Maraja Riechers
Biographic Data
| ID | 1571110 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Maraja Riechers |
| GIVEN NAMES | Maraja |
| FAMILY NAME | Riechers |
| SIGNATURE | RIECHERS M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Leuphana University of Lüneburg |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-3916-8102 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 37 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 167 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 37 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2019 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
From drivers to solutions in the Valdés Biosphere Reserve, Argentina
This review examines how human activities affect the sustainability of the Valdés Biosphere Reserve in coastal Patagonia. We conducted a 2000–2024 systematic literature review, complemented by expert interviews, and analysed the evidence using the Drivers – Activities – Pressures – State change – Impacts (on Welfare) – Responses (as Measures) – DAPSI(W)R(M) framework. The review identifies four key activity sectors driving environmental change: w…
The prefigurative politics of enactable sustainability transformations in the present
The concept of “prefigurative politics” invites geographers to envision transformative change through a shift in practices stemming from a micro level. This article examines and substantiates how this idea is mobilised in relation to current sustainability transformations. A large interdisciplinary group of geographers and transition scholars present topic clusters of prefigurative enablers that instigate and catalyse the enactment of transformat…
A global–local analytical framework for social-ecological systems
Analyzing the complexity of social-ecological systems (SESs) remains an empirical challenge, particularly when analytical frameworks must operate across decision-making scales. Global SESs frameworks are applied locally, but often imperfectly, and local evidence seldom informs their refinement. Here, we integrate global deductive and local inductive approaches to operationalize a cross-scale analytical framework tailored to local decision-making …
A multi-layered values-based approach to advance social-ecological restoration
Calls for social-ecological restoration have emerged to help transcend traditional ecological boundaries by including plural values as well as transdisciplinary processes. Inspired by the IPBES values typology, we used questionnaires to assess four multi-layered perspectives characterizing local actors in two transdisciplinary grassland restoration projects in Germany: Broad values, specific values, knowledge, and visions for restoration outcomes…
‘Chains of leverage’ as way to identify and foster transformative potential
We propose the framework of ‘chains of leverage’. It is an operationalisation to understand and analyse the transformative potential of social‐ecological systems and identify leverage points for sustainability transformations through a concrete four‐step approach. Step 1 : Analysing the social‐ecological system regarding its core elements across system depth. Elements in a system can be situated at different system depths (from shallow to deep) r…
Navigating across individual and deliberative values
The current ‘UN Decade on Restoration’ calls for collaboration between scientists and practitioners to formulate guidelines for ecosystem restoration, within which transdisciplinary approaches are imperative to rethink the diverse values associated with nature, paving the way for sustainable ecosystem restoration. In our study, conducted within a real‐world laboratory for grassland restoration in Germany, we employed an individual and a deliberat…
How methods influence nature's values we find – A comparison of three elicitation methods
Recent research has called for eliciting plural values of nature, yet little is known on how the choice of methods impacts the different values elicited. Drawing on the notion of methods as value-articulating institutions and using grasslands restoration as a case study, we explored how different elicitation methods influence people's value expressions towards grasslands. We did so in three different ways: (i) comparing values between elicitation…
Heterogeneity of demands for nature's contributions to people and nature's values by farmers
Farmers are not a homogeneous social actor group, particularly regarding their demands for nature’s contributions to people (NCP) and how they value nature. Overlooking internal heterogeneity prevents them from implementing inclusive conservation that aligns with their needs and interests. We aimed to explore the internal heterogeneity of the NCP demands and values of nature expressed by farmers, considering their socio-demographic characteristic…
Welcome home! Introducing SocSES
Underpinned by systemic thinking, social-ecological systems (SES) research has emerged as a critical field for addressing the challenges of the Anthropocene, marked by a cross-scale focus, inter- and transdisciplinary approaches, and a strong emphasis on place-based work. Thanks to the efforts of many networks and institutes, the field has advanced new theoretical and methodological approaches, fostered dedicated journals, and spurred educational…
Contributing to sustainable development pathways in the South Pacific through transdisciplinary research
