After "nature"? Using the concept of nature in scientific and policy contexts: an "indisciplinary" approach
Abstract
Should scientists continue to use the term "nature"? Does it undermine their ability to communicate with policymakers and the public about biodiversity, sustainability, and ecology? This paper presents the results of a collaborative, interdisciplinary project designed to examine the problems that scientists around the world face when using the term "nature" in different contexts. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, the paper offers conceptual tools for analyzing and discussing these problems and proposes strategies to overcome them and improve communication across disciplines and cultures. The paper also advocates an "indisciplinary" approach, in which scholars from different disciplines collaborate to solve a problem that cannot be solved individually. This method demonstrates that, with careful analysis and replacement in a larger network of scientific and traditional terms, the term "nature" may still be useful.
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BibTeX
@misc{mace2026after,
title = {{After "nature"? Using the concept of nature in scientific and policy contexts: an "indisciplinary" approach}},
author = {Arnaud Macé and Simon Calla and Delorme Damien and Lucie Fabry and Paulina G. Karim and Silvia Francis Materu and Maiko Nishi and Laure Nuninger and Ant Türkmen and Håkon Stokland and Patrick Giraudoux},
howpublished = {HAL},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05737082v3},
note = {CC BY-SA 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - After "nature"? Using the concept of nature in scientific and policy contexts: an "indisciplinary" approach
AU - Arnaud Macé
AU - Simon Calla
AU - Delorme Damien
AU - Lucie Fabry
AU - Paulina G. Karim
AU - Silvia Francis Materu
AU - Maiko Nishi
AU - Laure Nuninger
AU - Ant Türkmen
AU - Håkon Stokland
AU - Patrick Giraudoux
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/03
PB - HAL
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05737082v3
AB - Should scientists continue to use the term "nature"? Does it undermine their ability to communicate with policymakers and the public about biodiversity, sustainability, and ecology? This paper presents the results of a collaborative, interdisciplinary project designed to examine the problems that scientists around the world face when using the term "nature" in different contexts. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, the paper offers conceptual tools for analyzing and discussing these problems and proposes strategies to overcome them and improve communication across disciplines and cultures. The paper also advocates an "indisciplinary" approach, in which scholars from different disciplines collaborate to solve a problem that cannot be solved individually. This method demonstrates that, with careful analysis and replacement in a larger network of scientific and traditional terms, the term "nature" may still be useful.
ER -