The research projects funded by the Strategic Research Council (SRC) produce high-quality research with great societal relevance and impact. SRC’s state-of-play report, which has just been published, presents the research and societal impact goals of our project.
In the MUST project, our goal is to create a paradigm shift in the planning and management of nature-based solutions in cities and urban regions. We develop new theories, methods and practical tools that would challenge mindsets and reform structures in nature-based solutions planning and governance.
Multispecies transitions entails the creation of nature-based solutions planning pathways where humans and other species are able to adapt to a new way of life that supports their mutual well-being, without high levels of suffering or inequality between different groups of people, other species or populations.
Our vision is that with the help of our project, government, industry and citizens can contribute towards multispecies transitions and restore biodiversity in a just and resilient manner.
We create societal resolutions:
- Multi-sensory (audio, visual) learning programs that enable industries and citizens to learn how to protect biodiversity in socially and environmentally responsible ways
- Integrated valuation approaches enabling government bodies and companies to make decisions based on the needs of humans and other species
- Governance structures enabling government and industry to coherently report on biodiversity strategies
- A capacity building program enabling biodiversity conservation actions among stakeholder groups.
Our research contributes to just sustainability transitions
The MUST research project is a part of SRC’s JUST TRANSITION funding programme. The programme was established to accelerate the realization of the green transition, and informed decision-making to guide the transition. Of particular interest in the programme are structures and practices that support or prevent a just green transition in different sectors of society and in the everyday lives of people and communities.
In our opinion, just sustainability transitions require building a new understanding of the human position as part of the ecosystem. In addition, it is crucial to respond to societal challenges related to multispecies justice and socio-ecological resilience.
At the beginning of the SRC projects, a state-of-play report is prepared to serve as a basis for the subsequent description and assessment of the activities. The freshly launched state-of-play report of our project is now available on SRC’s website (in Finnish). The report presents the concrete research and societal impact goals of our project.
Our impact goals are:
- Enabling multispecies transitions: We foster and facilitate the development of public discussions dedicated to critically question how to incorporate the principles of multispecies justice and socio-ecological resilience into deliberative processes at city-region scale.
- Connecting communities with multispecies needs: We connect local communities and raise awareness of the diverse and interconnected values of nature within human systems. We enhance the visibility of these needs through various means, including open dialogues as well as multisensorial experiences and other methods that transcend systemic constraints. Moreover, we foster engagement from diverse stakeholders, including local government, businesses, civil society groups, and citizens, encouraging them to integrate notions of multispecies transitions into their endeavors.
- Contributing to a more inclusive democracy involving multispecies needs: We contribute to a more inclusive democracy by addressing the challenge of enhancing the capacities of public representatives to represent the needs and agencies of other species along with the needs of all stakeholders, in democratic deliberation processes. We explore tools and methods designed to mitigate conflicts and tensions, while concurrently identifying opportunities to promote mutual human-nature wellbeing within policy processes. Through these endeavors, we explore a governance/democratic framework that is more attuned to and representative of multispecies considerations.
Text: Salla Kässi, Demos Helsinki
Picture: Agustín Garagorry