#IMC: September 14 - 18 2025

The personal sphere of transformative change in researchers and stakeholders working on nature and mountains

Assigned Session: FS 3.204: Transformative changes towards Living Well in mountains: How does it feel?

Abstract ID: 3.10442 | Accepted as Talk | Talk/Oral | TBA | TBA

Iago Otero (0)
Keller, Roger (1), Deplazes Zemp, Anna (2), Reynard, Emmanuel (1,3)
Iago Otero ((0) University of Lausanne, Interdisciplinary Centre for Mountain Research, Lausanne, Switzerland)
Keller, Roger (1), Deplazes Zemp, Anna (2), Reynard, Emmanuel (1,3)

(0) University of Lausanne, Interdisciplinary Centre for Mountain Research, Lausanne, Switzerland
(1) Universität Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zürich, , CH, Zurich, Switzerland
(2) University of Zurich, Department of Molecular Life Sciences, Zurich, Switzerland
(3) University of Lausanne, Institute of Geography and Sustainability, Lausanne, Switzerland

(1) Universität Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zürich, , CH, Zurich, Switzerland
(2) University of Zurich, Department of Molecular Life Sciences, Zurich, Switzerland
(3) University of Lausanne, Institute of Geography and Sustainability, Lausanne, Switzerland

Categories: Biodiversity, Others, Socio-Ecology
Keywords: Transformative change, three-spheres of transformation, personal sphere, nature, conception of nature

Categories: Biodiversity, Others, Socio-Ecology
Keywords: Transformative change, three-spheres of transformation, personal sphere, nature, conception of nature

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Studies about transformative change increasingly emphasize the importance of the inner world, since it is considered to contain the deeper leverage points for system change. This paper* explores the inner worlds of a group of Western conservationists and their links to transformative change using the framework of the three spheres of transformation. We relied on semi-structured interviews with researchers and stakeholders working on a research project on nature in Switzerland, where mountain areas abound. We analysed the interviewees’ conceptions of nature, whether they think that humans are part of nature, their nature values, their worldviews, and whether these elements changed throughout their biographies. Despite a diversity of conceptions of nature, we found consensus around the idea that humans are part of it. This idea was expressed with personal contradictions related to humans’ impact on nature. The informants valued nature intrinsically, instrumentally and relationally, but the emphasis they placed on these value domains greatly varied among them. For some informants, mountain areas were the terrain of childhood experiences in nature that were foundational to their current appreciation and commitment for nature. Their current experiences revealed that mountains could act as enablers of both connectedness with nature and disconnection from modern comfort and pollution. In any case, the relational values expressed by the informants revealed their desire to reconnect to nature. Pluricentric, bioecocentric, anthropocentric-relational and pluricentric-cosmocentric worldviews were found. A personal transformation occurred in four informants, triggered by several factors. Informants that experienced personal transformation and informants that did not experience personal transformation showed political and practical commitments to nature. Based on our results, we distil fundamental characteristics of the inner world of conservationists and suggest research avenues to better understand the links between inner and outer dimensions of transformative change. * Otero, I., Keller. R., Deplazes-Zemp, A., Reynard, E. (2025). Exploring the personal sphere of transformative change in researchers and stakeholders working on nature. Ecosystems and People, 21(1), 2436374. doi.org/10.1080/26395916.2024.2436374

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