Bridging Values Consortium Team Members Meet at TC/ESG25 Conference in Johannesburg South Africa
- Eda Tibet
- Sep 7
- 3 min read
Weaving Stories of Land, Policy, and Values
At the TC/ESG Conference in Johannesburg South Africa (18-21 August), our Bridging Values Consortium hosted a ✨Just Conservation Panel on Bridging Values for Equitable Biodiversity Governance, co-convened by Dr.Grace Wong and Dr.Ancois Carien de Villiers.
The room was filled with anticipation as scholars, practitioners, and community voices gathered to exchange ideas about conservation, values, and justice. What unfolded was less a set of academic presentations and more a tapestry of stories each one grounded in place, yet resonating across borders.
From South Africa’s biodiversity economy to Sweden’s relational landscapes and global reflections on transdisciplinarity, the session reminded us that the future of conservation lies in how we weave together diverse ways of knowing.
The journey began in South Africa’s Cape Floral Region, a UNESCO World Heritage Site celebrated for its stunning biodiversity yet fraught with social and ecological challenges. Ancois de Villiers guided us through the evolving idea of a biodiversity economy, where policies, investments, and livelihoods intersect. Ecotourism, indigenous plant-based products, and the clearing of invasive species promise new opportunities. Yet, as Ancois revealed, the reality on the ground is riddled with barriers: limited resources, unequal benefit-sharing, and competing visions of land use. Her case study exposed the gap between policy ideals and the lived experiences of communities, underscoring the need for equitable and context-sensitive solutions.
From there, we arrived in Öland, Sweden, where Grace Wong shared the story of Mittlandet, a mosaic of grasslands, forests, and centuries of smallholder farming. Here, biodiversity and cultural heritage are deeply intertwined, yet EU agricultural policies often clash with this multifunctional reality. Grace’s research revealed how farmers, stewards, and conservationists relate to nature through relational values meanings tied to identity, belonging, and social life. By walking, storytelling, and visual methods, her team uncovered new possibilities for nature-inclusive pathways, moving beyond narrow notions of ecosystem services to embrace the full spectrum of human–nature relationships.
The narrative then widened to a global canvas. Eda Elif Tibet invited us into the world of multimodal ethnography, where storytelling, film, and participatory reflection serve as bridges in transdisciplinary research. Her work, spanning all the field sites of the consortium Brazil, Spain, South Africa, Germany, Sweden, and Lao PDR, coined the concept of “bridging transdisciplinarity” the weaving of actors, ideas, and practices that spark transformation. Rather than reducing complexity, Tibet’s approach embraces plurality, creativity, and reflexivity. It reminded us that conservation and sustainability transformations require not only science but also imagination, dialogue, and co-created stories.
A Shared Reflection
Though rooted in different places and methods, the three talks echoed one another in profound ways. Each highlighted the tensions between global frameworks and local realities, between economic incentives and cultural values, between technical solutions and lived experiences. Yet, they also showed the possibilities that emerge when we take relationships seriously between people and land, people and policy, and people and one another.
In a world grappling with biodiversity loss, climate change, and inequity, these stories remind us that transformation cannot be engineered from the top down. It must be cultivated in dialogue, rooted in place, and nourished by the plurality of voices human and more-than-human alike that make our shared landscapes alive.
A Moving Field Excursion to Soweto
Beyond the presentations, the group also had the privilege of a field excursion to Soweto, organized through Soweto Backpackers. Traveling by tuk-tuks, we wound our way through one of South Africa’s most historically significant townships. It was a deeply moving and humbling experience walking in the footsteps of those who fought for freedom and justice, learning about Nelson Mandela’s legacy, and hearing stories of resilience in the face of apartheid’s brutal history. The excursion reminded us that the struggles for land, justice, and equality are not abstract concepts but lived realities, written into the streets, murals, and memories of Soweto.
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who participated and contributed to these enlightening sessions! Together, we shall continue to building robust knowledge systems for impactful change.
Blog Article and Photographs by Dr.Eda Elif Tibet.
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