ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & POLICY

Nature Futures Framework (NFF)

Definition: An approach stemming from the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment at the IPBES to help imagine diverse and desirable futures for nature and people, based on three perspectives: Nature for Nature, Nature for Society, Nature as Culture.

Why it matters: Offers a creative, pluralistic way to think about the future that invites artists, scientists, and communities to co-create visions beyond the status quo.

Learn more by listening to Episode 6 of the Terra Sapiens Podcast.

Useful links

Transformative Change

Definition: A system-wide shift that reconfigures social, economic, and technological structures to stop biodiversity loss and address inequality.

Why it matters: Urges both citizens and institutions to move beyond incremental improvements toward deep, structural change.

Useful Links

  • Key Website: Transformative Change Assessment Report (2024) tinyurl.com/transformative-report 

  • Explainer Video: “IPBES Transformative Change Assessment – Animation” tinyurl.com/change-animation 

  • Book: More Powerful Together: Conversations With Climate Activists and Indigenous Land Defenders by Jen Gobby

  • Academic Article: Díaz, S. et al. (2019). Pervasive human-driven decline of life on Earth points to the need for transformative change. Science.

Nature-based Solutions

Definition: Actions that use ecosystems to address societal challenges, like restoring wetlands for flood control or planting trees for cooling cities.

Why it matters: Links ecological restoration directly to community wellbeing and climate resilience

Useful links

  • Key Website: IUCN NbS Guidelines: iucn.org/theme/nature-based-solutions 

  • Explainer Video: “What are Nature-based Solutions?” tinyurl.com/what-are-nbs

  • Book: The Future Earth: A Radical Vision for What’s Possible in the Age of Warming by Eric Holthaus

  • Academic Article: Cohen-Shacham, E. et al. (2016). Nature-based Solutions to address global societal challenges. IUCN.

One Health / Planetary Health

Definition: Approaches that link the health of people, animals, and ecosystems, recognizing that they are interdependent.

Why it matters: Encourages cross-sector collaboration between groups and individuals working across cultural, public health, and environmental sectors.

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Nature’s Contributions to People (NCPs)

Definition: A broad term coined by IPBES that includes all the benefits people receive from nature, from food and water to cultural, spiritual, and relational values.

Why it matters: Expands the idea of “ecosystem services” to include cultural and emotional connections, giving legitimacy to arts, heritage, and spiritual practices in sustainability work.

Useful links

  • Key Website IPBES Global Assessment Report (2022) tinyurl.com/IPBES-2022 

  • Explainer Video: “IPBES – Diverse values and valuation of nature” tinyurl.com/nature-values

  • Book: Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

  • Academic Article: Díaz, S. et al. (2018). Assessing nature’s contributions to people. Science.

Positive Tipping Points

Definition: Key moments or actions that trigger positive change toward sustainability, such as shifts in public opinion, technology innovation and adoption, or community practice. Tipping points are often compounding rather than linear.

Why it matters: Helps identify where small interventions can spark large, lasting benefits in climate and biodiversity work

Useful Links

  • Key Website: Positive Tipping Points, World Economic Forum tinyurl.com/positive-points 

  • Explainer Video: “How to Transform Apocalypse Fatigue into Action” with Per Espen Stoknes tinyurl.com/transform-fatigue 

  • Academic Article: Lenton, T.M. (2022). Operationalising positive tipping points towards global sustainability. Global Sustainability.

Key Biodiversity Areas

Definition: Places that make exceptional contributions to global biodiversity, identified using standardized scientific criteria.

Why it matters: Helps direct conservation of the most critical ecosystems on the planet

Useful links

  • Key Website: IUCN KBA Guidelines: keybiodiversityareas.org

  • Explainer Video: “Key Biodiversity Areas” tinyurl.com/key-bio-areas

  • Book: The Hidden Universe: Adventures in Biodiversity by Alexandre Antonelli

  • Book: Why Ecosystems Matter by Christopher Wills

Biocultural Diversity

Definition: The variety of life in all its forms—biological, cultural, and linguistic—linked through the relationships between people and nature.

Why it matters: Recognizes that cultural diversity and biodiversity support and sustain each other.

Useful links