The potential for applying “Nonviolent Communication” in conservation science

Williams, Brooke A.; Simmons, B. Alexander; Ward, Michelle; Beher, Jutta; Dean, Angela J.; Nou, Tida; Kenyon, Tania M.; Davey, Madeline; Melton, Courtney B.; Stewart‐Sinclair, Phoebe J.; Hammond, Niall L.; Massingham, Emily; Klein, Carissa J.

doi:10.1111/csp2.540

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…For example, the Framing Equality Toolkit aims to help LGBTI activists communicate in ways that make connections with others (Public Interest Research Centre, 2017), while the Framing Nature Toolkit (Public Interest Research Centre, 2018) offers an introduction to framing and provides examples of framing in conservation practice. The Nonviolent Communication framework provides guidance on how to create constructive dialogue and positive relationships in order to build mutual understanding and trust between different parties (Williams et al, 2021). Nonviolent communication training has been applied to build empathy between people and towards wildlife as a means of promoting human-wildlife coexistence in Namibia (Kansky & Maassarani, 2022).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Communicating the Biodiversity Crisis: From “Warnings” to Positive Engagement

Lange

Sharkey

Tickell

et al. 2022

Tropical Conservation Science

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Background: Effective communication can play a vital role in societal transformations towards sustainability and biodiversity restoration. However, the complexity and long-term nature of environmental change presents a communication challenge. If not carefully navigated, messages around environmental degradation can lead to audience disengagement and issue fatigue, at a time when motivation, engagement and positive action is required. Methods: In this Conservation in Action piece, we describe the principles of positive communication, which are being adopted by a growing movement of conservation organizations. We support this approach by reviewing evidence on the role of emotions in decision-making from diverse fields such as psychology and communications, paying particularly close attention to the experiences of climate change communicators. Results: Positive emotional experiences, including feelings of hope, collective efficacy, and the warm glow that follows actions aligned with intrinsic values, can play an essential role in sustaining actions that contribute to transformative change. While negative emotions prime specific action tendencies, positive emotions enable creativity, cooperation, and resilience, which are all essential for overcoming the challenging nature of acting on the biodiversity crisis. Conclusions: Communications from conservation researchers and practitioners need to reflect the reality of the biodiversity crisis. While some communications may seek to motivate action through warnings and threats, messages that trigger positive emotions in audiences can help inspire long-term engagement and action. We suggest that this positive communication approach is underutilized. Implications: We present a guide to help those working in conservation convey their messages in ways that are empowering and positive. As the biodiversity crisis intensifies, it is critical that conservation professionals continue to imagine and develop pathways to a better future and communicate with others in society in a way that supports transformative change towards this future.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Communicating the Biodiversity Crisis: From “Warnings” to Positive Engagement

Lange

Sharkey

Tickell

et al. 2022

Tropical Conservation Science

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“…Mindfulness practices such as empathy and mindful communication can enable people with different perspectives to communicate honestly and calmly, which helps build rapport and trust among stakeholders (Rosenberg, 2002; Williams et al, 2021). Practicing empathy in particular can increase public tolerance and compassion toward wildlife, improve listening skills, and help resolve environmental conflicts more broadly or in conservation communication in general (Kansky & Maassarani, 2022).…”

Section: Mindfulness and Ecological Grief: The Overwhelming Catastrophementioning

confidence: 99%

“…"Mindfulness helps us to insert a "wedge of awareness," which allows us to examine [the retaliation] impulse" and determine if an alternate response would be more likely to foster value creation and understanding (Riskin, 2006; Table 3). Mindfulness practices such as empathy and mindful communication can enable people with different perspectives to communicate honestly and calmly, which helps build rapport and trust among stakeholders (Rosenberg, 2002;Williams et al, 2021). Practicing empathy in particular can increase public tolerance and compassion toward wildlife, improve listening skills, and help resolve environmental conflicts more broadly or in conservation communication in general (Kansky & Maassarani, 2022).…”

