Biocultural approaches to sustainability

A systematic review of the scientific literature

authored by

Jan Hanspach, Lisbeth Jamila Haider, Elisa Oteros-Rozas, Anton Stahl Olafsson, Natalie M. Gulsrud, Christopher M. Raymond, Mario Torralba, Berta Martín-López, Claudia Bieling, María García-Martín, Christian Albert, Thomas H. Beery, Nora Fagerholm, Isabel Díaz-Reviriego, Annika Drews-Shambroom, Tobias Plieninger

Abstract

Current sustainability challenges demand approaches that acknowledge a plurality of human–nature interactions and worldviews, for which biocultural approaches are considered appropriate and timely. This systematic review analyses the application of biocultural approaches to sustainability in scientific journal articles published between 1990 and 2018 through a mixed methods approach combining qualitative content analysis and quantitative multivariate methods. The study identifies seven distinct biocultural lenses, that is, different ways of understanding and applying biocultural approaches, which to different degrees consider the key aspects of sustainability science—inter- and transdisciplinarity, social justice and normativity. The review suggests that biocultural approaches in sustainability science need to move from describing how nature and culture are co-produced to co-producing knowledge for sustainability solutions, and in so doing, better account for questions of power, gender and transformations, which has been largely neglected thus far. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

External Organisation(s)

Leuphana University Lüneburg
Stockholm University
University of Vic – University of Central Catalunya (UVic-UCC)
University of Copenhagen
University of Helsinki
University of Kassel
University of Hohenheim
University of Göttingen
Kristianstad University
University of Turku
Ruhr-Universität Bochum

Type

Review article

Journal

People and Nature

Volume

2

Pages

643-659

No. of pages

17

ISSN

2575-8314

Publication date

03.09.2020

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10120 (Access: Open)