How can pluralist nature valuation impact Switzerland's biodiversity? Insights from the ValPar.CH project

Abstract

In the past, biodiversity research and conservation has often suffered from a narrow focus on either the instrumental or the intrinsic value of biodiversity. Authors and stakeholders from diverse knowledge systems have instead argued for the need to mobilize value pluralism in transdisciplinary approaches. However, the transformative potential of these approaches remains understudied. In this paper, we evaluate the potential impact of pluralist nature valuation on Switzerland’s biodiversity by focusing on the transdisciplinary project ValPar.CH.
We collected data through semi-structured interviews and workshops held with the project's researchers and stakeholders to explore how they think about potential impacts. These data were analysed based on two frameworks used in international biodiversity and sustainability debates: theory of change and values-centred leverage points. Regarding the theory of change, we identified 11 pathways linking ValPar.CH's outputs to potential outcomes. Seven of these pathways originated from outputs explicitly planned for by the project. They emphasized that the knowledge produced can change the attitudes and skills of stakeholders whose decisions affect the state of biodiversity. Four pathways originated from unplanned outputs and stressed that the project can lead to collective learning and change power relations underlying the state of biodiversity. Regarding the values-centred leverage points, most statements about ValPar.CH's potential impacts on Switzerland's biodiversity elaborated on how the project's pluralist valuation can be integrated into current decision-making processes.
Based on our results, we suggest measures to maximize ValPar.CH's impacts. These include the re-examination of impact pathways based on the knowledge deficit model, the consideration of the effects of implicit outputs, the design of pathways to simultaneously activate different leverage points, the implementation of capacity building activities, the design of interventions to minimize oppositional forces to biodiversity conservation, and the explicit consideration of attitudes and social norms in the context of behavioural change.
This paper can provide inputs for federal and cantonal authorities, stakeholders and researchers to design follow-up activities that maximize transformative capacities for Switzerland's biodiversity in the context of the Swiss Biodiversity Strategy and beyond.