You might not be able to find Melanesia on a map, but I bet you’ve heard of Fiji or Papua New Guinea, at least as vacation spots, two of the 4 countries that make up Melanesia.
Even though Melanesia has a population of a only about 11 million, it seems to be having an out-sized impact on how communities address conservation and climate change these days. In doing so, it’s also providing insights into driving change.
This is mostly because of an innovative woman scientist working there who was just awarded the coveted MacArthur Foundation Fellows – aka “Genius” – award because of the broader potential impact of her work.
One reason Papua New Guinea and Fiji are exotic vacation spots is that when we want a break, most of us like to escape to nature, whether that’s sitting by the ocean listening to the waves, or hiking in the mountains to breathe fresh air, or even taking a walk after work to clear our heads.
Why nature matters to us – and why she won the “Genius” award
Researchers at the University of Minnesota found that “Being in nature, or even viewing scenes of nature, reduces anger, fear, and stress and increases pleasant feelings. Exposure to nature not only makes you feel better emotionally, it contributes to your physical well-being, reducing blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, and the production of stress hormones. It may even reduce mortality.”
Dr. Stacy Jupiter MacArthur Foundation Fellows grantee 2019
What Stacy Jupiter found is that nature is also a key part of many cultural practices and, therefore, that changing people’s behavior so they preserve their natural heritage and combat its degradation from climate change, requires more than science, and that doing it her way breeds “equitable outcomes.”
Jupiter is a marine conservation scientist who is combining science and cultural practices associated with nature in a novel way to drive successful results. In giving Jupiter this award, the MacArthur Foundation said, she “has successfully demonstrated that effective ecosystem management and conservation is enhanced by integrating science with the social drivers of resource use and community well-being, and she is poised to play a critical role in ensuring that global conservation efforts result in equitable outcomes for all communities.”
Lessons in driving change from her work
We may think her work is only relevant to conservationists, but if we consider how she is changing the behavior of these Pacific Islanders, we can see lessons for any of us trying to drive change. Here are five insights from our interview on my podcast:
· Bring everybody into the process: Anyone who does not feel a part of the process of determining what to do to solve a challenge will not buy in to the solution, Jupiter said. So, involve as many relevant stakeholders (e.g., the community) as possible to increase effectiveness. Calling it “participatory planning,” Jupiter explained it this way to me: “in any sort of engagement….to try to change people’s behavior, people are more likely to be onboard with those (new) rules and those decisions if they were part of that planning process, and if they had a voice.”
· Understand your stakeholders as thoroughly as possible: Living in Melanesia as the Fiji Country Program Director for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) since 2008, Jupiter gained an intimate understanding of their cultural practices and habits and the nuances of how they communicate their culture.
· Strengthen the community’s connection to the “place”: “The place” can be a city, a workplace, a school, a community or even a committee. People’s connection to their “place” may go back to their ancestors and “their cultural practice in many cases depends on looking after this place in honor of their ancestors and that it’s in good shape for future generations,” according to Jupiter. She said to “try to strengthen their natural connection to the place…What we found is that when people lose that place attachment, they don’t hesitate to make decisions” that can be detrimental to the place and the other people in it. In other words, if they don’t feel their connection is respected, they won’t go along with the change.
· Be aware of the health of the overall system: Jupiter suggested a “whole of system approach” to change: “Be really holistic in how we’re thinking about working with people …and how different parts of the ecosystem interact with each other and how people interact with each other, and what are the knock-on effects of one action, both on the ecosystem and on the people and their connection to each other.” This will limit unwelcome unintended consequences and increase effectiveness, including in relationships between stakeholders.
· Tailor stakeholder engagement to the nuances: To be effective in communicating the importance of certain steps the community could take to preserve their land and economic dependence on tourism, for example, Jupiter even used comic books and puppet shows to change behavior, because that’s what worked.
Whether you’re trying to get a board of directors or an executive committee to face a company crisis, or a school board or a university department to consider a new pedagogy, Jupiter’s award-winning work successfully changing the Pacific Islanders’ behavior to preserve their land and culture can help guide us to find what truly motivates “our” people to consider and act on the change we are trying to drive.
To listen to Joan’s full interview with Dr. Stacy Jupiter on her podcast, click here.
