Noelle Aarts

To support constructive interaction in a transdisciplinary environmental research and management project, we developed the theory of windows of openness to interaction . Inspired by the window of tolerance concept, this theory links increasing openness to decreasing dysregulation. It introduces two nested windows and identifies a specific zone of constructive interaction in which participants are sufficiently open to collaborate. Our framework is based on a triangulation of in-depth interviews with participants in a transdisciplinary biodiversity project, expert consultations, and literature review. From this, we identified dynamic patterns that shape participants’ experiences and interaction needs, particularly in relation to hypo-arousal and hyperarousal. Building on these insights, we formulated interaction needs and practical approaches that help participants move toward greater openness and collaboration. The framework can be used to recognize and address moments of dysregulation or openness, and to foster meaningful conversations about how participants’ experiences influence constructive interaction in transdisciplinary environmental research and management settings.

Online citizen science platforms for nature observations provide valuable data for nature enthusiasts and scientists, but typically emotions and feelings experienced in nature are not shared there. Through focus groups with users of the Dutch citizen science platform Waarneming.nl, we explored how affective nature experiences are shared. We found that citizen scientists exchange affective experiences through face-to-face conversations or social media and hear about others’ experiences through traditional media. Affects are shared to enthuse others to go into nature, respect or connect more with nature, feel recognized and cope with varying affects experienced in response to environmental loss. Yet, these affects are generally not shared on platforms like Waarneming.nl as these media are associated with knowledge production, science and policy, which users perceive to be in opposition to affect. We reflect on this perceived tension between science and affect, suggesting potential ways to overcome this.

This interpretive qualitative study addresses publics’ sensemaking in relation to ecological changes that they had not known or experienced before. The context is the current recolonization by gray wolves in Europe, which led to the first wolf pack in the Flanders Region (Belgium) in two centuries. Ethnographic observation of the conversations that took place on government social media, after surprising events—from the arrival of a she-wolf to the raising of her young—reveals a recurring pattern of four sensemaking activities: (1) creating welcoming, protective sentiments, (2) assessing future survival chances for wolves, (3) anticipating disruptions by wolves, and (4) explaining raisons d’être of wolves. By elaborating on and discussing these activities, we highlight the self-triggering dynamics of the unfolding sensemaking process, and the diversity of knowledge sources and approaches involved. In this ongoing process, social media participants increasingly relied on abstract knowledge, analogies and past-time representations that, however, do not resolve the uncertainties and ambiguities encountered. Yet, despite the unprecedented circumstances, our findings suggest potential for place-based knowledge to support the publics’ sensemaking in ways that open up relevant experiential perspectives –including those of the wolves—to deal with the daily challenges of human-wolf coexistence on the ground.

Biodiversity restoration on a landscape level requires people with different backgrounds to connect and collaborate over an extended period of time. Hence, understanding how conservation and restoration goals are negotiated and achieved necessitates an understanding of the dynamics of the social fabric: the social networks and interactions that develop, underpin, and sustain collective action. This paper identifies patterns and factors that have contributed to constructive collaboration for biodiversity in the rural area of Ooijpolder-Groesbeek, which has been at the vanguard of nature and landscape development in the Netherlands. We conducted a historical analysis of the period between 1985 and 2022, based on a broad range of literature and interviews with key actors in the region. We provide a narrative account of the tipping points and the preceding processes that propelled the region to its current state. The emergence of these tipping points is analyzed through the lens of a conceptual framework on the dynamic interplay between practices, social interactions, events, and circumstances. Our findings reveal how an integrative landscape approach, the use of suitable boundary objects, and continuous network building and relation management across various levels have contributed to the success of the collective effort.