Opening & Keynote

"Exploring pathways towards action for sustainability; the role of relational values"
A more sustainable future requires a fundamental shift in the relationship of humans with the rest of nature. Therefore insight is needed into how people perceive their relationship with nature and their motivations to act for nature. In her keynote lecture, Riyan van den Born presented empirical research on the human-nature relationship and delved into the main characteristics of how people in different countries envisage their ideal relationship with nature. Moreover, results from a European study on motivations to act for nature show the importance of relational values. Inspired by this work, she explored how thinking in terms of relational values can help identify promising pathways towards a more balanced co-existence with nature.

Riyan van den Born is associate professor for Socio-Ecological interactions at the Institute for Science in Society, University Radboud (NL). She studies human-nature relationships and societal aspects of nature conservation and water management. Since December 2018, she is also director of the Centre for Connecting Human and Nature. In this research centre, she focuses on the role of childhood experiences for engaged citizenship.