Ecoscapes: Conservation behaviour change Jointly hosted by the Department of Biology and the Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity.

Talk
This event has now finished.
  • Date and time: Thursday 24 October 2024, 12.30pm to 2pm
  • Location: In-person only
    BS/104, The Treehouse, Berrick Saul Building, Campus West, University of York (Map)
  • Audience: Open to staff, students (postgraduate researchers only)
  • Admission: Free admission, booking required

Event details

Join us for the second of a series of interdisciplinary discussions bringing together a diversity of perspectives on changing biodiversity in the Anthropocene. 

Behaviour change is essential in delivering biodiversity conservation goals. Most people value nature and agree that biodiversity conservation is important, yet there is a “values-action gap”. What interventions are most effective in delivering conservation that really works?

Speakers

Dr Smriti Safaya, Department of Education

Ask Your Teacher to Take You Outside: The role of teachers to expose young people to the transformative magic of nature-related experiences cannot be underestimated. Highlighting research which bridges environmental behaviour psychology, citizen science, nature connectedness, and environmental and citizenship education, I will share key findings about how to encourage pro-environmental behaviour with young people.

Professor Julia Touza, Department of Environment and Geography

Effective conservation through an economic lens: Novel economic instruments aimed to raise public and private finance for nature conservation are generally perceived as “win-win” investments: a win for the environment and for people. This talk will explore whether the existing evidence supports this aspiration. I will examine programs being implemented as a good idea to be applied, but these are not designed in ways that could generate better biodiversity outcomes.  The talk will also examine the evidence of the findings of a recently published World Bank report on the need to re-design and repurpose biodiversity-harmful subsidies.

Molly Brown, LCAB, Department of Biology

Beyond the Individual: The Need for Multi-Level Approaches to Conservation Behaviour Change: Many biodiversity conservation interventions that aim to change behaviour focus disproportionately on individuals placing an undue burden on personal responsibility. Drawing from a recent rapid evidence review, this talk explores conservation behaviour change interventions. We will examine how behavioural science can inform multi-level approaches that engage individuals, communities, organisations, and policy-makers to create systemic behavioural shifts.