Description of Impact(s) (English Only) Through a series of workshops outlined in a new research paper, scientists undertook "a futures thinking process that could use the Nature Futures Framework [NFF] as a mechanism to bring more transformative energy into how humans conceptualise the high seas and therefore how we aim to govern the ocean."

Published in the July 2023 edition of the Marine Policy journal, the study found that "engaging with the future through science fiction narratives allowed a more radical appreciation of what could be and infusing science with artistic elements can inspire audiences beyond academia."

The study also references the IPBES Global Assessment (2019) and the IPBES Scoping Report for the Transformative Change Assessment. "Recognising the need for more pluralistic, transformative and positive scenarios for nature, the IPBES task force on scenarios and models developed the NFF for use in research and governance processes that require a sense of what potential futures could be possible, even the more radical," wrote the authors.

"Operationalizing the NFF in the high seas provides a key, timely case study for examining the need for transformative change, the role of envisioning futures, how transformative change can occur and the process of rolling out transformative change. This output could feed directly into the ongoing IPBES assessment of the underlying causes of biodiversity loss and the determinants of transformative change and options for achieving the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity," they continued.