates the key importance of acknowledging not only people’s values directly related to nature, but also broader core values that affect the interactions between nature and society.
AB - Values have been recognized as critical leverage points for sustainability transformations. However, there is limited evidence unpacking which types of values are associated with specific types of future scenarios. This paper builds on a review of 460 scenarios in the IPBES Values Assessment, synthesising evidence from academia, private sector, (non)governmental strategies, science-policy reports and archetypes of the future. The results demonstrate that futures related to dystopian scenario archetypes are mostly underpinned by deeply individualistic and materialistic values. In contrast, futures with more sustainable and just outcomes tend to be underpinned by a more balanced combination of plural values of nature, with a dominant societal focus. Consequently, the paper identifies research gaps and illustrates the key importance of acknowledging not only people’s values directly related to nature, but also broader core values that affect the interactions between nature and society.
KW - future scenarios and visions
KW - Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)
KW - sustainability and transformation pathways
KW - multiple and plural values of nature
KW - human-nature relationships
KW - equity
U2 - 10.1016/j.cosust.2023.101343
DO - 10.1016/j.cosust.2023.101343
M3 - Article
SN - 1877-3435
VL - 63
SP - 1
EP - 10
JO - Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability
JF - Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability
M1 - 101343
ER -