What we do

Why do some conservation initiatives go to scale? How can we design and implement conservation initiatives to catalyze adoption at scale?

Our team uses an interdisciplinary approach to answer these questions. We drawn upon diffusion of innovation theory and other scientific theories to examine how, why and when individuals, communities, corporations, and governments adopt conservation initiatives.

We examine the adoption of conservation initiatives around the world including local marine resource management, forest restoration, and rangeland management systems.

Key publications: Mascia & Mills, 2018; Mills et al., 2019; Pienkowski et al., 2024

Why are conservation initiatives abandoned? What proportion of them have been abandoned? How long do most last? Are some types abandoned quicker or more frequently than others? Can conservation initiatives be designed to be more durable and deliver the intended social and ecological benefits?

Our team is building the foundational building blocks for this emerging but critical area of research. Understanding the abandonment of conservation initiatives is critical to design more durable and resilient interventions which deliver the intended social and environmental benefits.

Key publications: Pienkowski et al. (Preprint)

What are the social and ecological outcomes of conservation initiatives? What drives those impacts? How do these benefits change as initiatives go to scale? How is climate change affecting these impacts? Are there scaling strategies which would result in more equitable impacts?

Our work is focussed on developing a mechanistic understanding of what drives the social and ecological impacts of conservation initiatives that have scaled, and how these impacts change through space and time.

Key publications: O’Garra et al., 2023

We continuously work on translating our research to action to enable conservation practitioners to tailor their activities and thus, catalyse conservation at scale.

On the ground: We are co-developing an online tool to assist organizations around the world in scaling urgently needed conservation and development initiatives. We also work with and train conservation practitioners on the evidence around scaling.

Funders: We develop evidence-based criteria that informs prioritisation of funding applications for projects which are designed to go to scale.

Policy: We develop policy briefs to empower decision makers to achieve their conservation objectives more quickly and with more socially just outcomes.