Section: Mindfulness Practices For Conservation Scientistsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, practices such as empathy and deep listening have been shown to support effective pathways of knowledge to action in conservation science, improve communication, and engender collaborative relationships (Carr Kelman et al, 2022; Gerber et al, 2020). These practices can also facilitate more meaningful, inclusive, and equitable conservation processes (Williams et al, 2021). Inclusivity means recognizing that local and indigenous communities also experience ecological grief as they bear witness to dramatic environmental change; these upheavals impact livelihoods and challenge traditional ecological knowledge such as weather prediction (Cunsolo & Ellis, 2018).…”

Section: Mindfulness and Ecological Grief: The Overwhelming Catastrophementioning

confidence: 99%

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Practicing mindfulness in addressing the biodiversity crisis

Gerber

Reeves‐Blurton

Gueci

et al. 2023

Conservat Sci and Prac

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In an era of climate change, biodiversity loss, and a global pandemic, many scientists have experienced grief, anxiety, and despair as they face ongoing ecological challenges. The practice of conservation science has also become contentious in light of increasingly polarized viewpoints and conflicts among stakeholders. These ecological and social challenges may hinder conservation scientists' ability to identify critical science needs that can inform and improve conservation policies, actions, and outcomes. Mindfulness practices provide a centering framework that supports scientists in addressing these challenges while also fostering meaningful collaborations with other conservation scientists and practitioners. In this paper, we synthesize theories from mindfulness and attitudinal foundations that offer practical steps toward the kind of resilient mindset needed to address challenges flexibly and from a solutions-driven perspective. By cultivating equanimity, gratitude and hope, mindfulness practices bring understanding and empathy to collaborative activities, improving our collective ability to generate meaningful science that addresses pressing environmental challenges.

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“…They were invited to voluntarily participate in the program with the understanding that the aim was to find better ways to live with wildlife. The program consisted of 11‐weeks half‐day workshops, and included two main components: (1) training in non‐violent communication (NVC) (Rosenberg, 2005; Williams et al, 2021) and (2) dialogues with invited guests who were primarily members from the conservancy management. The rationale for the NVC training was to facilitate respectful dialogues as well as evaluate the methods' potential to increase empathy and tolerance between people and toward wildlife, since empathy was found to be a significant factor driving human tolerance to damage causing wildlife (Kansky et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unpacking the challenges of wildlife governance in community‐based conservation programs to promote human–wildlife coexistence

Kansky

2022

Conservat Sci and Prac

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One of the numerous global challenges today is how to promote biodiversity persistence and at the same time reduce poverty and improve livelihoods, especially in multiple-use landscapes shared by people and wildlife. In such landscapes, where the cost of sharing the landscape with large wildlife can be high, Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) program is a model promoted to offset negative wildlife impacts. However, such programs, that promote sustainable utilization of wildlife, are not always successful. To better understand how CBNRM governance systems enable or hinder human-wildlife coexistence, I implemented an 11-weeks participatory co-learning program in conservancies in the Zambezi region of Namibia. Framing human-wildlife relationships as occurring within complex social-ecological systems, participatory dialogues were used to unpack the system to better understand why human-wildlife conflict remains a challenge after 30 years of CBNRM in Namibia. From listening to communities I identified five key areas requiring improvement: (1) inefficient communication and transfer of information between management and community; (2) lack of policy and process clarity; (3) lack of support, knowledge, resources, and implementation of mitigation measures; (4) lack of accountability by both management and conservancy members; and (5) lack of skills and capacity by both management and conservancy members. To address these problem areas, I propose three key priority actions: (1) harmonize conservancy policies and management practices;(2) improve information flow; and (3) implement an adaptive management mitigation measure program. While this study focused on a small part of Namibia, I expect this methodology and many of the key findings and proposed interventions will be relevant for other areas applying collaborative approaches to improve human-wildlife coexistence.

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The potential for applying “Nonviolent Communication” in conservation science

Cited by 9 publications

References 68 publications

Communicating the Biodiversity Crisis: From “Warnings” to Positive Engagement

Communicating the Biodiversity Crisis: From “Warnings” to Positive Engagement

Practicing mindfulness in addressing the biodiversity crisis

Unpacking the challenges of wildlife governance in community‐based conservation programs to promote human–wildlife coexistence

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