Speakers
Description
In the proposed paper, we present the research that was conducted within the framework of the PRO-Coast project, initiated in November 2023 with funding from Horizon Europe. The study aims to uncover the complex societal drivers of biodiversity loss in coastal ecosystems through an in-depth, multi-level analytical framework. This framework examines demographic, social, ethnic, religious, gender, organizational, and broader societal factors that influence attitudes and actions with regard to the conservation of coastal biodiversity.
An extensive review of existing literature was conducted to understand the complex interplay between societal factors and the loss of coastal biodiversity. Our findings emphasize the significant impact that age, gender, socioeconomic status (SES), and education have on conservation efforts, which highlights the need for sophisticated approaches to be taken with regard to the preservation of biodiversity.
This paper underlines the critical need for comprehensive conservation strategies that are inclusive and engage diverse social groups in the conservation discourse. The literature review also reveals that the theories underpinning many existing studies, including our own, often lack depth in the context of the social sciences. In contrast, theories that could benefit not only scientific understanding but also practical interventions draw primarily from environmental psychology, personality psychology, and sociological theories at the meso and macro levels of society. For instance, insights from the Sociology of Risk (Beck, 1992; Giddens, 1991), from Social Capital Theory (Bourdieu, 1986; Putnam, 2000), from theories of Social Inequality (Bourdieu, 1984; Douglas et al., 1993), and from Critical Theory (Adorno & Horkheimer, 1944; Marcuse, 1964) prove to have high explanatory power. These theories offer a perspective on the overall relationships that link various aspects to environmental destruction and participation in environmental efforts, including aspects of biodiversity in coastal regions.
| Status Group | Postdoctoral Researcher |
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