Exploring cultural landscape narratives to understand challenges for collaboration and their implications for governance
Ongoing land use change, including both land abandonment and agricultural intensification and expansion, not only present a threat for biodiversity and ecosystem health but also for the persistence of cultural landscapes. However, farmland abandonment and the resulting loss of traditional cultural landscapes is an under-researched topic in the literature. Our work in a transdisciplinary action research project in the Spreewald Biosphere Reserve s…
Interplays between relational and instrumental values
Relational values have become increasingly recognised within the field of social–ecological systems as an innovative and in-depth approach to uncovering the value of human–nature relationships around the world. As an emerging concept within mainstream Western academia, there is still much to learn about the potential challenges of working with relational values and how to navigate them in applied research. Drawing on empirical research from Colom…
Valuing beaches for beauty and recreation only? Uncovering perception bias through a hashtag analysis
The role of institutions in food system transformations
In many parts of the Global South, food systems are confronted with complex sustainability challenges including high levels of poverty, food insecurity, malnutrition, disempowerment, and degraded environments. Transformation is broadly discussed in research, policy, and planning as the systemic change required to address complex sustainability issues. Transformation of food systems has become a global priority for research and action. However, tr…
Anticipating and transforming futures
Anticipation of futures using transdisciplinary approaches is critical to provide the basis for appropriate action to cope with current and future risks and to foster sustainability transformations. Coasts in the Global South in particular are subjected to severe environmental and societal challenges exacerbated by climate change. Yet, traditional research methods and epistemologies may not reflect the need for envisioning radically different sus…
Science on ecosystems and people to support the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
In December 2022, members of the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted the new Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) (https://www.cbd.int/gbf/targets/) to guide international biodiversity conservation efforts until 2030 in order to be able to live ‘in harmony with nature’ by 2050. This framework addresses the implementation gap left after the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, which were the previous global instrument for mainstreami…
Bridging scenario planning and backcasting
Many landscapes in sub‐Saharan Africa have undergone rapid changes, often with negative social and ecological impacts. Avoiding (or reversing) such negative impacts requires proactive landscape planning. Scenario planning, a participatory approach that generates narratives of plausible landscape change trajectories in the future, has been widely used to support landscape planning and decisions. However, not least because of challenges arising fro…
Tourists’ valuation of nature in protected areas
In the face of biodiversity loss, it is crucial to broaden the arguments for conservation of protected areas by acknowledging diverse values of nature. We systematically reviewed empirical studies to investigate tourists’ values of nature in protected areas over time and across regions. To do so, we explored (1) the main ecological and social characteristics of the case studies; (2) methodological approaches; and (3) value types. Based on the rev…
Resilience principles and a leverage points perspective for sustainable woody vegetation management in a social-ecological system of southwestern Ethiopia
Addressing ecosystem destruction and unsustainable development requires appropriate frameworks to comprehensively investigate social-ecological systems. Focusing on woody plant management in southwestern Ethiopia, we combined social-ecological resilience and a leverage points perspective to (1) assess how stakeholders perceive and operationalize resilience principles; (2) investigate resilience challenges and solutions across different levels of …
Operationalising the leverage points perspective for empirical research
Human-nature connectedness as leverage point
Despite early warnings (Meadows et al. 1972), humanity continues to exceed planetary boundaries (Rockstrom et al. 2009; Steffen et al. 2015). The unprecedented anthropogenic impacts on the climate
Key advantages of the leverage points perspective to shape human-nature relations
This perspective paper synthesises the special issue 'Human-nature connectedness as a leverage point for sustainability transformation'. Based on the articles in this special issue, we aim to foster the operationalisation of the leverage points perspective to shape human-nature relations to enable sustainability transformations. Specifically, we draw on four key advantages of the leverage points perspective: (i) the explicit recognition of deep l…
Understanding relational values in cultural landscapes in Romania and Germany
