Exploring just, nature-positive pathways: what would living in harmony with nature mean for cities?

In response to the current biodiversity crisis, various efforts have emerged to develop pathways toward nature-positive futures that align with the goals and targets of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). However, the social sciences and humanities remain underrepresented in these studies. This is problematic, as it risks neglecting issues of justice and equity and may inadvertently reproduce unjust or unsustainable relations. In this paper, we address the need to imagine and develop scenarios for achieving the GBF goals and targets in a just manner. We argue that just, nature-positive pathways—developed through inclusive and participatory processes—are essential for informing transformative policy and inspiring equitable action. In doing so, we respond to calls for more inclusive explorations of futures informed by the social sciences. A cross-cutting element in this study is the concept of justice. We use justice as a lens to interrogate underlying power dynamics, structural inequities, and trade-offs between actors’ stakes and goals in processes of transformative societal change. We explicitly aim to contribute to the operationalization of the GBF vision "Living in Harmony with Nature" and what this would mean for different sectors or fields of application. Drawing primarily on insights from the social sciences and humanities, we present a conceptual framework for developing such pathways. This framework aims to support the creation of just, nature-positive pathways toward the GBF goals that account for the plurality of perspectives, values, and imaginaries present in society. In a second phase, we will use the framework for participatory development of pathways in three diverse, critical groups of actors for transformative change: those in cities, landscape and value chains. Therefore, we mobilize a range of disciplines, from ecology and economics to political science and anthropology, as well as sources of knowledge outside of traditional academia. Here, we share preliminary results and insights from just, nature-positive pathways for cities, drawing both conclusions that are specific to cities and insights that are more widely applicable.