How do you envision the relationship between people and nature?
Developed by IPBES,
the Nature Futures Framework maps the diversity of values people hold about nature onto
a triangle of three perspectives. Explore the seven visions below — then discover which
resonates with yours.
Discover which Nature Future resonates with your values
15 scenario-based questions about land, food, energy, governance, and more.
There are no right or wrong answers — only your values. At the end, you will
see where you fall on the triangle and which archetype matches your vision.
The Nature Futures Framework (NFF) is a heuristic tool developed by
IPBES,
the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.
It captures diverse, positive relationships between humans and nature in the form of an
equilateral triangle with three value perspectives.
The NFF serves as a boundary object bridging different worldviews, an actionable framework
for developing nature scenarios from local to global scales, and a navigation tool for
exploring what "living in harmony with nature" could look like across cultures and communities.
The three perspectives are not mutually exclusive. Most real-world positions fall inside the
triangle, not at corners. The corners represent analytical extremes useful for understanding
trade-offs, not prescriptions. At regional and global scales, all three value perspectives
must coexist given the diversity of values and human-nature relationships across the planet.
Methodology
The six illustrative narratives were developed through an iterative, participatory process
involving stakeholders from 31+ countries across five methodological phases (2016-2023),
explicitly incorporating indigenous and local knowledge alongside scientific expertise.
Each narrative was built from 22 scenario themes organised into five overarching categories:
governance, society, natural resource management, habitat and biodiversity, and social organisation.
GLOBAÏA adds a seventh position at the centre of the triangle, representing a balanced
integration of all three value perspectives.
References
Pereira, L.M., Davies, K.K. et al. (2020). Developing multiscale and integrative nature-people scenarios using the Nature Futures Framework. doi:10.1002/pan3.10146
Kim, H., Peterson, G.D. et al. (2023). Towards a better future for biodiversity and people: Modelling Nature Futures. doi:10.1111/gcb.16531
Rana, S., Avila-Garcia, P. et al. (2020). The role of Youth Visions in the Nature Futures Framework. doi:10.1002/pan3.10190
Shaikh, S. & Hamel, P. (2023). Application of the Nature Futures Framework in urban settings. doi:10.1002/pan3.10468
Lundquist, C.J. et al. (2017). Visions for Nature and Nature's Contributions to People for the 21st Century. NIWA Science and Technology Series 83.
Acknowledgements
This interactive was created by GLOBAÏA based on the IPBES Nature Futures Framework.
The scientific content draws from the peer-reviewed literature listed above.
Images were generated with Midjourney as illustrative visions, not documentary photographs.
