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<p>There is a growing call in sustainability science and practice to build empathy, especially among actors involved in environmental management. We explored how participatory scenario planning (PSP), a popular collaborative environmental planning tool and an emerging transdisciplinary research approach in sustainability science, can influence empathy. We used as our central case a PSP we conducted to co-explore the future scenarios of the tidal wetland–dykeland ecosystem in the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia, Canada. Implementing a one-group pre/post-test study design, we measured immediate and longer-term (3&#xa0;months after) changes in empathy targeted for present non-human life-forms, present people, and future people among participating environmental actors (<i>n</i> = 18). We applied the Empathic Concern Index Tool which measures emotions toward the welfare of the empathy target. Our paired t tests showed that our central PSP case had large increases in empathy for present non-human life-forms and future people, with the observed increase in empathy for future people lasting at least 3 months. We found no significant change in empathy for the present people. We also tested the applicability (i.e. whether our findings are also observable to participants in a different treatment setting) using a case of a PSP (<i>n</i> = 9) that we conducted to co-explore the futures of agriculture, wetlands, and urban greenspaces in Quebec, Canada. We found that in our applicability&#xa0;case, empathy for future people was also significantly increased and the changes persisted at 3 months post-test. However, the Quebec case did not see significant increase in empathy for non-human life-forms and present people. Our results contribute empirical evidence on the value of PSP as an approach to building and sustaining empathy, especially for non-human life-forms and future people.</p>

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Co-imagining future scenarios can enhance environmental actors’ empathy toward future generations and non-human life-forms

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年1月16日

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  • Elson Ian Nyl Ebreo Galang,
  • Elena M. Bennett,
  • Gordon Hickey,
  • Julia Baird,
  • Gillian Dale,
  • Kate Sherren

摘要

There is a growing call in sustainability science and practice to build empathy, especially among actors involved in environmental management. We explored how participatory scenario planning (PSP), a popular collaborative environmental planning tool and an emerging transdisciplinary research approach in sustainability science, can influence empathy. We used as our central case a PSP we conducted to co-explore the future scenarios of the tidal wetland–dykeland ecosystem in the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia, Canada. Implementing a one-group pre/post-test study design, we measured immediate and longer-term (3 months after) changes in empathy targeted for present non-human life-forms, present people, and future people among participating environmental actors (n = 18). We applied the Empathic Concern Index Tool which measures emotions toward the welfare of the empathy target. Our paired t tests showed that our central PSP case had large increases in empathy for present non-human life-forms and future people, with the observed increase in empathy for future people lasting at least 3 months. We found no significant change in empathy for the present people. We also tested the applicability (i.e. whether our findings are also observable to participants in a different treatment setting) using a case of a PSP (n = 9) that we conducted to co-explore the futures of agriculture, wetlands, and urban greenspaces in Quebec, Canada. We found that in our applicability case, empathy for future people was also significantly increased and the changes persisted at 3 months post-test. However, the Quebec case did not see significant increase in empathy for non-human life-forms and present people. Our results contribute empirical evidence on the value of PSP as an approach to building and sustaining empathy, especially for non-human life-forms and future people.