“Stakeholder Conflicts and Conflict Management in Nature Restoration in Europe, and Beyond”
Published: September 2026
How to anticipate and manage societal conflicts in nature restoration? This report, developed by the BiodivRestore Knowledge Hub, examines why societal conflicts arise in nature restoration and how different types of conflict can be managed more effectively. Successful conflict management requires identifying the underlying causes of disagreement and finding matching conflict management pathways for that cause. This report applies a framework for conflict management, building on five conflict types and five related conflict management pathways, illustrated through case studies covering various ecosystem types across Europe.
Who is this for?
The report is primarily designed for restoration practitioners, EU institutions and Member State authorities responsible for designing, implementing or evaluating National Restoration Plans (NRPs), project managers and policymakers working on restoration governance, land use, agriculture, forestry, water and biodiversity policy. It is also of interest to researchers and stakeholders involved in conflict management or environmental policy more broadly.
The digest offers a condensed overview of the methodology developed in the report.
It covers:
- The Nature Restoration Regulation basics: an introduction to the Regulation’s objectives, targets and requirements, and how stakeholder conflicts can undermine restoration
- Understanding conflict in nature restoration: what are the types of societal conflict, their dynamics, and how to move from conflict diagnosis to management.
- A methodological framework: guidance on study design, identification and review of evidence and diagnosis of dominant and interacting conflict types.
- Case studies of various ecosystem types across Europe: agricultural, forest, freshwater, coastal, marine, and urban ecosystems – showcasing the methodology thoughout concrete examples.
- A historical perspective on conflicts: providing a better understanding of how and why conflicts emerge over time, to help in understanding conflicts today.
