Ecosystems and People (Dec 2025)
Exploring the personal sphere of transformative change in researchers and stakeholders working on nature
Abstract
Conserving and sustainably using nature requires transformative change, i.e. a fundamental reorganization of the current social-ecological system and its underlying values. Studies about transformative change increasingly emphasize the importance of the inner world, since it is considered to contain the most transformative leverage points for system change, but more research is needed. This paper explores the inner worlds of a group of Western conservationists and their links to transformative change through the framework of the three spheres of transformation. We used semi-structured interviews with researchers and stakeholders of a Swiss research project on nature to analyse their conceptions of nature, whether they think that humans are part of nature, their nature values, their worldviews, and whether these elements changed throughout their biographies. Despite a diversity of conceptions of nature, we found consensus around the idea that humans are part of it. This idea was expressed with personal contradictions related to humans’ impact on nature. Intrinsic, instrumental and relational nature values were present in the informants’ accounts with varying intensity. Relational values revealed the informants’ desire to reconnect to nature. Pluricentric, bio-ecocentric, anthropocentric-relational and pluricentric-cosmocentric worldviews were found. A personal transformation occurred in four informants, triggered by several factors. Informants that experienced personal transformation and informants that did not experience personal transformation showed political and practical commitments to nature. Based on our results, we distil fundamental characteristics of the inner world of conservationists and suggest research avenues to better understand the links between inner and outer dimensions of transformative change.
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