Governing with nature: towards transformative change?

Nature-based solutions are gaining traction as transformative interventions addressing biodiversity loss, climate change, and social justice. Their appeal lies in both the perceived ‘good’ of nature and the intent to harness its properties for multiple benefits.

While these solutions span diverse geographies, their rise in urban areas is especially striking. Cities— once seen as the antithesis of nature—are now experimenting with ways to govern with nature, rather than dominate it. This shift signals a new approach to urban governance. Drawing on research from the Naturescape project, this talk explores how nature is being positioned as a solution to urban challenges, the politics and consequences of this trend, and what it reveals about the potential for transformative change.

Meet our speakers and chair

Harriet Bulkeley is a professor in the Department of Geography at Durham University. Harriet’s work is concerned with the politics and governance of environmental issues. She has a particular interest in climate change and the roles of cities and other non-state actors in responding to this global challenge. In her work on urban sustainability, Harriet has focused on questions of energy, smart grids, infrastructure, housing, mobility, waste and most recently nature and biodiversity. Throughout her work, questions of social and environmental justice are to the fore.

Rebecca Elliott is Associate Professor of Sociology. Her research focuses on how climate change, as a material and symbolic phenomenon, is reshaping social and environmental landscapes. She is a research associate at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and at the LSE Centre for the Analysis of Risk and Regulation. She co-convenes the Social Life of Climate Change, a cross-disciplinary seminar series and working group.

More about this event

LSE Sociology (@LSEsociology) provides outstanding education in the changing social world, and state-of-the-art, public-facing research on social issues. Our areas of international expertise include: economic sociology; politics and human rights; social inequalities; knowledge, culture and technology; and urban sociology.

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