Economics has grown into a leading perspective on how human societies should be organised, including how human societies interact with nature. Yet, it is excessively simplistic with regard to the value of nature and tends to disregard other perspectives on what might otherwise be seen as valuable. Based on the case study of birds and the diverse aspects of their value, this project addresses broader nature conservation and sustainability implications for economics – or how studying the value of birds can help us reform economics. Birds are seen here as connectors between people and the larger environment.

This project will substantially advance research in sustainability science, ecological economics, conservation science, and sustainable consumption. It opens new horizons for the debate on the importance of nature to people because, based on the specific and broadly relevant case study of birds, it explores a huge diversity of alternative paradigms and the opportunities to use them to reform the dominant discourse. To put economic thinking in the proper social-ecological context, this project investigates the root causes of the dominance of economic discourse in thinking about nature. It sets out to shape an alternative discourse based on a broad review of values and paradigms other than economics that evolved to motivate bird conservation over the 150 years of bird conservation.

This project involves a broad review of how bird conservation has been motivated in different socio-economic contexts, interviews with bird conservationists across the globe, surveys of national populations and birdwatchers, and inspiring focus groups and discussions on how to reform economics.

Please do get in touch if you would like to get involved or collaborate in any other way.