In line with our ‘Way to Sustainable’ strategy, this report provides case studies under the headings of Research, Education, Operations and Engagement, however much of our activity spans these categories. Meeting the SDGs is by nature a collaborative effort, and we are proud of our University community stepping up to play their part.

As part of the report you can also read about IGSD researchers' effort to contribute to sustainable development. E.g. you can find information there about Heri's and Feng's research, and a wider reference to all our projects.

Please read the full report here: https://warwick.ac.uk/sustainability/what-we-are-doing/strategy/performance-reporting/un_sustainable_development_goals_report_2022-23.pdf

The FIDELIO team in IGSD have published a new journal article on the relationship between nature conservation in the Eifel National Park, Germany and the social impacts of, social equity in, and public support for the park as a biodiversity conservation policy. The findings are based on hundreds of responses from local residents living in and around the national park to an online public survey as part of the wider FIDELIO project. The article is fully open access and may be downloaded here:

McGinlay, J.; Holtvoeth, J.; Begley, A.; Dörstel, J.; Kockelmann, A.; Lammertz, M.; Malesios, C.; Jones, N. Perceived Social Impacts of Protected Areas, Their Influence on Local Public Support and Their Distribution across Social Groups: Evidence from the Eifel National Park, Germany, during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Sustainability 2023, 15, 10848. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151410848 .

The last two weeks our Warwick colleagues Dr Herizo Andrianadrasana, Dr Jess Savage and Dr Chris Malesios have been visiting Madagascar to explore the impact of migration dynamics on the sustainable management of areas of high biodiversity value. The fieldwork is part of the project Migration & Management of Protected Areas, funded by the University of Warwick. It aims to unravel social-ecological complexities potentially linking poverty and deforestation and co-design of policy pathways with local stakeholders towards more effective and sustainable management of protected areas in the region. Through a number of workshops and meetings the research team, in collaboration with local partners, have been collecting data to understand people's insights and produce clear findings that can inform future policy decisions in one of the world's most important biodiversity hotspots.

Nature protected areas are a key policy tool for biodiversity protection, and public support for protected areas is a key element for their success. Now in its final year, the FIDELIO project team have published two articles on their research into the social factors affecting public support for protected areas based on their statistical modelling work on thousands of public survey responses from across Europe. Both articles are fully open access and may be downloaded here:

‘Exploring local public support for protected areas: What social factors influence stated and active support among local people?’ Environmental Science and Policy, 145, 250-261. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2023.04.003 . 

‘Using perceived impacts, governance and social indicators to explain support for protected areas.’ Environmental Research Letters 18(5). https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/acc95b .