Beyond ‘desirable’ values: Expanding relational values research to reflect the diversity of human–nature relationships

Abstract

In recent years, environmental values have become increasingly important for understanding human–environment relationships and transitions towards sustainability. Pluralistic valuation seeks to account for values associated with the diversity of human–nature relationships. Relational values (RV) have been proposed as a concept that can aid in plural valuation. RV concern the relationships that people have with their environments. Most RV studies focus on ‘desirable’ or ‘beneficial’ RV that contribute to pro‐environmental actions and sustainable outcomes. We argue that RV could be expanded to understand values that may be less environmentally beneficial. We focus our analysis on RV that exist in ‘simplified’ landscapes. Drawing on our research on cattle‐based livelihoods in Latin America, we highlight potential approaches to the study of RV in such simplified landscapes. We then build on the examples to examine themes and principles of RV with the aim of stimulating discussion about how the concept might be refined and expanded to study a broader range of human–environment relationships. Overall, our aim is to contribute to plural valuation and offer preliminary suggestions for how RV might expand to capture the complexity of values, from those that are desirable to those which contribute to environmental degradation. Expanding the scope of RV research and the depth of the RV concept can help to understand the challenges to sustainability and contribute to the shared goals of sustainability that motivate values research. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

The importance of relational values in gaining people’s support and promoting their involvement in social-ecological system management: A comparative analysis

“…Instrumental, relational, and intrinsic values overlap to some degree (Chan et al, 2018;Himes and Muraca, 2018). For example, while instrumental and relational values refer to human-nature relationships, intrinsic values do not, and relational and intrinsic values are not substitutable, as opposed to instrumental values (Himes and Muraca, 2018;Hoelle et al, 2022). Chan et al (2018) argued that instrumental and intrinsic values are conceptually less overlapping, while referring to assigned values (mostly related to instrumental values) and moral values (mostly related to intrinsic values).…”

Pluralizing environmental values for urban planning: How to uncover the diversity of imaginaries about socio‐natures from Vitoria‐Gasteiz (Basque Country, Spain)

“…Humans and Nature are two deeply interconnected elements; relational practices, such as spending time in and caring for nature, thus play a core role in the Relationalists' identity, well‐being and practices in and with nature. This perspective shows similarities with a universal social imaginary depicting nature as an inherently beneficial and providing positive contributions to people in diverse urban contexts (Angelo, 2019a; Hoelle et al, 2022). But this dominantly instrumental framing of nature's benefits of current urban policies does not account for the strong connection the Relationalists holds towards nature given their expressions of nature's intrinsic worth and the multiple relational values.…”

“…A growing body of literature in critical urban planning research shows how certain UGI contribute to increasing social inequality and socio‐cultural exclusion, exemplified for instance through green gentrification and displacement of vulnerable groups (Anguelovski et al, 2022; Gould & Lewis, 2017; Rigolon & Németh, 2019). That is, despite the tendency to depict nature's contributions as merely beneficial to humans (Hoelle et al, 2022), urban re‐naturing programs may not always be welcomed positively.…”

Private and civic actions as distinct types of individual engagement for transforming the exotic pet trade

“…behaviours (Hoelle et al, 2022;Lliso et al, 2022). Perhaps unsurprisingly, people who feel a strong connection to wildlife tend to wish to own exotic pets or visit wildlife entertainment venues, despite or possibly in denial of the potential negative impacts on wild populations.…”