Relational Values and Nature Recovery: Navigating the Politics of Environmental Decision-Making

Robert Fish, Chair in Environmental Sustainability, Imperial College London

  • Start  Friday 05 Dec 2025 4:15pm
  • Finish    Friday 05 Dec 2025 5:30pm
  • Venue  Place Suite, School of Geography & the Environment
  • Postcode OX1 3QY
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Seminar followed by Q&A and drinks – all welcome – join in person or online

Abstract:  Environmental decision-making often grapples with the tension between generalized sustainability goals and the culturally specific ways communities relate to nature. Relational values have been promoted as a way of navigating this tension. In this seminar, I argue that the primary contribution of a relational values perspective is the way it has swapped a rather tired debate about the intrinsic-instrumental value of nature, with a more lively debate about nature’s substitutability. Using the example of development pressure in the UK, I explore where a relational focus takes us politically, and how it might help broker new approaches to decision making of relevance to questions of nature recovery.

Biography:  Rob is Professor of Environmental Sustainability at Imperial College. He is a social scientist and human geographer by training, with research interests in the social and cultural dimensions of natural resource management. He has a particular specialism in agricultural and rural systems. Rob’s work is distinguished by its participatory and collaborative nature, as well as by direct intervention in the policy process. In recent years, he has played a prominent role in the elaboration of interdisciplinary approaches to the valuation of nature within environmental policy and decision making. He is a founding lead editor of the BES Journal People and Nature. His recent graphic textbook, Valuing Nature: the Roots of Transformation won the Taylor & Francis Outstanding STEM Book (2021).

The Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery and Biodiversity Network are interested in promoting a wide variety of views and opinions on nature recovery from researchers and practitioners.

The views, opinions and positions expressed within this lecture are those of the author alone, they do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery/Biodiversity Network, or its researchers.

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