Relational values recently emerged as a concept to comprehensively understand and communicate the many values of nature. Relational values can be defined as preferences and principles about human–nature relationships and focus both on human–nature connections and well as human–human connections. Here, drawing on 819 face‐to‐face questionnaires, we analysed relational, intrinsic and instrumental values across a total of six agricultural landscapes…
Six modes of co-production for sustainability
Human–nature connectedness and other relational values are negatively affected by landscape simplification
Landscape simplification is a worldwide phenomenon that impacts biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. Humans benefit greatly from nature’s contributions to people in both material and immaterial ways, yet landscape simplification can undermine these contributions. Landscape simplification can have negative consequences, for example, for human–nature connectedness and other relational values. Major and rapid land-use change, together with a dec…
Co-productive agility and four collaborative pathways to sustainability transformations
Co-production, the collaborative weaving of research and practice by diverse societal actors, is argued to play an important role in sustainability transformations. Yet, there is still poor understanding of how to navigate the tensions that emerge in these processes. Through analyzing 32 initiatives worldwide that co-produced knowledge and action to foster sustainable social-ecological relations, we conceptualize ‘co-productive agility’ as an eme…
Six modes of co-production for sustainability
Values in transformational sustainability science
A feminist ethos for caring knowledge production in transdisciplinary sustainability science
Transdisciplinary Sustainability Science has emerged as a viable answer to current sustainability crises with the aim to strengthen collaborative knowledge production. To expand its transformative potential, we argue that Transdisciplinary Sustainability Science needs to thoroughly engage with questions of unequal power relations and hierarchical scientific constructs. Drawing on the work of the feminist philosopher María Puig de la Bellacasa, we…
The impacts of social-ecological system change on human-nature connectedness
Human–nature connectedness and other relational values are negatively affected by landscape simplification
Landscape simplification is a worldwide phenomenon that impacts biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. Humans benefit greatly from nature’s contributions to people in both material and immaterial ways, yet landscape simplification can undermine these contributions. Landscape simplification can have negative consequences, for example, for human–nature connectedness and other relational values. Major and rapid land-use change, together with a dec…
The influence of landscape change on multiple dimensions of human-nature connectedness
Riechers, M., Á. Balázsi, D. J. Abson, and J. Fischer. 2020. The influence of landscape change on multiple dimensions of human–nature connectedness. Ecology and Society 25(3):3. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-11651-250303
Leverage points to foster human–nature connectedness in cultural landscapes
Calls for a reconnection to nature and the biosphere have been growing louder over the last decades. Cultural landscapes are rapidly changing, posing a threat to ecosystems and biodiversity, but also to human–nature connections. Human–nature connectedness may be a potential lever to shift the unsustainable trajectory that we are currently proceeding, but is also negatively influenced by it. To concretize the call for a reconnection to nature, we …
Interplays between relational and instrumental values
Relational values have become increasingly recognised within the field of social–ecological systems as an innovative and in-depth approach to uncovering the value of human–nature relationships around the world. As an emerging concept within mainstream Western academia, there is still much to learn about the potential challenges of working with relational values and how to navigate them in applied research. Drawing on empirical research from Colom…
Operationalising the leverage points perspective for empirical research
A leverage points perspective on institutions for food security in a smallholder-dominated landscape in southwestern Ethiopia
Despite concerted efforts, achieving the goal of universal food security remains challenging. Food security interventions occur at different levels of systemic depth. Some interventions target visible supply-side gaps, while others focus on deeper systemic problems in the food system. Here, we used a leverage points perspective to ask how multiple types of more superficial (shallow) and more fundamental (deep) interventions in the food system int…
How methods influence nature's values we find – A comparison of three elicitation methods
Recent research has called for eliciting plural values of nature, yet little is known on how the choice of methods impacts the different values elicited. Drawing on the notion of methods as value-articulating institutions and using grasslands restoration as a case study, we explored how different elicitation methods influence people's value expressions towards grasslands. We did so in three different ways: (i) comparing values between elicitation…
Discourses for deep transformation
