Conference Agenda

The conservation and restoration of ecosystems are crucial for addressing biodiversity loss and climate change, as emphasized by the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. However, ensuring their effectiveness requires integrating equity considerations to align with Sustainable Development Goals. Despite the importance of these interventions, power imbalances often lead to uneven distribution of benefits, causing conflicts with local communities' aspirations. The human dimension presents a significant challenge to these efforts, necessitating a holistic, social-ecological perspective that addresses underlying power dynamics. Genuine integration of diverse stakeholders is hindered by prevailing power imbalances concealed within local contexts. Addressing these imbalances requires more guidance from existing research, given persistent knowledge gaps regarding their role in shaping equitable outcomes. Drawing on a systematic literature review and case studies from Zambia and Rwanda, this discussion explores how power imbalances may co-occur with neo-colonial structures and biases, enriching discourse on governance mechanisms aligned with local realities. By promoting sustainability, equity, and inclusivity in conservation and restoration activities globally, this talk advocates for intersectional analysis that acknowledges and addresses power dynamics.

Wetlands face severe decline, posing complex governance challenges due to their high exposure to anthropogenic stressors and resource commonality. Understanding the structure and function of power dynamics among the often, diverse stakeholders that manage these complex systems, is a key knowledge gap for ensuring environmental policy can achieve conservation outcomes. However, empirical research on stakeholder power dynamics in environmental governance systems is scarce. We developed an innovative mixed methods technique, to systematically characterise how different stakeholders implicitly perceived and exerted, different types of power in the environmental governance framework for an internationally listed RAMSAR wetland in Australia's Murray Darling Basin. We integrated quantitive and qualitative analyses of interview and perception matrix data to map behavioral patterns in community participation in wetland management. This identified several mechanisms through which stakeholders exerted power through relationships, disproportionately influencing water decision-making, with significant implications for long-term conservation efforts. We emphasis the importance of a functional understanding of stakeholder relationship dynamics in successfully implementing environmental policies with community participation. Our research develops much needed empirical methods for diagnosing significant, abeit often latent, environmental governance issues (e.g redistribution of risk, corruption) that undermine conservation goals, a crucial step in enhancing ecological resilience for all ecosystem types.

The need to act in favor of biodiversity is increasingly leading to conservation measures on private land. However, their effective implementation depends on their acceptability. To prevent or manage conflicts linked to the implementation of conservation measures, it is necessary to understand landowners’ feelings of justice. Here, we sought to understand southern Quebec landowners' perceptions of justice regarding conservation measures. Specifically, we: 1) determined how conservation measures are perceived using four dimensions of justice, and 2) assessed whether these perceptions depend on landowners’ characteristics (e.g. income). We used Q-methodology to obtain and analyze the information. Feelings of justice were not related to the type of activity, but rather to economic dependence on the land. Years of experience and age also influenced justice-as-recognition. We found both consensus and contrasting perspectives in each dimension of subjective justice. We identified possible entry points for improving conservation measures, e.g. the consensual recognition of landowners' lands as wildlife territory, the idea that conservation is not an obstacle to economic development, and their willingness to engage in conservation. All the perspectives around the assessed dimensions of justice point to strengths and weaknesses of conservation measures that merit attention if they are to be acceptable and functional.

Engagement of stakeholders is increasingly central to biodiversity conservation efforts, where power plays a pivotal role in determining outcomes. While power is often viewed in a one-dimensional, coercive manner, a nuanced perspective acknowledges its multidimensional nature, encompassing both structural and ideological dimensions, as well as its potential for productivity and facilitation. This presentation delves into the impact of various facets of power on participatory processes aimed at biodiversity conservation objectives. Drawing from six case studies across Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, an adapted framework is employed to explore the intricate interplay between "power over" and "transformative power," examining the scale, spatial dynamics, arenas, and modes of expression of power. By focusing on biodiversity, this analysis penetrates beyond surface-level issues and diverse stakeholder interests, such as wildlife concerns, to scrutinize underlying power dynamics. Diverse manifestations of power provide insights into how participants incorporate nature and biodiversity into their aspirations. Additionally, varying levels of power underscore the importance of examining participatory processes not only at the local level but also within broader national and international governance frameworks in our globalized world. Finally, this examination highlights two key challenges in participatory biodiversity processes: the representation of non-human interests and the integration of multiple knowledge systems.

Biodiversity conservation increasingly emphasizes stakeholder engagement to address conflicts, foster trust, and enhance learning, aiming for ownership and effective decision implementation. Participation in environmental governance typically yields positive outcomes when power is shared among participants, with communication intensity and participants' environmental stance also influencing results. However, we still need to better understand when, where, and how power dynamics can be considered in participatory processes regarding biodiversity and how they affect the outcomes. To develop the systematic review, we firstly adopt a multidimensional conceptualization of power, based on theories from social and political sciences, to move beyond a single interpretation of power. Secondly, we construct the participatory processes between different core units of analysis, including context, process design, process implementation, outputs and social outcomes and substantive outcomes and environmental impact. By systematically reviewing the evidence and context of individual case studies, this review maps the key dimensions of power in different contexts of stakeholder participation to better design future biodiversity conservation projects that can harness the positive potential of power in stakeholder participation. It can benefit researchers studying participatory processes and outcomes, institutional actors initiating such processes and often implementing their solutions, and facilitators designing and implementing participatory processes.

Despite decades of advocacy for increased stakeholder participation, systematic evaluations of its contributions to biodiversity conservation are only beginning to emerge. These studies scrutinize participatory design, process, and outcomes, providing insights into effective participation. However, while many acknowledge power imbalances, few delve into strategies for addressing them. This issue is pertinent to all involved in implementing participatory approaches, termed participation practitioners, including researchers using participatory methods and professionals in consulting firms or local authorities. Addressing power asymmetries entails reflecting on one's own position in interventions concerning these imbalances. In practice, implementers adopt specific stances on power imbalances, reflected in methodological choices. While some toolboxes propose methodologies, we emphasize reflective practices embedded in facilitation to understand power dynamics. Utilizing different stages of the participatory process, we propose a matrix to support facilitators' reflection on their own power, group power dynamics, and direct engagement with the group. This matrix is a work in progress, undergoing testing and adjustment by various facilitators. In this presentation, we introduce the matrix and share feedback gathered from facilitators' experiences. We also invite further input for improvement, aiming to compile perspectives on the utility of reflective practices in managing power during participatory processes for biodiversity conservation.