The Futures We Want: Culture and Ecosystem Management

On-going and future changes in climate may require significant and often costly transformations of technology, infrastructure, policy, and behavior,particularly in the realm of wildlife conservation and ecosystem restoration.... [ view full abstract ]

On-going and future changes in climate may require significant and often costly transformations of technology, infrastructure, policy, and behavior,particularly in the realm of wildlife conservation and ecosystem restoration. Moreover, wildlife conservationists are increasingly tasked with navigating complex, multi-stakeholder systems as part of their efforts to develop and implement effective conservation strategies – often with only limited cultural or psychological training.  As a result,how best to bring about such transformations within complex socio-ecological systems remains unclear, especially in regions where natural resource use patterns and livelihoods are marked by high greenhouse gas emission levels, "growth"-oriented value systems, conflicts between stakeholder groups, and beliefs that “Nature”cannot be seriously affected by human activity. This presentation delves into this problem through an examination of anthropological, sociological,psychological and philosophical research on how human individuals and groups conceive of and interact with narratives of the future. Specifically, I hope to address questions of a) how different cultural systems shape different groups' abilities and methods for thinking of the future; b) how societies constrain and create specific stories of the future; c) how these future narratives shape present-day value judgments and risk assessments; and d) the interaction between narratives of the future and the interpretation of scientific uncertainties.  

In this, I hope to demonstrate the central role of actor-groups' "visions of the future" with regards to their engagement with in-the-now climate change risk assessment and adaptation action, and how resource managers, conservationists, and other decision makers can utilize (and create) future narratives that can help to achieve adaptation goals. Moreover, I hope to show how eliciting future narratives from within the cultural systems of stakeholder groups is a necessary component of socio-ecological systems research on climate change vulnerability and adaptation, specifically as a tool for dealing with uncertainty in a pro-active manner.