Ecological degradation stemming from the paradigmatic pursuit of economic growth is well known. Transforming the current dominant economic discourse will be a great challenge of our time and one that can foster a transformation to a more sustainable state. Little research exists concerning perceptions of growth by individuals in rural areas. In this empirical study, we analysed 33 interviews from two rural communities in Northwest Germany through…
A leverage points perspective on sustainability
Drawing on seminal work by the late Donella Meadows, we propose a leverage points perspective as a hitherto under‐recognized heuristic and practical tool for sustainability science. A leverage points perspective focuses on places to intervene in complex systems to bring about transformative change. A leverage points perspective recognizes increasingly influential leverage points relating to changes in parameters, feedbacks, system design and the …
Land‐sharing/‐sparing connectivity landscapes for ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation
The land‐sharing versus land‐sparing debate recently stagnated, lacking an integrating perspective in agricultural landscapes as well as consideration of ecosystem services. Here, we argue that land‐sharing (i.e. wildlife‐friendly farming systems) and land‐sparing (i.e. separation of high‐yielding agriculture and natural habitats) are not mutually exclusive, as both are needed to balance management needs for the multifunctionality of agricultural…
Values in transformational sustainability science
The impacts of social-ecological system change on human-nature connectedness
Red and green loops help uncover missing feedbacks in a coral reef social–ecological system
Social–ecological systems (SES) exhibit complex cause‐and‐effect relationships. Capturing, interpreting, and responding to signals that indicate changes in ecosystems is key for sustainable management in SES. Breaks in this signal–response chain, when feedbacks are missing, will allow change to continue until a point when abrupt ecological surprises may occur. In these situations, societies and local ecosystems can often become uncoupled. In this…
Leverage points for sustainability transformation
The influence of landscape change on multiple dimensions of human-nature connectedness
Riechers, M., Á. Balázsi, D. J. Abson, and J. Fischer. 2020. The influence of landscape change on multiple dimensions of human–nature connectedness. Ecology and Society 25(3):3. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-11651-250303
Human-nature connectedness as leverage point
Despite early warnings (Meadows et al. 1972), humanity continues to exceed planetary boundaries (Rockstrom et al. 2009; Steffen et al. 2015). The unprecedented anthropogenic impacts on the climate
Key advantages of the leverage points perspective to shape human-nature relations
This perspective paper synthesises the special issue 'Human-nature connectedness as a leverage point for sustainability transformation'. Based on the articles in this special issue, we aim to foster the operationalisation of the leverage points perspective to shape human-nature relations to enable sustainability transformations. Specifically, we draw on four key advantages of the leverage points perspective: (i) the explicit recognition of deep l…
Understanding relational values in cultural landscapes in Romania and Germany
Relational values recently emerged as a concept to comprehensively understand and communicate the many values of nature. Relational values can be defined as preferences and principles about human–nature relationships and focus both on human–nature connections and well as human–human connections. Here, drawing on 819 face‐to‐face questionnaires, we analysed relational, intrinsic and instrumental values across a total of six agricultural landscapes…
Six modes of co-production for sustainability
Human–nature connectedness and other relational values are negatively affected by landscape simplification
Landscape simplification is a worldwide phenomenon that impacts biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. Humans benefit greatly from nature’s contributions to people in both material and immaterial ways, yet landscape simplification can undermine these contributions. Landscape simplification can have negative consequences, for example, for human–nature connectedness and other relational values. Major and rapid land-use change, together with a dec…
A leverage points perspective on institutions for food security in a smallholder-dominated landscape in southwestern Ethiopia
Despite concerted efforts, achieving the goal of universal food security remains challenging. Food security interventions occur at different levels of systemic depth. Some interventions target visible supply-side gaps, while others focus on deeper systemic problems in the food system. Here, we used a leverage points perspective to ask how multiple types of more superficial (shallow) and more fundamental (deep) interventions in the food system int…
Discourses for deep transformation
Ecological degradation stemming from the paradigmatic pursuit of economic growth is well known. Transforming the current dominant economic discourse will be a great challenge of our time and one that can foster a transformation to a more sustainable state. Little research exists concerning perceptions of growth by individuals in rural areas. In this empirical study, we analysed 33 interviews from two rural communities in Northwest Germany through…
