This month in Convivial Conservation

February issue

Feb 20, 2025

This month’s issue highlights the power of collective action and innovative conservation practices that are shaping a more sustainable and just future. From new insights to upcoming opportunities, join us as we continue exploring how we can build stronger, more harmonious relationships between people and nature.

Convivial Conservation in Action!

In this section, we highlight two insightful studies that examine convivial conservation in action, from community-managed land in Umbria to contested environmental futures in the Dolomites.

The Relationality of Collective Property. Commons and Convivial Conservation in Umbria, Italy

Written by Michele Ravaioli, this article explores how collective land ownership fosters community-driven governance, strengthening social bonds and sustainable resource management.

The article proposed is deeply connected to the idea of convivial conservation, as it looks at the ways in which two small Umbrian local communities self-manage an environmental collective patrimony. In particular, Italian collective property systems perfectly align with the main principles of convivial conservation: they represent a peculiar form of direct collective governance, built on the primacy of the community and of the common goods, that is based on interconnection and mutualistic coexistence between all forms of life. So, in their own functioning, they challenge not only Western and colonial conservation policies, creating the conditions for a "conservation revolution", but also the dominant forms of political power through the democratization of decision-making and managing processes. Finally, these collective property systems, on one side, go beyond commodified ideas of nature by recognising its paramount role for life itself; on the other side, they presuppose deep relational exchanges between human and non-human communities strenghtening solidarity, interconnection and coexistence.
- Michele Ravaioli

Read the article here

The contested environmental futures of the Dolomites: a political ecology of mountains

This article, written by Andrea Zinzani, explores how the eco-climate crisis shapes conservation debates in the Dolomites, Eastern Alps. It highlights tensions between profit-driven sustainability models and radical environmental visions while showing how local governance and struggles reveal opportunities for convivial conservation in mountain regions.

Published in Geographica Helvetica, this article aims to link scholarships in mountain geography and conservation studies and especially to reflect on convivial conservation visions and practices in mountain environments. Indeed, the case of the Italian Dolomites, in the Alps, enabled the understanding of experiences and claims, from grassroots collective governance to environmental networks, that envision a convivial conservation perspective to radically reconfigure mountain development politics and especially mountain environmental futures.
The Convivial Conservation perspective represents a key framework to reflect on mountain futures in the eco-climate crisis beyond protected areas and commodification politics.
- Andrea Zinzani

Read the article here

Coming up!

Seminar: Conservation Basic Income — a novel non-market support for convivial conservation

20.03.2025 | 14:00 - 15:00 | Bergen - Online

How can we fund biodiversity conservation in a way that prioritises both people and nature? In an upcoming seminar hosted by Conservation Labour (CONLAB) and Conflict Enclosures, Rob Fletcher will introduce Conservation Basic Income (CBI)—a bold alternative to market-based conservation schemes. Instead of relying on financial incentives tied to ecosystem services, CBI draws from universal basic income principles to support communities while protecting biodiversity.

The seminar will also explore the opportunities and challenges of CBI through a discussion on a new initiative piloting this approach in communities near two national parks in Rwanda.

For more details and to join the presentation in person or online, click here.

🌱Political Ecologies of the Countryside – PhD Spring School

Are you a PhD student interested in political ecology, agrarian change, and environmental transformations? Don’t miss the five-day intensive PhD spring school on Political Ecologies of the Countryside: Agrarian Roots, Environmental Transformations, and Capitalist Conflicts!

📅 Dates: 7–11 April 2025
📍 Location: Wageningen University, Netherlands.

This course offers a deep dive into diverse political and ecological perspectives on contemporary environmental and agrarian transformations, exploring how these intersect with broader capitalist dynamics. Students will engage with leading scholars, including Bram Büscher, Robert Fletcher, Lerato Thakholi, Esha Shah, Edward Huijbens, Murat Arsel, and Michael Bollig.

🔗 More details here | 📝 Register here

Convivial Conservation Network Map 🌍

Are you an activist, academic, policymaker, or change-maker (or anything in between)? Put your mark on the map if you're dedicated to advancing a convivial conservation paradigm that reimagines conservation politics, policy, and practice for systemic change!

📍 Join the map:
1️⃣ Click on the “+” in the top right corner of the map.
2️⃣ Introduce yourself, your work, or your journey to convivial conservation—feel free to include a logo or image! Don't forget to add your location.
3️⃣ Submit and hang tight—your entry will be up soon!

Join the map

Join Us in Shaping a Convivial Future

We are seeking visionary partners who share our commitment to convivial conservation and are eager to co-invest in pioneering approaches to halt biodiversity loss while fostering an equitable and socially just economic transition. Contact us to join Wageningen University, Oak Foundation, TBA21 and others, to fund, initiate and set up programmes through the Convivial Conservation Centre. Together, we can drive meaningful change.

Download our Partnership Proposal here!

That is all for this month! We hope you enjoyed the reading. Keep tuned for the next CC Newsletter issue next month!

To stay connected for updates on news, events, and more, visit our website or contact us here!

Want to know more? Check out these links

The socioeconomics of biodiversity. The value of nature for a sustainable economy and a just society by Reinhard Loske

CBI