How we relate to and engage with ”nature” is a root cause of the environmental multi-crisis – climate breakdown, biodiversity loss, and precarious lives and livelihoods – we are in. There is plenty of critique of the current situations and the paths that has led us to this point, including capitalism, colonisation, and viewing nature as a commodity – but what would be alternatives? In our landscapes many different interests and activities play a role, which calls for addressing trade-offs and synergies. How can we envision a world where humans see themselves as part of nature, and societies are oriented towards cherishing, learning, and making decisions with more than human nature in all its forms – in co-existence?

The two day event is dedicated to envisioning “co-existence” as a way to re-think human-nature relationships and how we can act to guide transformative change for sustainability. The event will include:

1.
A set of key note speakers, to inspire what it could mean to view nature and ecology, human-nature interactions, and ourselves differently – towards practice and policy for prosperous co-existence. Interactive reflections.

2.
Presentations of “good examples” in practice, as seeds for the future in the present.

3.
Presentations: windows of opportunity for policy and societal change, and pathways .

4.
Conversations across science-policy-practice-society – what would it mean to ”mainstream” relational values of nature and reciprocal respectful relationships in society? Finalisation of the workshops, formulating pathways.

5.
Panels and concluding session for developing a shared vision statement on co-existence for sustainability.

The symposium will use the Netherlands as a focus example, but will also substantially draw on and engage with inspiration from Europe and beyond. The ambition is to connect scales, and discuss local to global interactions.

Amitav Ghosh

Viewing human-nature interactions differently and what it means: vitality of places and implications for policy and practice.

Elena Bennett

Dr. Elena Bennett is Professor and Canada Research Chair in Sustainability Science at McGill University. Her work focuses on the interactions among ecosystem services and how we can manage these interactions for multifunctional working landscapes, using a landscape ecology and systems ecology perspective.