RESAS 22-27: Jhi-d5-3 Galvanising Change Via Natural Capital

Aim and objectives:
The aim of this project is to produce constructive insights about the most productive venues (territorially and sectorally) and approaches (how and with/for whom) for using natural capital concepts and data to galvanise change for sustainability.
We seek to understand potential uses and influences of Natural Capital concepts and data in (i) national-level policy processes, in regional- and landscape-level planning, and (ii) in the decision-making processes of private actors and investors, including to identify new investment routes or other leverage points to support nature-based solutions and a well-being economy – i.e. an economic system which serves the collective wellbeing of current and future generations within safe ecological limits.
Research approach
The research approach is embedded in the interpretative qualitative sciences, so we can explore how people think about natural capital and make decisions. Academic fields that inform this work include those on knowledge co-production, the policy sciences and organisational studies. We will work with stakeholders to track and follow real-world processes; we will also explore co-constructed hypothetical scenarios to explore the differences that could be made by natural capital. The data we will collect will be predominantly based on a mixture of documentary evidence, interviews and focus group discussions. The research methods and insights will be shared and made accessible in accordance with Open Science, but our datasets will be mostly not be accessible, in order to protect the confidentiality of participants in line with GDPR & ethical guidelines.

This project is led by a team at the James Hutton Institute , also involving significant input from Scotland’s Rural College.