NESS SEMINAR
Dr Angela Dean
@AngelaSocSci
Date: Wednesday 23rd November
Time: 12 – 1pm
Location: Zoom
The loss and degradation of nature can lead to hopelessness and despair, which may undermine engagement in conservation actions. Movements such as Conservation Optimism aim to avert potential despair of those involved in the conservation movement. Some argue that fostering positive states such as hope or optimism can motivate engagement and action; however, others question whether fostering hope or optimism may inadvertently undermine perceived gravity of conservation challenges. There is little empirical evidence that identifies how positive states such as hope and optimism influence conservation engagement. Here we address this gap by quantifying dispositional hope and optimism with a representative sample of Australians (N=4285) and assess their relationship with indicators of conservation engagement, using the Great Barrier Reef in Australia as a case study. Our findings suggest that rather than undermining appreciation of the challenges involved in conservation, dispositional hope can strengthen appraisal of both the challenges and solutions, and thereby increase conservation engagement.
Angela Dean is a conservation social scientist with 20 years’ experience leading research and engagement programs with diverse communities. Her research draws on behavioural science to explore patterns and drivers of environmental stewardship, how people experience and perceive environmental change, and the effectiveness of different engagement & communication approaches in encouraging uptake of conservation actions. Angela works closely with a range of government and NGO partners and coordinates social monitoring of engagement in reef and waterway stewardship.