A feminist ethos for caring knowledge production in transdisciplinary sustainability science
Transdisciplinary Sustainability Science has emerged as a viable answer to current sustainability crises with the aim to strengthen collaborative knowledge production. To expand its transformative potential, we argue that Transdisciplinary Sustainability Science needs to thoroughly engage with questions of unequal power relations and hierarchical scientific constructs. Drawing on the work of the feminist philosopher María Puig de la Bellacasa, we…
Co-productive agility and four collaborative pathways to sustainability transformations
Co-production, the collaborative weaving of research and practice by diverse societal actors, is argued to play an important role in sustainability transformations. Yet, there is still poor understanding of how to navigate the tensions that emerge in these processes. Through analyzing 32 initiatives worldwide that co-produced knowledge and action to foster sustainable social-ecological relations, we conceptualize ‘co-productive agility’ as an eme…
Leverage points to foster human–nature connectedness in cultural landscapes
Calls for a reconnection to nature and the biosphere have been growing louder over the last decades. Cultural landscapes are rapidly changing, posing a threat to ecosystems and biodiversity, but also to human–nature connections. Human–nature connectedness may be a potential lever to shift the unsustainable trajectory that we are currently proceeding, but is also negatively influenced by it. To concretize the call for a reconnection to nature, we …
Operationalising the leverage points perspective for empirical research
Valuing beaches for beauty and recreation only? Uncovering perception bias through a hashtag analysis
The role of institutions in food system transformations
In many parts of the Global South, food systems are confronted with complex sustainability challenges including high levels of poverty, food insecurity, malnutrition, disempowerment, and degraded environments. Transformation is broadly discussed in research, policy, and planning as the systemic change required to address complex sustainability issues. Transformation of food systems has become a global priority for research and action. However, tr…
Anticipating and transforming futures
Anticipation of futures using transdisciplinary approaches is critical to provide the basis for appropriate action to cope with current and future risks and to foster sustainability transformations. Coasts in the Global South in particular are subjected to severe environmental and societal challenges exacerbated by climate change. Yet, traditional research methods and epistemologies may not reflect the need for envisioning radically different sus…
Science on ecosystems and people to support the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
In December 2022, members of the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted the new Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) (https://www.cbd.int/gbf/targets/) to guide international biodiversity conservation efforts until 2030 in order to be able to live ‘in harmony with nature’ by 2050. This framework addresses the implementation gap left after the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, which were the previous global instrument for mainstreami…
Bridging scenario planning and backcasting
Many landscapes in sub‐Saharan Africa have undergone rapid changes, often with negative social and ecological impacts. Avoiding (or reversing) such negative impacts requires proactive landscape planning. Scenario planning, a participatory approach that generates narratives of plausible landscape change trajectories in the future, has been widely used to support landscape planning and decisions. However, not least because of challenges arising fro…
Tourists’ valuation of nature in protected areas
In the face of biodiversity loss, it is crucial to broaden the arguments for conservation of protected areas by acknowledging diverse values of nature. We systematically reviewed empirical studies to investigate tourists’ values of nature in protected areas over time and across regions. To do so, we explored (1) the main ecological and social characteristics of the case studies; (2) methodological approaches; and (3) value types. Based on the rev…
Resilience principles and a leverage points perspective for sustainable woody vegetation management in a social-ecological system of southwestern Ethiopia
Addressing ecosystem destruction and unsustainable development requires appropriate frameworks to comprehensively investigate social-ecological systems. Focusing on woody plant management in southwestern Ethiopia, we combined social-ecological resilience and a leverage points perspective to (1) assess how stakeholders perceive and operationalize resilience principles; (2) investigate resilience challenges and solutions across different levels of …
Ecology (22 works) · Geography (18 works) · Land Use and Ecosystem Services (15 works) · Sociology (15 works) · Sustainability (15 works) · Political science (14 works) · Sustainability and Climate Change Governance (14 works) · Environmental resource management (12 works) · Psychology (12 works) · Computer Science (11 works)