Dr Esther Carmen

Biography

Esther’s research focuses on understanding of the actual and potential role of the private sector for restoring degraded ecosystems at scale for shaping more sustainable collective futures. This includes research relating to different economic sectors, e.g. the Scottish Whisky sector and the European Hydropower sector and examining if nature-based solutions and natural capital approaches could be useful to enhance the role of the private sector and how this could be achieved in practice. Such approaches have been gaining traction within science and policy communities as they encompass a broader framing of action to restore ecosystems that draws explicit attention to the interrelationships between society and the natural environment. For example, for private sector actors this involves drawing attention to the connections between ecosystems functions and core business activities and the challenges that could be addressed and benefits that could arise for businesses by working with nature. This focus on the private sector within socio-environmental change processes builds on Esther’s previous research relating to the role of other system actors, such as community, policy and scientific actors for shaping socio-environmental change across settings. Her PhD examined the role of social relationships and different relationship-based strategies for progressing community sustainability initiatives, building community resilience and for strengthening synergies across policy domains. Esther’s research is therefore strongly underpinned by a complex systems perspective and relational understanding of environmental governance.