The Seeds and Plural Pathways to Transformative Change thematic working group invites you to a webinar with Bianca Voicu and Garry Peterson on novel approaches and alternative ways to “finance nature”.

🎤 Webinar: “Seeds of a Nature-Positive Financial System”

🗓️ Wednesday, 23 September 2026

🕑 09:00 Eastern Daylight Time / 15:00 Central African Time/Central European Summer Time

🔗 Register to attend here

ℹ️ Webinar abstract:
Current global economic activity is driving unprecedented nature loss. Within the financial sector, there is increasing recognition of the need to shift how economic activity is funded and organised to reverse nature loss, leading to a new focus on “finance for nature.” In this webinar, we will:

First, explain why social-ecological researchers should care about finance and why the transformation of the financial system matters for nature. We will outline the financial system and how different types of financial actors interact to block or enable transformation.

Second, we will discuss how we used the “seeds of good Anthropocenes” approach to identify existing initiatives connecting funding and nature. We analyse and compare these novel approaches and alternative ways to “finance nature”. Using selected seeds, we apply transformation theory to analyse each seed’s theory of change and the Nature Futures Framework to examine how each conceptualises nature values. Our study reveals diverse approaches to financing nature among seeds, though most rely on market-based mechanisms and lean toward “nature for society” as a core value. These seeds provide a template for future initiatives, and further study would help identify how risks and benefits of different financial initiatives vary across contexts. We’ll close by exploring how to apply seeds approaches to the financial sector.

The webinar is based on: Voicu, B. I., M. Meacham, and G. D. Peterson. 2026. Toward transformation in finance: seeds of nature-positive futures. Ecology and Society 31(2):4. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-17008-310204

Associated project: Mistra Finance to Revive Biodiversity (finbio.org)

ℹ️ More information on the speakers:
Bianca Voicu is a PhD candidate at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, researching transformation within the financial system toward nature-positive futures as part of the Mistra Finance to Revive Biodiversity (FinBio) programme. Her research centers on plural perspectives of nature’s value as essential for stimulating financial innovation that supports a nature-positive economy.

Garry Peterson is a professor at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, and director of Mistra Finance to Revive Biodiversity (FinBio), a nine-year research programme (2022–2031). His research focuses on plural nature values, resilience, and social-ecological futures. He co-founded the Seeds of Good Anthropocene Project, Biosphere Futures, and the Regime Shifts database.

ℹ️ Webinar moderators:
Karina Benessaiah and Oonsie Biggs